Since World War II, Rochester has seen a decline in population but has also seen periods of urban re

Big-city culture and small-city charm combine in Rochester [1] , a mid-sized city on the shores of Lake Ontario. The birthplace of amateur photography, Rochester has long been known as Kodak Town, but its fame was established well before George Eastman came on the scene. Today, its historical treasures complement modern family-friendly attractions that rival those found in much larger communities.
In Rochester, you can find the only museum in the world dedicated to play; award-winning music, dance, and acting ensembles; a dense festival calendar covering nearly every weekend of the year; minor-league sports of the highest caliber; and a trio of majestic waterfalls right in the middle of the city. The gateway to the scenic and culinary delights of New York 's Finger Lakes region, Rochester is the perfect place to begin your exploration of Western New York.
Rochester, known as The Flower City and The World's Image Centre , is the third-largest city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo . Lake Ontario lies to its north, with the Genesee River flowing northward through the city and over a set of three waterfalls. The historic Erie Canal also runs along the city's borders.
But Rochester is much more than just its waterways. florida homes virtual tour The city loves to celebrate its long history of industry and invention , taking pride in the many innovators and social reformers that have made their marks here. It also looks to the future, to the new places to which today's innovations will lead. And when it's time to relax, few cities of its size can compare in the variety and quality of cultural and recreational events available florida homes virtual tour here.
Above all, the city's primary trait may be perseverance florida homes virtual tour . Epitomized by the yearly collective slog through florida homes virtual tour another snowy winter, this perseverance also manifests itself in the way Rochester has reinvented itself florida homes virtual tour over the years. Even today, as the city tries to chart its course through the 21st century, its people plunge forward florida homes virtual tour with that same determination, carrying with them not just the hope, but the certainty that springtime will arrive and with it, growth.
Rochester has always been defined by water. It was born in the early nineteenth century florida homes virtual tour as a small village on the Genesee River , a few miles south of Lake Ontario . The village was constructed florida homes virtual tour around flour mills that took advantage of the three waterfalls on the river for power. When the Erie Canal was built a few years later, it was routed through Rochester, and the small village became America's first boomtown , a major trade center for grain being shipped east and goods being shipped west. It soon garnered the nickname " The Flour City ", and its products were known as far away as England.
As time went on, and farmland opened up in the Great Plains, Rochester's flour industry faded, to be replaced by a variety of others, including clothing, shoes, boats, and horticulture. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Rochester's nurseries and gardens had led to a new nickname: " The Flower City ", celebrated each year with the famous Lilac Festival each May. Rochester also became a center for social progressivism. The great abolitionist orator Frederick Douglass made his home here for many years, and suffragist Susan B. Anthony was a life-long resident.
In the early 1900s, the modern city began to take shape, molded in large part by the philanthropy of George Eastman , whose Eastman Kodak camera company became the area's largest employer. The Eastman School of Music, the Eastman Theatre, the George Eastman House, and numerous other buildings and institutions remain today as testaments to his influence and generosity.
Since World War II, Rochester has seen a decline in population but has also seen periods of urban renewal funded by industry. In the 60s and 70s, the city became known as the leading florida homes virtual tour jazz town in upstate New York, a legacy recalled today by the annual Rochester International florida homes virtual tour Jazz Festival in June. Since the turn of the century, Rochester has called itself " The World's Image Centre ", based on the local prominence of imaging giants florida homes virtual tour Kodak and Xerox and optics company Bausch Lomb.
Rochester is unashamedly part of the Snow Belt of the United States, competing every year with its upstate neighbors for the "coveted" Golden Snowball Award (for most snowfall). Snowfalls in Rochester were once legendary, although lately the lake-effect snow has favored Syracuse and Rochester has started to fall behind.
Visitors are often surprised by the amount of snow Rochesterians will put up with. It takes multiple florida homes virtual tour feet of snow or biting cold frostbite-in-ten-minutes temperatures to close schools; anything less and you just put another florida homes virtual tour layer on and grab the shovel. And forget about work or college being canceled; unless the governor has declared a state of emergency, you'll find commuters dutifully plunging florida homes virtual tour forth across barely-plowed roads and highways. And sometimes, even then...
Simply stated, snow is a daily fact of life in Rochester winters, and the traveler must be prepared to deal with it as the locals do: with a hearty grumble of resignation, the assertion that "at least we don't have earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes", and the knowledge that better days lie ahead.
Fortunately, those "better days" are truly gems, and few cities appreciate them more when they arrive. "The weather is beautiful" headlines can often be found in the news media when a wave of pleasant weather hits. July and August can be very humid at times, but relief is rarely more than a few days away. May, June, late August, September, and early October have the most comfortable temperatures. Outside of those months, florida homes virtual tour partly sunny days alternate with overcast conditions and heavy precipitation, ranging from light fluffy snow to heavy wet glop to cold damp drizzle.
But all this emphasis on winter should not overshadow Rochester's short but beautiful springs, mild summers, and very colorful autumns. Rochesterians florida homes virtual tour make the best of winter, but they really take advantage of every nice day the rest of the year and so should you.
VisitRochester , ☎ +1 800 677-7282 ( info@visitrochester.com , fax : +1 585 232-4822 ), [2] . The official visitor's association for the Greater Rochester area. They have information centers in the following locations: florida homes virtual tour edit
Visitor Information florida homes virtual tour Booth , Greater Rochester International Airport ( lower level ). M-F 8AM-8PM; Sa 10AM-6PM; Su 11AM-5PM . Introduced florida homes virtual tour in March 2010 are new brochures in eight foreign languages: Chinese (simplified) , French , German , Italian , Japanese , Korean , Portuguese , and Spanish . ( 43.12770 , -77.66630 ) edit
Downtown Information Center , 120 E Main St ( corner of St Paul ), ☎ +1 585 232-3420 ( fax : +1 585 232-8365 ), [3] . M–F 8:30AM-5:30PM . Focuses on downtown information. Keep an eye out for red-shirted Downtown Safety Services team members on bike or on foot; they roam downtown and can help you with any problems you have. ( 43.156737 , -77.609074 ) edit
The Center florida homes virtual tour at High Falls Visitor florida homes virtual tour Center , 60 Browns Race , ☎ +1 585 325-2030 ( fax : +1 585 325-2414 ), [4] . W-F 10AM-5PM; Sa noon-6PM; Su 1PM-5PM . This visitor's center focuses on High Falls but has information on the whole city as well. Also features a small museum, a gift shop, and walking tours of the High Falls area (call ahead). See also the attraction listing below. florida homes virtual tour ( 43.161180 , -77.616625 ) edit
Rochester is part of the "Inland North" dialect region of the United States, with only a few minor local variations. There is, though, one language issue that separates Rochester from the rest of the Finger Lakes region: American Sign Language . Rochester has one of the highest populations of deaf people (per capita) in the United States, and as such sign language is not an uncommon sight around the city. It's not a given that you'll see ASL being used if you visit Rochester unless you drop by the Rochester School for the Deaf, or the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology but you never know.
For deaf people, few cities in the world are as accommodating as Rochester. Most businesses, especially in Henrietta and Brighton, are accustomed to working with deaf customers and often have teletype florida homes virtual tour machines and dedicated TTY phone numbers. Open-captioned films are regularly shown at the local multiplexes (in particular, at Regal Henrietta), and many major events will be interpreted. At RIT, nearly all events have both captioning and interpreters. Wherever the event is held, a quick phone call is often all that is needed to ensure the presence of an interpreter.
If you encounter a deaf person but don't know sign language, do not shout. You can raise your voice slightly , but it's most important to speak clearly and directly, being careful not to hide your mouth with your hand. If all else fails, find a piece of paper and write back and forth. If an interpreter is available, be sure to address the deaf person, not the interpreter. The deaf person will watch the interpreter, but you should be looking at the deaf person and listening to the interpreter.
The Greater Rochester International Airport ( IATA : ROC ), 1200 Brooks florida homes virtual tour Ave ( I-390 to Exit 18B or I-490 to Exit 6; follow signs ) [5] , is located just southwest of the city proper, six miles southwest of downtown. It is a very nice medium-sized airport, newly remodeled in 2008, with three runways and two concourses. The airline with the most passengers is US Airways, but most of the major domestic carriers and low-cost airlines have multiple daily scheduled flights to and from their hubs. Flights are also available to and from fellow upstate cities Buffalo , Syracuse , and Albany , as well as seasonal direct flights to and from Orlando . AirCanada offers daily flights to and from Toronto . Make sure you book your flight to Rochester, NY, not Rochester, florida homes virtual tour MN. Depending on the day of the week, JetBlue can have very good deals flying in from JFK in New York City .
Because of Rochester's