Are you blushing, Rochester?
You’re going to have to deal with praise.
What’s going on? Well, blame the Democrat and Chronicle. It reported recently that Realtor.com has ranked Rochester as the best place in the country for first-time home buyers, the absolute best. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, finished second; Syracuse was sixth.)
Blame The New York Times for featuring Rochester in its real-estate report, making a strong case for the city as an interesting and affordable place to live.
“Rochester today has evolved from its industrial origins into an in-demand housing market whose old buildings have been repurposed for new growth,” wrote Anna Staropoli, a freelance writer who lives in Rochester’s South Wedge neighborhood.
Staropoli cited the explosion of housing in downtown Rochester, as well as the filling in of the Inner Loop. There’s also The Strong National Museum of Play, which has just finished a multimillion-dollar renovation.
Need more? Check out Nick Tahou Hots and its Garbage Plates and Marge’s Lakeside Inn. (Higher-end eateries are mentioned, as well.)
Also cited: The Memorial Art Gallery, the George Eastman Museum, the Lilac Festival and the 17 Wegmans in the area. (Only one of these, of course, is in the city of Rochester.)
The Times story, which featured terrific photos by Lauren Petracca, has elicited hundreds of comments. Some came from Rochester residents, some from people who used to live in Rochester or who went to school in Rochester. Most sing Rochester’s praises, though a few grumbled about the weather.
As much as the Times said about Rochester’s virtues, there were those who wished it said more. There could have been a mention of the Eastman School of Music, several readers noted. Likewise, Mount Hope Cemetery and Highland Park deserved shout-outs, readers said.
“I had to be selective in what I could realistically include in a few hundred words,” Staropoli wrote me in an email. “Ultimately, I tried to highlight the details I felt were most relevant to present-day Rochester’s infrastructural evolution and livability, as this was a real estate-focused piece, as well as angles that maybe haven’t been told as often as others.”
My sense is we owe Staropoli our thanks. She could only write so much about Rochester, and what she wrote came at a good time. Given our last winter, it’s hard not to wonder sometimes why we live here. Turns out there all sorts of reasons. And now the world knows.
Rochester people
In January I asked readers to identify a person, place or even a view that makes Rochester remarkable.
I’ll pass along some of the responses in future columns, but here’s one from Howard Dietch of Webster. He was born in Rochester, grew up in Irondequoit, worked at Sibley’s Department Store for 20 years, left Rochester for 30 years and now is back in the area.
“While Roc has many things that make it unique, it is not the places that are so special, as they change,” Howard wrote. “It is the good people and your deep connections. Sometimes happiness is in your own backyard. Took me many years to realize this.”
Resident status
This column has sometimes assigned Rochester residency to people who live near, but not in, the city of Rochester.
Thus, I have sympathy with the WROC-TV report during a recent cold snap that identified interviewee Devon Levi as a “Rochester resident.”
Hockey fans know that Levi, who grew up in a Montreal suburb, is the goalie for the Rochester Amerks. As The Athletic reported online, he commutes to Rochester from Buffalo and thus isn’t a Rochester resident. Still, if he’s looking to be a first-time home buyer, I’d recommend a Rochester home.
Remarkable Rochesterian
Speaking of acquired residency, let’s add the name of this painter who wasn’t born in the city, but did live here, to the list of Remarkable Rochesterians that can be found at https://data.democratandchronicle.com/remarkable-rochesterians/.
Emma Lampert Cooper (1855-1920): An influential artist and educator, she was born in Nunda, Livingston County, and then grew up in Rochester and went on to Wells College in Aurora, Cayuga County. She returned to Rochester, where she had a studio in the Powers Building and was a leader in the Rochester Art Club. She taught art at Foster School in Clifton Springs and at the Mechanics Institute (now RIT) in Rochester, and her paintings, especially her landscapes, drew international attention, one earning a medal at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Her husband, Colin Campbell Cooper, was also an artist, renowned for his paintings of skyscrapers.
From his home in Geneseo, Livingston County, retired senior editor Jim Memmott writes Remarkable Rochester about who we were, who we are. He can be reached at jmemmott@gannett.com or write Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Turns out Rochester is kind of a big deal
Reporting by Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
