Rochester, New York

For other uses, see Rochester, New York (disambiguation).

Rochester
City
Downtown Rochester 142px University of Rochester 142px Grove Place 142px George Eastman Museum 142px Memorial Art Gallery
Flag of Rochester Flag Official seal of Rochester Seal Official logo of Rochester Logo
Nickname(s): "The Flour City", "The Flower City", "The World's Image Center"
Location in Monroe County and the State of New York
Country	United States
State	New York
Region	Western New York; Genesee Valley
Metro	Rochester metropolitan area, New York
County	Monroe
Founded	1788 (1788)
Incorporated (village)	March 21, 1817 (1817-03-21) (as Rochesterville)
Incorporated (city)	April 28, 1834 (1834-04-28)
Named for	Nathaniel Rochester
Government
• Type	Mayor–council
• Mayor	Malik Evans (D)
• City council	List At-Large Members President: • Miguel Meléndez (D) East District - Vice President: • Mary Lupien (D) Other At-Large: • Wilie Lightfoot (D) • Mitchell D. Gruber (D) • Stanley Martin (D) • Kim Smith (D) Northeast District: • Michael A. Patterson (D) South District: • LaShay Harris (D) Northwest District: • Jose Peo (D)
Area
• City	37.17 sq mi (96.27 km2)
• Land	35.76 sq mi (92.62 km2)
• Water	1.41 sq mi (3.65 km2)  3.6%
Highest elevation	702 ft (214 m)
Lowest elevation	230 ft (70 m)
Population (2020)
• City	211,328
• Rank	US: 108th NY: 10th
• Density	5,909.45/sq mi (2,281.62/km2)
• Urban	704,327 (US: 62nd)
• Urban density	2,413.5/sq mi (931.9/km2)
• Metro	1,067,486 (US: 52nd)
Demonym(s)	Rochesterian
Time zone	EST (UTC−05:00)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−04:00)
ZIP codes	146xx (14604=downtown)
Area code	585
FIPS code	36-63000
GNIS feature ID	0962684
Website	cityofrochester.gov

Rochester (/ˈrɒtʃɛstər, -ɪs-/) is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Monroe County. It is the fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the larger Rochester metropolitan area in Western New York, with a population of over 1.09 million residents. Throughout its history, Rochester has acquired several nicknames based on local industries; it has been known as "the Flour City" and "the Flower City" for its dual role in flour production and floriculture, and as the “Imaging Capital of the World" for its association with film and still photography.

The city was one of the United States' first boomtowns, initially due to the fertile Genesee River valley which gave rise to numerous flour mills, and then as a manufacturing center, which spurred further rapid population growth. Rochester has also played a key part in US history as a hub for social and political movements, especially abolitionism, and the women's rights movement.

Rochester is the birthplace and home of companies including Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, Wegmans, Gannett, Paychex, and Western Union, and the region became a global center for science, technology, and research and development. This has been aided by the presence of several internationally renowned universities, notably the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology, and their research programs; these schools, along with many other smaller colleges, have played an increasingly large role in its economy. The city experienced significant population decline due to deindustrialization in the late 20th century, although less severely than its Rust Belt peers. The Rochester metropolitan area is the third-largest regional economy in New York, after New York City and Buffalo-Niagara Falls.

Rochester is also known for its culture; in particular, the Eastman School of Music, one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world, and the Rochester International Jazz Festival anchor a vibrant music industry. It is the site of several museums such as The Strong National Museum of Play and the George Eastman Museum, which houses the oldest photography collection in the world. Rochester is ranked highly in terms of livability and quality of life, due to low cost of living, highly ranked public schools and a low unemployment rate. It is a global city, ranked by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as having sufficiency status.

History

Main article: History of Rochester, New York

Nineteenth century

The Seneca tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy lived in and around Rochester prior to the American Revolution. Allied with the British, the Iroquois tribes were forced to cede or sell most of their land in New York after the war. The area now occupied by Rochester was ceded in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase of 1788. As a reward for their loyalty to the British crown, the Iroquois were given a large land grant on the Grand River in Canada.

Rochester was founded shortly after by a wave of English-Puritan-descended immigrants from New England, who were looking for new agricultural land. They were the dominant cultural group in Rochester for over a century. On November 8, 1803, Colonel Nathaniel Rochester (1752–1831) (for whom the town would come to be named), Major Charles Carroll, and Colonel William Fitzhugh Jr. (1761–1839), all of Hagerstown, Maryland, purchased a 100-acre (40-ha) tract from the state in western New York along the Genesee River. They chose the site because its three cataracts on the Genesee offered great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts. In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville.

By 1821, Rochesterville was the seat of Monroe County. In 1823, it consisted of 1,012 acres (4 km²) and 2,500 residents, and the Village of Rochesterville became known as Rochester. That same year, the Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, connecting the city to the Hudson River to the east. By 1830, Rochester's population was 9,200, and in 1834, it was rechartered as a city.

Rochester was first known as "the Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, it was the largest flour-producing city in the United States. Having doubled its population in only 10 years, Rochester became America's first "boom town".

In 1830 and 1831, Rochester experienced one of the nation's biggest Protestant revivalist movements, led by Charles Grandison Finney. The revival inspired other revivals of the Second Great Awakening. A leading pastor in New York, who was converted in the Rochester meetings, gave this account of Finney's meetings there:

The whole community was stirred. Religion was the topic of conversation in the house, in the shop, in the office, and on the street. The only theater in the city was converted into a livery stable; the only circus into a soap and candle factory. Grog shops were closed; the Sabbath was honored; the sanctuaries were thronged with happy worshippers; a new impulse was given to every philanthropic enterprise; the fountains of benevolence were opened, and men lived to good.

By the mid-19th century, as the center of the wheat-processing industry moved west with population and agriculture, the city became home to an expanding nursery business, giving rise to the city's second nickname, the Flower City. Nurseries ringed the city, the most famous of which was started in 1840 by immigrants George Ellwanger from Germany and Patrick Barry from Ireland. Horticulturalist, businessman, writer, publisher and seedsman James Vick (1818–1882) used innovative mass marketing and regular customer correspondence to build one of the largest and most respected seed companies in the United States. Vick's extensive flower garden on East Avenue was a showplace and weekend destination for local residents. The location of the garden is now bounded by Vick Park A and Vick Park B.

In 1847, Frederick Douglass founded The North Star, an abolitionist newspaper, in Rochester. A former slave and an antislavery speaker and writer, he gained a circulation of over 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. The North Star served as a forum for abolitionist views. The Douglass home burnt down in 1872, but a marker for it is in Highland Park off South Avenue. Many other prominent abolitionists hailed from and/or operated in the area, such as Thomas James, Austin Stewart and many others.

Around the same time, Rochester and the wider Finger Lakes region was the birthplace of the women's suffrage movement. A critical suffragettes' convention was held in 1848 in nearby Seneca Falls, and Rochester was the home of Susan B. Anthony along with other notable Suffragettes such as Abigail Bush and Amy Post. The city itself played host to the Rochester Women's Rights Convention of 1848. The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in 1920, which guaranteed the right of women to vote, was known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment because of her work toward its passage, which she did not live to see. Anthony's home is a National Historic Landmark known as the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House.

Rochester saw an expansion of new industries in the late 19th century, led by migrants to the city, including Irish immigrant James Cunningham, who founded the carriagemaker James Cunningham, Son & Co., German immigrants John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb, who launched Bausch & Lomb in 1861, and inventor and entrepreneur George Eastman, who founded Eastman Kodak in 1892. Eastman also became a major philanthropist, developing and endowing the University of Rochester, its Eastman School of Music, and other local institutions.

Twentieth century

In the early 20th century, Rochester became a center of the garment industry, particularly men's fashions. It was the base of Bond Clothing Stores, Fashion Park Clothes, Hickey Freeman, and Stein-Bloch and Co. James Cunningham and Sons founded the pioneer automobile company Cunningham.

The dawn of the 20th century in Rochester saw rapid growth, driven in large part by waves of immigrants arriving from Ireland, Italy, Poland and elsewhere. The surge in new arrivals, along with increased industrialization, resulted in the city becoming a hotbed of labor activism. From the 1920s and continuing into the post-war era Rochester grew into a power center for newly formed industrial unions. It was only one of a very few American cities where the labor movement was powerful enough to mount a successful general strike when in 1946 when an estimated 50,000 workers across multiple sectors walked off in support of hundreds of city employees fired for attempting to unionize.

With the arrival of railroads to the city, the presence of the canal in the city center was an obstacle; it was rerouted south of Rochester by 1918 when the Barge Canal was completed. The short-lived Rochester subway was constructed in the abandoned canal bed and operated from 1927 to 1956.

Rochester in the late 1930s

The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900, and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, the population had reached a high of 332,488. In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Rochester's population as 97.6% White and 2.3% Black.

Rochester's black population tripled to more than 25,000 during the 1950s. Casually employed by the city's iconic industries, most African Americans in the city held low-pay and low-skill jobs, and lived in substandard housing. Discontent exploded in the 1964 Rochester race riot. Triggered by the attempted arrest of a 19-year-old intoxicated black male at a street block party, order was restored after three days, and only after Governor Nelson Rockefeller called out the New York National Guard. By the time the disturbance was over, five were dead (four in a helicopter crash) and 350 were injured. Almost a thousand people were arrested and 204 stores were either looted or damaged.

In the wake of the riots, the Rochester Area Churches, together with black civil rights leaders, invited Saul Alinsky of the Industrial Areas Foundation to help the community organize. With the Reverend Franklin Florence, who had been close to Malcolm X, they established FIGHT (Freedom, Integration, God, Honor, Today), which successfully brought pressure to bear on Eastman Kodak to help open up employment and city governance.

With industrial restructuring in the later 20th century, and the decline of industry and jobs in the area, by 2022, the city's population had declined to 209,352 (although the metropolitan area was considerably larger) with 45.1% recorded as White and 38.4% as Black or African American.

Geography

File:GeneseeMist.jpg

The Genesee River in 2013

Rochester is located in Upstate New York, on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. The Genesee River bisects the city. The city is about 73 miles (120 km) east-northeast of Buffalo and 87 miles (140 km) west of Syracuse. Albany, the state capital, is 226 miles (360 km) to the east; Toronto is 168 miles (270 km) northwest and New York City is 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.1 square miles (96 km²), of which 35.8 square miles (93 km²) are land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) are covered by water (3.42%).

Rochester's geography was formed by the ice sheets during the Pleistocene epoch. The retreating ice sheets reached a standstill at what is now the southern border of the city, melting at the same rate as they were advancing, depositing sediment along the southern edge of the ice mass. This created a line of hills, including (from west to east) Mt. Hope, the hills of Highland Park, Pinnacle Hill, and Cobb's Hill. Because the sediment of these hills was deposited into a proglacial lake, they are stratified and classified as a "kame delta". A brief retreat and readvance of the ice sheet onto the delta deposited unstratified material there, creating a rare hybrid structure called "kame moraine".

The ice sheets also created Lake Ontario, the Genesee River with its waterfalls and gorges, Irondequoit Bay, Sodus Bay, Braddock Bay, Mendon Ponds, numerous local streams and ponds, the Ridge, and the nearby Finger Lakes.

The principal source of water is Hemlock Lake, which, with its watershed, is owned by the state of New York. Other water sources include Canadice Lake and Lake Ontario. The 30-year annual average snowfall is just above 100 in (2.5 m). The monthly daily average ranges from 24.7 °F (−4.1 °C) in January to 70.8 °F (21.6 °C) in July. The high amount of snow Rochester receives can be accounted for by the city's proximity to Lake Ontario (see lake-effect snow).

Neighborhoods

Rochester has a number of neighborhoods, including the 19th Ward, 14621 Community, Beechwood, Browncroft, Cascade District, Cobbs Hill, Charlotte, Corn Hill, Dewey, Dutchtown, Edgerton, Ellwanger-Barry, German Village, Grove Place, High Falls District, Highland Park, Maplewood (10th Ward), Marketview Heights, Mt. Read, North Winton Village, North of East Main Neighbors United, Neighborhood of the Arts , Lyell-Otis, Park Avenue, Plymouth-Exchange, Southwest, East End, South Wedge, Swillburg, Susan B. Anthony, University-Atlantic, Upper Monroe, and more are all recognized communities with various neighborhood associations. Living spaces are also available in downtown Rochester.

• RochesterSkyline2017.jpg

  Center City and the Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge

• Corn Hill 2.jpg

  Townhouses in Corn Hill

• Oxford Street Homes 1.jpg

  Oxford Street Houses

• Park and Oxford Intersection.jpg

  Park and Oxford

• EastEndApartments.jpg

  Apartments in Rochester's East End

• Rochouse wintercolours (8458281227).jpg

  Houses on Park Avenue

• 

  An aerial image of the city of Rochester taken in August 2007

19th Ward

The 19th Ward is a southwest neighborhood bordered by Genesee Street, West Avenue, and the Erie Canal, and is across the river from the University of Rochester. The neighborhood is one of the largest in Rochester. Now known by its slogan "Urban by Choice", in the early 19th century, the area was known as Castle Town, after Castle Inn, a tavern run by Colonel Isaac Castle. By the early 1820s, however, the area was overshadowed by developments in the north that would become downtown Rochester. Due to a tumultuous bend in the Genesee, the area was home to skilled boatsmen who assisted boats traveling north to Rochester and the area was consequently known during this time as "The Rapids". In the 1890s, as Rochester expanded, the area became a prosperous residential area that thrived as the city grew. By 1930, it was a booming residential area for doctors, lawyers, and skilled workers; it includes the still prestigious Sibley Tract development. Homes in the originally upper-class neighborhood typically have gumwood trim, leaded glass, fireplaces, hardwood floors, and open porches. In the 1960s, property values fell as the population of Rochester did, the area experienced white flight accelerated by school busing, blockbusting, and race riots downtown, and crime increased, with violence, drug use, and neglected property further diminishing property values.

In recent years, neighborhood revitalization has come from the "Brooks Landing" development along the Genesee River. Gentrification has occurred in the 19th Ward and adjacent Plymouth-Exchange area from the conversion of housing stock to student housing for the University of Rochester.

Located in the 19th Ward are the Arvine Heights Historic District, Chili–West Historic District, Inglewood and Thurston Historic District, and Sibley–Elmdorf Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Browncroft

The Browncroft neighborhood is built on the former nursery grounds of the Brown Brothers nursery, between the town of Brighton and Winton Road. Many Tudor and Colonial houses are contained within, and the business district situated on Winton Road has a mix of restaurants and shops. The Browncroft Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Charlotte

File:RocNightAqueduct.jpg

Genesee River and the historic Aqueduct Downtown

Charlotte is a lakefront community in Rochester bordering Lake Ontario. It is home to Ontario Beach Park, commonly known as Charlotte Beach, which is a popular summer destination for Rochesterians. A new terminal was built in 2004 for the Rochester-to-Toronto ferry service and was later sold after the ferry ceased operations in 2005. The Port of Rochester terminal still exists, but multiple attempts by the city to make additions have failed since 2016.

Corn Hill

Corn Hill is located in the city's old Third Ward, and best known today for the annual Corn Hill arts festival. Many of the city's wealthiest residents lived in the neighborhood during the 19th century, but they relocated to the East End and suburbs after the turn of the century. The neighborhood experienced decline, and much of the Third War was demolished for the construction of I-490 in the 1960s. Revival began in the late 1960s, as several of the Victorian homes in the neighborhood were restored by the Genesee Landmarks Foundation. In 1969 the Corn Hill arts festival was held and became an annual feature. The Third Ward Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Edgerton

The Edgerton neighborhood is in the city's northwest quadrant, along Lake Avenue. The neighborhood features Edgerton Park, which was once home to most of the city's professional sports teams.

Historically an Italian-American neighborhood, the area around Lyell Avenue has been a target for the formation of a designated Little Italy neighborhood, although few Italian Americans live there today. The neighborhood is known for struggling with a high crime rate. Residents have pursued a number of strategies to revive the neighborhood in recent years, including the construction of housing for the homeless.

Maplewood

File:RidgeRdRochesterNY.jpg

A commercial part of Ridge Road in Maplewood

Maplewood is located in the northwest quadrant, centered around Lake Avenue and Maplewood Park. Eastman Business Park is located on its north edge. The neighborhood once contained both mansions for the wealthy and worker housing for nearby factories like Kodak's. Many of the neighborhood's old mansions have been converted to multi-family housing. Due to its diverse architectural heritage, the Maplewood Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Marketview Heights

The Marketview Heights neighborhood is northeast of downtown Rochester, running east from Union Street just north of Main Street. It is best known as the location of the Public Market, which first opened in 1905 and offers a variety of groceries and other goods from marketeers from farms and shops from surrounding areas, primarily on the weekends. In the late twentieth century, the neighborhood experienced a severe decline, and roughly half of residents lived below the poverty line in 2000. Public investment was made in the neighborhood after 2008 to implement a number of community proposals. A second round of proposals are being explored currently for the planned removal of the Inner Loop in the southern end of the neighborhood.

South Wedge

The South Wedge is a wedge-shaped neighborhood around South Avenue between the Genesee River and Interstate 490, which has been transformed several times during the city's history. It began as the home of several families involved in trades on the Erie Canal. In the 1840s, the Ellwanger and Barry nursery was built on South Avenue, introducing greenery to the neighborhood and drawing tourists. Frederick Douglass lived in a house in the neighborhood. The area fell on hard times after World War II, when residents moved to the suburbs and several homes and businesses were abandoned. The South Wedge Planning Committee was established in 1973 to revitalize the neighborhood. The neighborhood is a hub of small businesses today. The South Wedge Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, and the Gregory Tract Historic District was listed in 2022.

Climate

Rochester lies in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen: Dfa) and has four distinct seasons. Winters are cold (temperatures drop to 0 °F (−18 °C) on 4.2 nights annually) similar to other US cities of the same latitude. However, Rochester receives vast amounts of snow (primarily lake effect snow resulting from its location on the southern shores of Lake Ontario), ranking among the snowiest large cities on earth and occasionally setting records for annual snowfall among large US metros. Spring sees plentiful rain with the rising temperatures, and occasional late snowstorms depending on the year. Summers are warm and sunny; there are occasional short periods of high heat and humidity but in general, Rochester is set apart from most of the continental US by comparatively cool, comfortable summers (ranking among the top five coolest summers among large metros alongside Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and neighboring Buffalo). Autumn features brilliant foliage colors, cooling temperatures and occasionally an excess of rain depending on the year, though precipitation is generally plentiful and dispersed fairly evenly throughout the year.

Climate data for Rochester, New York (Greater Rochester Int'l), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1871−present
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	74 (23)	73 (23)	86 (30)	93 (34)	94 (34)	100 (38)	102 (39)	99 (37)	99 (37)	91 (33)	81 (27)	72 (22)	102 (39)
Average high °F (°C)	31.7 (−0.2)	34.1 (1.2)	42.8 (6)	56.0 (13.3)	67.6 (19.8)	76.6 (24.8)	81.0 (27.2)	79.1 (26.2)	71.6 (22)	59.6 (15.3)	48.0 (8.9)	36.5 (2.5)	57.1 (13.9)
Average low °F (°C)	17.6 (−8)	18.6 (−7.4)	25.8 (−3.4)	36.6 (2.6)	46.3 (7.9)	55.9 (13.3)	60.7 (15.9)	59.5 (15.3)	52.0 (11.1)	41.5 (5.3)	33.0 (0.6)	23.5 (−4.7)	39.3 (4.1)
Record low °F (°C)	−17 (−27)	−22 (−30)	−7 (−22)	7 (−14)	26 (−3)	35 (2)	42 (6)	36 (2)	28 (−2)	19 (−7)	1 (−17)	−16 (−27)	−22 (−30)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	2.41 (61.2)	1.95 (49.5)	2.50 (63.5)	2.73 (69.3)	2.87 (72.9)	3.34 (84.8)	3.33 (84.6)	3.47 (88.1)	3.38 (85.9)	2.72 (69.1)	2.94 (74.7)	2.63 (66.8)	34.27 (870.5)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	28.2 (71.6)	21.5 (54.6)	16.3 (41.4)	3.9 (9.9)	0.4 (1)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.1 (0.3)	7.3 (18.5)	21.8 (55.4)	99.5 (252.7)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in)	19.4	15.9	15.1	13.1	12.2	11.9	10.8	10.8	11.5	13.2	15.3	17.6	166.8
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in)	18.0	14.4	9.8	3.2	0.2	0	0	0	0	0.2	5.6	14.5	65.9
Average relative humidity (%)	74.0	74.1	71.0	67.0	67.2	69.4	69.7	74.3	76.8	74.5	76.3	77.5	72.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours	108.3	118.1	177.7	216.5	266.5	297.6	314.4	273.4	212.3	154.4	81.5	77.5	2,298.2
Percent possible sunshine	37	40	48	54	59	65	68	63	57	45	28	28	52
Source: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961–1990),The Weather Channel

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1810	1,001		—
1820	1,502		50.0%
1830	9,207		513.0%
1840	20,191		119.3%
1850	36,403		80.3%
1860	48,204		32.4%
1870	62,386		29.4%
1880	89,366		43.2%
1890	133,896		49.8%
1900	162,608		21.4%
1910	218,149		34.2%
1920	295,750		35.6%
1930	328,132		10.9%
1940	324,975		−1.0%
1950	332,488		2.3%
1960	318,611		−4.2%
1970	296,233		−7.0%
1980	241,741		−18.4%
1990	231,636		−4.2%
2000	219,474		−5.3%
2010	210,565		−4.1%
Historical Population Figures U.S. Decennial Census

As of the 2020 Census, the population of Rochester was 211,328. Like most Rust Belt cities, the city has experienced a sustained population decline over the last 60 years. In 2020, for the first time in 200 years, Rochester dropped to the fourth most populous city in the state behind Yonkers. However, in 2020, an increase in the city’s population was reported for the first time since the 1950 Census.

Race, disability, and income

Racial composition	2020	2010	1990	1970	1940
White	35%	43.7%	61.1%	82.4%	97.6%
—Non-Hispanic	33%	37.6%	58.3%	80.2%	n/a
Black or African American	38%	41.7%	31.5%	16.8%	2.3%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	19.8%	16.4%	8.7%	2.8%	(X)
Asian	3.9%	3.1%	1.8%	0.2%	−

As of the 2020 United States census, Rochester had a population of 211,328, of which 38.0% were non-Hispanic Black, 33.0% were non-Hispanic White, 19.8% were Hispanic/Latino, 3.9% were Asian, 0.2% were Native American or Pacific Islander, and 5.1% were mixed or other.

According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 43.7% White or White American, 41.7% Black, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.1% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 6.6% from some other race, and 4.4% from two or more races. 16.4% of the total population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, mostly made up of Puerto Ricans. Non-Hispanic Whites were 37.6% of the population in 2010, compared to 80.2% in 1970.

Although losing population since 1950, over the course of the past 50 years Rochester has become a major center for immigration, particularly for arrivals from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. Rochester had the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans of any major city in the United States in 2013, one of the four largest Turkish American communities, one of the largest Jamaican American communities in any major U.S. city and a large concentration of Polish Americans along with nearby Buffalo, New York. Rochester's Bhutanese and Nepalese communities are among the largest (top 3) in the United States, concentrated primarily in Jones Square and Edgerton with growth fueled by recently arrived migrants and refugees. In addition, Rochester was ranked number 9 in the nation for the largest Italian population in the United States in 2018.

In 1997, Rochester was reported to have the largest per capita deaf population in the United States, likely because it is home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

In 2010, of 88,999 households, 30.0% had children under 18 living with them, 25.1% were married couples living together, 23.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.0% were not families. Of all households, 37.1% were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone 65 or older. The average household size was 2.36, and the average family size was 3.19. The age distribution was 28.1% under 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 32.2% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 31. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.

The median income for a city household was $27,123, and for a family was $31,257. Males had a median income of $30,521, versus $25,139 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,588. About 23.4% of families and 25.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.5% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

By the 1920s and 1930s, Rochester's population was roughly half Protestant and half Catholic, although a significant Jewish population was also present. In 1938, the city had 214 religious congregations, two-thirds of which had been founded after 1880. At that time, the city added, on average, 2.6 new congregations per year, many founded by immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. During peak immigration from 1900 to 1920, dozens of churches were established, including four Roman Catholic churches with Italian clergy, three Roman Catholic churches with Slavic clergy, a Greek Orthodox Church, a Polish Baptist church, 15 Jewish synagogues, and four small Italian Protestant mission churches (Baptist, Evangelical, Methodist, and Presbyterian). Additionally, several Buddhist temples are in the city, one Cambodian, two Lao, and one Vietnamese.

Economy

See also: Rochester, New York metropolitan area § Economy

Further information: Tech Valley

File:Bausch & Lomb Place west entrance.jpg

Circle at Bausch & Lomb headquarters with the Xerox Tower in the background

Rochester is home to a number of Fortune 1000 and international businesses, including Paychex (Fortune #662), as well as several national and regional companies, such as Carestream Health. Xerox was founded in Rochester in 1906 as the Haloid Company, and retains a significant presence in Rochester, although its headquarters are now in Norwalk, Connecticut. Bausch & Lomb moved to Bridgewater, New Jersey, in 2014. The Gannett newspaper company and Western Union were founded in Rochester by Frank Gannett and Hiram Sibley, respectively, but have since moved to other cities.

The median single-family house price was $135,000 in the second quarter of 2015 in greater Rochester, an increase of 5.4% from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Tech Valley, the technologically recognized area of eastern New York, has spawned a western offshoot into the Rochester and Finger Lakes areas. Since the 2000s, as established companies in Rochester downsized, Rochester and Monroe County's economy has been redirected toward high technology, with new, smaller companies providing the capital necessary for business foundation. The Rochester area is important in the field of photographic processing and imaging, as well as incubating an increasingly diverse high-technology sphere encompassing STEM fields, in part the result of private startup enterprises collaborating with major academic institutions, including the University of Rochester and Cornell University.

Other organizations such as High Tech Rochester provide local startups with mentorship, office space, and other resources. Given the high prevalence of imaging and optical science among the industry and the universities, Rochester is known as the world capital of imaging. The Institute of Optics of the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology in nearby Henrietta have imaging programs. In 2006, the University of Rochester became the Rochester area's largest employer, surpassing the Eastman Kodak Company.

Arts and culture

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Gardens at the George Eastman Museum

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Strong National Museum of Play

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Geva Theatre Center in downtown Rochester

The city of Rochester is home to numerous cultural institutions. These include the Garth Fagan Dance, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rochester City Ballet, George Eastman Museum International Museum of Photography and Film, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester Museum & Science Center, the Rochester Broadway Theater League, Strong National Museum of Play, the Strasenburgh Planetarium, Hochstein School of Music & Dance, the Auditorium Theater, and numerous arts organizations. Geva Theatre Center is the city's largest professional theater. The East End Theater is on East Main Street in the theater district. The Rochester Association of Performing Arts is a non-profit organization that provides educational theater classes to the community.

Several churches are among Rochester's architectural features, including Asbury First United Methodist Church, St. Joseph's Church and Rectory, and the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, which was designed by Louis Kahn and described by Paul Goldberger as one of "the most significant works of religious architecture of the century". Significant Art Deco buildings include the Cinema Theater and Times Square Building, noted for its 42' tall "Wings of Progress" sculpture. The Midtown Plaza, the nation's first downtown shopping mall, first opened in 1962, and remains partially standing today.

Nightlife

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The Little Theatre in the East End

Rochester's East End district, located downtown, is well known as the center of the city's nightlife. It is the stopping point for East Avenue, which along with the surrounding streets is occupied by nightclubs, lounges, coffee shops, bars, and high-end restaurants. The Eastman School of Music, one of the top musical institutes in the nation, and its auditorium are also within the neighborhood. The Eastman Theatre is host to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and other musical/drama events.

There are other, smaller enclaves of after-hours activity scattered across the city. "Southeast" is the center of Rochester's prosperous arts scene, particularly in and around the Park Avenue neighborhood (which is known for its many coffee shops, cafes, bistros and boutique shops). Nearby on University Avenue can be found several plazas, like the Village Gate, which give space to contemporary bars, restaurants and art galleries that stay open late into the night. Monroe Avenue, several streets over, is filled with pubs, small restaurants, smoke shops, theaters and several clubs as well as cigar bars and hookah lounges. These neighborhoods are home to many artists, musicians, students, and Rochester's large LGBT community.

The South Wedge district, directly south of downtown, has seen significant gentrification in recent years and now is the site of many modern cafes and bars that serve the student community attending the University of Rochester several blocks away from the neighborhoods. The "Wedge" is quickly becoming one of the most vibrant areas within the city limits; its numerous nightspots keep the streets active with college students and young professionals, many of whom live there due to the abundance of affordable housing and proximity to many of the region's major hospitals, parks, and colleges.

Festivals

Rochester hosts a number of cultural festivals every year, including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, established in 2002 and one of the largest jazz festivals in America. It takes place in late June at dozens of clubs, concert halls and free outdoor stages throughout Downtown Rochester; past performers include Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, and Wynton Marsalis. A record 205,000 people attended the event in 2016. The 360/365 Film Festival is held at the George Eastman House's Dryden Theatre and the Little Theatre downtown. Several films screened at 360/365 have been honored at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. Rochester International Film Festival, the world's oldest continuously held short-film festival, is also held annually.

The Lilac Festival at Highland Park, which is the oldest and most popular festival in Rochester and the largest event of its kind in North America, is attended by over 500,000 people annually. Established in 1898, it includes multiple attractions aside from the lilacs themselves. These musical acts include the Wailers who attended in 2012 and 2014. Other notable festivals in Rochester include the Rochester Fringe Festival and the Corn Hill Arts Festival.

Cuisine

A white hot Garbage Plate from Nick Tahou Hots

One food product Rochester calls its own is the "white hot", a variant of the hot dog or smoked bratwurst made by the local Zweigle's company and other companies. Another local specialty is the "Garbage Plate", a trademark of Nick Tahou Hots that traditionally includes macaroni salad, home fries, and two hot dogs or cheeseburgers topped with mustard, onions, and their famous meat hot sauce. Many area restaurants feature copies or variations with the word "plate" commonly used as a general term. Rochester was home to French's Mustard, whose address was 1 Mustard Street.

The Ragú brand of pasta sauce used to be produced in Rochester. Some of the original facility still exists and produces products for other labels (including Newman's Own) as Private Label Foods.

Other local franchises include: Bill Gray's, DiBella's, Tom Wahl's, American Specialty Manufacturing (producers of Boss Sauce), Salvatore's Old Fashioned Pizzeria, Mark's Pizzeria, Cam's Pizzeria, Pontillo's Pizzeria, Perri's Pizzeria, Jeremiah's Tavern, and Abbott's Frozen Custard. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, which originated in Syracuse, also operates its second franchise downtown in the former Lehigh Valley Railroad station on the Genesee River.

Sports

Main article: Sports in Rochester, New York

Professional sports

Rochester has several professional sports teams:

Frontier Field, including the Rochester skyline

Rochester Community Sports Complex Stadium

Club	Sport	Began play	League	Venue	Titles
Rochester Red Wings	Baseball	1899	IL	Frontier Field	20
Rochester Kingz	Basketball	2023	ABA	Roberts Wesleyan University / Rochester Institute of Technology	0
Rochester Americans	Ice hockey	1956	AHL	Blue Cross Arena	6
Rochester Knighthawks	Indoor lacrosse	2019	NLL	Blue Cross Arena	0
Flower City Union	Soccer	2021	NISA	Rochester Community Sports Complex Stadium	1

The Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) were a professional basketball team in Rochester from 1945 to 1957 with roots as an amateur team dating back to 1923. They won the NBA title in 1951, defeating the New York Knicks in 7 games. Rochester and its surrounding area also has a rich golf history and has hosted numerous professional tournaments on its local golf courses, most recently the 2023 PGA Championship. In addition, there are numerous other amateur and club sports such as rowing and rugby. The city boasts facilities including 13 full-time recreation centers, 19 swimming programs, 3 artificial ice rinks, 66 softball/baseball fields, 47 tennis courts, 5 football fields, 7 soccer fields, and 43 outdoor basketball courts.

Collegiate

Rochester is the largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in the U.S. which does not include at least one college or university participating at the NCAA Division I level in all sports. Almost all area college sports are played at the NCAA Division III level. The only exceptions are the RIT men's and women's ice hockey teams, which compete at the Division I level, and the University of Rochester men's squash team, which is consistently ranked top 5 in Division I. RIT and UR's other sports, as well as both institutions as a whole, are in Division III. The men's team made it to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2010 and the women's team won the Division III national championship in 2012, just before switching over to Division I.

As of the 2014–2015 academic year, the only college in the Rochester area not officially classified at the Division III level is Roberts Wesleyan College, which completed its transition from membership in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA); Roberts Wesleyan was granted full membership in NCAA Division II beginning with the 2014–15 year.

Parks and recreation

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Highland Park

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Mount Hope Cemetery

The city's Victorian-era Mount Hope Cemetery includes the final resting places of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, George B. Selden, and many others. Other scenic sites are Holy Sepulchre and neighboring Riverside Cemetery. By the late nineteenth century, Mount Hope was a popular picnicking destination, and the city began to develop public parks.

Rochester's park system was initially designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead in the 1890s. The system included four major parks: Genesee Valley Park, Highland Park, Maplewood Park, and Seneca Park, the last of which is today home to the Seneca Park Zoo. Later additions to the park system include Cobb's Hill Park, Durand Eastman Park, Edgerton Park, and Ontario Beach Park. Most of the city's parks lie on the Genesee River and can be accessed by the Genesee Riverway Trail, which runs for its entire length through the city.

Government

Further information: List of mayors of Rochester, New York

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Rochester City Hall

Rochester is governed by a mayor serving as chief executive of city government and a city council consisting of four district members and five at-large members. Rochester has a Strong mayor-council form of government. Administrative officers are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. All city legislation is proposed and passed by the council, and subject to a veto by the mayor, unless a majority of two-thirds approved it. The current mayor is Malik Evans, serving since January 1, 2022.

Federal representation

The city is covered by New York's 25th congressional district currently represented by Democrat Joe Morelle of Irondequoit, Monroe County, in Congress. From 1987 until 2018, the city was represented by longtime Democrat Louise M. Slaughter of Fairport, Monroe County, in Congress.

State representation

After redistricting based on the 2020 United States census, the city was split between two state senate districts:

District	Area of the city	Senator	Party	First took office	Residence
55	Eastern	Samra Brouk	Democratic	2021	Rochester, Monroe County
56	Western	Jeremy Cooney	Democratic	2021	Rochester, Monroe County

After redistricting based on the 2020 census, the city was split between three state assembly districts:

District	Areas of the city	Assemblyperson	Party	First took office	Residence
136	Brighton, Irondequoit, northwest portion and easternmost tip of the City of Rochester	Sarah Clark	Democratic	2020	Rochester, Monroe County
137	Gates, center of the City of Rochester	Demond Meeks	Democratic	2020	Rochester, Monroe County
138	Chili, Henrietta, Riga, and the Southeast portion of the City of Rochester	Harry B. Bronson	Democratic	2011	Rochester, Monroe County

Courts

Rochester is part of the 7th Judicial District of the New York Supreme Court and the 4th Department of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

County representation

See also: Monroe County, New York § Government and politics

Rochester is represented by districts 7, 16, and 21–29 in the Monroe County legislature (a 29-seat body with legislators elected to two-year terms). Rochester is also under the jurisdiction of the county executive (currently Democrat Adam Bello) along with the rest of Monroe County. The District Attorney is also elected at the county level along with several other offices (such as Sheriff and Clerk) which in part govern the city.

Education

The City of Rochester is served by the Rochester City School District, which encompasses all public primary and secondary education. The district is governed by a popularly elected seven-member board of education. Also, parochial and private primary and secondary schools are located within the city. Rochester City Schools consistently post below-average results when compared to the rest of New York, although on-time graduation rates have improved significantly during the past three years. However, the high-school graduation rate for African-American males is lower in Rochester than in any city in the United States (9%). Rochester also offers 14 free public charter schools with 27 locations serving students K–12.

Colleges and universities

For a complete list of institutions of higher learning in the metropolitan area, see Rochester, New York metropolitan area § Colleges and universities.

See also: University of Rochester

Rush Rhees Library at the University of Rochester

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Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School

Rochester and the surrounding region host a high concentration of colleges and universities, which drive much of the economic growth in the five-county area. The University of Rochester is the only large research institution primarily within the city limits, although Monroe Community College and SUNY Brockport operate campuses downtown. The Highland Park neighborhood was home to Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (part of whose facility is leased by Ithaca College's Department of Physical Therapy) and an office maintained by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

The University of Rochester is the metropolitan area's oldest and most prominent institution of higher learning, and one of the country's top research centers. It was ranked as the 34th-best university in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for 2021 and was deemed "one of the new Ivies" by Newsweek. The nursing school has received many awards and honors and the Simon School of Business is also ranked in the top 30 in many categories. The university is also home to the Eastman School of Music, which was ranked the number-one music school in America. It was founded and endowed by George Eastman in his years as a philanthropist. He also contributed greatly to the University of Rochester from wealth based on the success of Eastman Kodak.

Five institutions began operations in the city and later moved to Rochester's inner-ring suburbs: the Empire State College Rochester Learning Center, Monroe Community College, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry and Nazareth College. Rochester was the host of the Barleywood Female University, a short-lived women's college from 1852 to 1853. The Lutheran seminary that became Wagner College was established in the city in 1883 and remained for some 35 years before moving to Staten Island.

Secondary education

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James Monroe High School

The Rochester City School District operates 14 public secondary schools, each serving grades 7 through 12.

• Dr. Alice Holloway Young School of Excellence (7–8)
• East Lower School (6–8)
• East Upper School (9–12)
• Edison Career & Technology High School (9–12)
• Franklin Lower School (7–8)
• Franklin Upper School (9–12)
• James Monroe Lower School (7–8)
• James Monroe Upper School (9–12)
• Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School (9–12)
• Northeast College Preparatory High School (9–12)
• Northwest Junior High at Douglass (7–8
• Rochester Early College International High School (9–12)
• School of the Arts (7–12)
• School Without Walls (9–12)

Rochester is home to a number of charter schools, serving grades Kindergarten through 12.

Rochester's Charter Schools

Charter School	Grades Served	Location
Academy of Health Sciences Charter School	5-8	1151 Ridgeway Ave., Rochester, NY 14615
Citizenship & Science Academy Charter School of Rochester	K-3 (expanding to 12)	151 E. Henrietta Rd., Rochester, NY 14620
Discovery Charter School	K-6	133 Hoover Dr., Rochester, NY 14615
Eugenio María de Hostos Charter School - Zimbrich Campus	K-5	27 Zimbrich St., Rochester, NY 14621
Eugenio María de Hostos Charter School - Joseph Campus	6-8	1069 Joseph Ave., Rochester, NY 14621
Eugenio María de Hostos Charter School - Kodak Campus	9-12	5th Floor – Building 10, 343 State St., Rochester, NY 14650
Exploration Elementary Charter School	K-5	1001 Lake Ave., Rochester, NY 14613
Genesee Community Charter School at Rochester Museum & Science Center	K-6	657 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14607
Genesee Community Charter School - Flour City Campus	K-3 (expanding to 6)	657 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14607
Innova Girls Academy Charter School	K-2 (expanding to 6)	546 Oxford St., Rochester, NY 14607
Renaissance Academy Charter School of the Arts	K-6	299 Kirk Rd., Rochester, NY 14612
Rochester Academy Charter School - Elementary School	K-5	310 Hinchey Rd., Rochester 14624
Rochester Academy Charter School - Middle School	6-8	841 Genesee St., Rochester, NY 14611
Rochester Academy Charter School - High School	9-12	1757 Latta Rd., Rochester, NY 14612
Rochester Academy of Science Charter School (RocSci)	K-2 & 9 (expanding to 12)	545 Humboldt St., Rochester, NY 14610
Rochester Prep Charter School - Elementary School	K-4	899 Jay St., Rochester, NY 14611
Rochester Prep Charter School - Elementary School - West Campus	K-4	305 Andrews St., Rochester, NY 14604
Rochester Prep Charter School - Elementary School 3	K-4	85 St. Jacob St., Rochester, NY 14621
Rochester Prep Charter School - Middle Schools Brooks Campus	5-8	630 Brooks Ave., Rochester, NY 14619
Rochester Prep Charter School - Middle School West Campus	5-8	432 Chili Ave., Rochester, NY 14611
Rochester Prep Charter School - Middle School 3	5-7 (expanding to 8)	85 St. Jacob St., Rochester, NY 14621
Rochester Prep Charter School - High School	9-12	14 Mark St., Rochester, NY 14605
University Prep Charter School for Young Men (lower grades)	6-7	1001 Lake Ave., Rochester, NY 14613
University Prep Charter School for Young Men (upper grades)	8-12	1290 Lake Ave., Rochester, NY 14613
Vertus High School	9-12	21 Humboldt St., Rochester, NY 14609
Young Women's College Prep Charter School	7-12	133 Hoover Dr., Rochester, NY 14615

Other private schools include McQuaid Jesuit High School, Aquinas Institute and Bishop Kearny High School.

Media

Main article: Media in Rochester, New York

The Democrat and Chronicle, a Gannett newspaper, is Rochester's main daily newspaper. There are numerous other publications and magazines that cater to many of the city's different people groups or special interests such as Insider magazine, City Newspaper, Rochester Business Journal, and the Minority Reporter. Former publications serving the city include the Rochester Post Express and Rochester Evening Journal. Rochester is also served by several local television and radio stations, with WROC-TV as the oldest television station serving the Rochester metro area.

Several movies have been filmed at least in part in Rochester, including The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014), The Tomorrow Man (2019), and Wonder Boys (2000).

Infrastructure

Transportation

Maritime

Packet boats on the Genesee River

There is marine freight service at the Port of Rochester on Lake Ontario, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Erie Canal intersects the Genesee River on the south side of the city.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of passenger ferries operated on Lake Ontario between the Port of Rochester and Canada. Service ended in 1950 when the Ontario I and Ontario II ended their route between Rochester and Cobourg.

A new ferry, the Spirit of Ontario I, operated between Rochester and Toronto from June 17, 2004, to December 12, 2005. The ferry suffered from numerous issues, including two separate pier collisions that damaged it. The initial operator, Canadian American Transportation Systems (CATS), went bankrupt by the end of the 2004 season. The city of Rochester then purchased the ferry and signed a contract with Bay Ferries Great Lakes to resume operations in 2005. The resumption of service was delayed until summer, causing the ferry to continue to operate at a loss. In 2006, the operation was shut down and the ferry was sold.

Air

Main article: Greater Rochester International Airport

Aerial View of the Greater Rochester International Airport

Rochester is served by the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (GRIA). Scheduled air service is provided by American, Allegiant, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit, and United.

FedEx founder Fred Smith has stated in several articles that Xerox's development of the copier, and its need to quickly get parts to customers, was one of the economic issues that led him to pioneer the overnight delivery business in 1971. Because Xerox manufactured its copiers in Rochester, the city was one of the original 25 cities FedEx served on its first night of operations on April 17, 1973.

In 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a $63.4 million project to renovate the GRIA. The renovations include a large canopy extending over both main entrances, solar panels, a rainwater collection system, and modern communication and security enhancements. All construction was completed by October 2018.

Rails and mass transit

See also: Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station and Rochester Subway

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Platform at the Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station

Rail service to Rochester is provided by the Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station, served by Amtrak's Empire Service between New York City and Niagara Falls, the Maple Leaf between New York City and Toronto, and the Lake Shore Limited between New York City/Boston and Chicago. Prior to 1965, Rochester had a smaller station reminiscent of New York City's "Grand Central Terminal". It was among Claude Fayette Bragdon's best works in Rochester, New York. The current station is modeled after Bragdon's work and named in honor of former longtime congresswomen Louise Slaughter.

Rochester used to be a major stop on several railroad lines. The New York Central Railroad provided service to Chicago and Buffalo to the west and Albany and New York City to the east and southeast. The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) served Buffalo and Pittsburgh until 1955. A rail route to Salamanca in southern New York State afforded connections in Salamanca to southwestern and southeastern New York State. The last long-distance train was the Northern Express/Southern Express, operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad on the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad, that went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania via Canandaigua, Elmira and Williamsport; service ended in 1971. Also serving Rochester were the Erie Railroad and Lehigh Valley Railroad.

Amtrak (passenger) and freight lines provide rail service to Rochester. Rochester has intercity and transcontinental bus service via Greyhound and Trailways.

Local bus service in Rochester and its county suburbs is provided by the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) via its Regional Transit Service (RTS) subsidiary. RTS also provides suburban service outside the immediate Rochester area and runs smaller transportation systems in outlying counties, such as WATS (Wayne Area Transportation System). All RTS routes are based out of the RTS Transit Center on Mortimer Street.

File:Rochester NY Broad Street Bridge Subway 2001.jpg

The Broad Street Aqueduct was used as a subway tunnel in the 20th century.

From 1927 to 1956, Rochester had a light rail underground transit system called the Rochester Subway. It was the smallest city in the world to have one. The subway, which was operated by the Rochester Transit Corporation, was shut down in 1956. The eastern half of the subway past Court Street became the Eastern Expressway with the western end of the open cut being filled in 1976. The tunnel was last used for freight service by Gannett Company to bring paper to the printing presses for the Democrat and Chronicle in 1997. Over the years there have been privately sponsored proposals put forth that encourage the region to support a new system, possibly using some of the old tunnel. One includes converting the Broad Street bridge tunnel—the former canal aqueduct—into an enhanced pedestrian corridor, which would also include a Rochester Transportation Museum, and a tram system.

The former canal and subway tunnel have become a frequent source of debate. Homeless people trespass in the tunnels. The city has considered multiple solutions for the space including recreating a canal way, putting the subway system back in or filling the tunnels entirely. The plan to fill the tunnels in completely generated criticism, as the cost of filling would not generate or leverage economic development. The western end of the tunnel was filled in to the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad turnout in 2010 as part of a redevelopment of the above street and the eastern end of the tunnel is undergoing redevelopment. The Broad Street aqueduct and most famous part of the tunnel is on the National Register of Historic Places being added in 1976.

Major highways and roads

Main Street looking east

Three exits off the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) serve Rochester. Rochester's expressway system, conceived in the 1950s, was designed as two concentric circles with feeder expressways from the west, south and east. The system allows for quick travel within the metropolitan area and a lack of the traffic gridlock typically found in cities of comparable size; in part this is because the system was designed to accommodate rapid travel between the suburbs and downtown, and also because it was built when the city's population was over 330,000, whereas today it is a full third less.

The Outer Loop circles just outside the city limits while the former Inner Loop once circled around the immediate downtown area within the city (the easternmost sector was closed in 2015). From the west are Lake Ontario State Parkway, NY-531 and I-490; Interstate 390 feeds from the south; and NY-104, NY-441, and I-490 approach from the east.

In the early 1970s, the Genesee Expressway Task Force, City leaders, and NYSDOT studied the feasibility of connecting the outer and inner Loops with a new southern expressway. The proposed route extended north from the I-390 and I-590 interchange in Brighton, cutting through Rochester's Swillburg neighborhood. In 1972, consultants Berger Lehman Associates recommended a new 'Busway', an expressway with dedicated bus lanes, similar to Bus Rapid Transit. The expressway extension was never built. In 2016, the City of Rochester launched the Pace Car Program. "Pace Car drivers sign a pledge to drive within the speed limit, drive courteously, yield to pedestrians and be mindful of bicyclists and others on the street."

Interstate 390 (Genesee Expressway)

• I-390 runs south–north, crossing I-90 (exit 46) and routing north through Rochester's western suburbs. Its northern end is at I-490, however, it continues north as NY-390 until it merges into the Lake Ontario State Parkway. South of I-90, I-390 runs to Avoca, where it meets with U.S. Route 15 and the Southern Tier Expressway, I-86.

Interstate 490 (Western/Eastern Expressway)

• I-490 runs west–east through Rochester, starting at Le Roy and ending in Victor. It interchanges with the two other Interstates in Rochester: I-390 at the western city limit and I-590 at the eastern limit, as well as connecting at both ends with the Thruway, I-90 (exits 47 and 45). In July 2007, a new bridge over the Genesee River was completed and named the Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge.

Interstate 590

• I-590 runs south–north through Rochester's eastern suburbs. Its southern end is at I-390, while the northern terminus is at I-490; the highway continues north to the shore of Lake Ontario as NY-590.
• In decreasing usage is the term "Can of Worms", referring to the previously dangerous at-grade intersection of Interstate 490 and expressway NY-590 on the eastern edge of the Rochester city limits, bordering the suburb of Brighton. In the 1980s, a multimillion-dollar project created a system of overpasses and ramps that reduced the danger but resulted in the loss of certain exits.

New York State Route 104 (Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway, West Ridge Road)

• NY 104 – Just east of the NY 590 interchange, NY 104 becomes the Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway and crosses the Irondequoit Bay Bridge. On the other side of the Bay Bridge, in the town of Webster, NY 104 has exits before returning to an at-grade highway at Basket Road.

New York State Route 390

• NY 390 is an extension of Interstate 390 from the I-390/I-490 interchange in Gates. The northern terminus is at the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Greece, less than a mile from the Lake Ontario shoreline.

New York State Route 590

• NY 590 is a limited-access extension of Interstate 590 that runs from an interchange between Interstate 490 and I-590 on the Brighton/Rochester border. The northern terminus is at Culver Road in Irondequoit, near Sea Breeze (the western shore of Irondequoit Bay at Lake Ontario).

Inner Loop

• The Inner Loop Runs from Interstate 490 to Main Street on the north end and from 490 to Monroe Avenue at the south end. Formerly a loop, the eastern end was demolished and replaced with a surface road between 2014 and 2017. Unsigned reference New York State Route 940T begins and ends at Interstate 490, and the rest of the Loop is part of I-490 between exits 13 and 15, including the Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge. This expressway is commonly used to define the borders of downtown Rochester.

25px Lake Ontario State Parkway

• Lake Ontario State Parkway travels from Lakeside Beach State Park in Carlton, Orleans County. The eastern end is at Lake Avenue in the city of Rochester in Monroe County.

Public safety

Fire protection and EMS services are provided by the Rochester Fire Department. The department employs 509 personnel and operates thirteen engines, six trucks, and heavy rescue from fifteen fire stations. In FY 2021-22, the department responded to 38,876 incidents. The current fire chief is Stefano Napolitano.

Law enforcement services are provided by the Rochester Police Department. The current chief of police is David Smith. Independent oversight of the department is provided by the Police Accountability Board, established in 2019 to investigate and discipline officers for misconduct. In 2023, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the board could not enforce disciplinary actions on any officers in the department, as it would violate the contract between the city and police union.

In 2019, Rochester had 1,540 reported violent crimes. That same year, Rochester had 7,142 property crime incidents. These included 33 murders, 429 robberies, 976 aggravated assaults, 1,269 burglaries, 5,222 larceny thefts, 102 forcible rapes, 651 auto thefts, and 83 acts of arson.

On November 12, 2021, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren declared a state of emergency due to a rising violent crime rate in the city, which produced the highest number of homicides of any year on record. Additional law enforcement assistance was requested from, and granted by, the state government On July 21, 2022, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans declared another state of emergency due to ongoing gun violence. Between the beginning of the calendar year and July 21, Rochester recorded 34 homicides in which a gun was involved.

Neighborhood Service Centers

Enforcement of property code violations in Rochester had been handled by the Neighborhood Empowerment Team (NET). Rather than using a centralized code-enforcement office, 10 sectors in Rochester were assigned a total of six NET offices by the city government. However, complaints have been made about the lack of consistency in the manner and severity of enforcement between NET offices. On July 16, 2008, the city announced two of the NET offices would be closed and another relocated, due to what it had found to be the high cost and low value of operating the decentralized network. Following the restructuring, the remaining offices were renamed Neighborhood Service Centers. Now, one office per city quadrant helps resolve quality-of-life issues, works with neighborhood groups, and paves the way for appropriate housing and economic development. Most code enforcement processes were consolidated into the Bureau of Inspection and Compliance within the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development located centrally in City Hall.

Notable people

See List of people from Rochester, New York

Notable individuals who were born in or lived in Rochester include American social reformer and women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony, African-American social reformer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and Kodak founder George Eastman.

Sister cities

Rochester has twelve sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International. They are all dedicated by a branched concrete walkway over the Genesee River, dubbed the Sister Cities Bridge (known as the Frank and Janet Lamb Bridge since October 2006):

Rochester's sister cities are:

• Rennes, France (1958)
• Würzburg, Germany (1964)
• Caltanissetta, Italy (1965)
• Rehovot, Israel (1972)
• Kraków, Poland (1973)
• Bamako, Mali (1975)
• Waterford, Ireland (1983)
• Veliky Novgorod, Russia (1990)
• Hamamatsu, Japan (1996)
• Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (1997)
• Xianyang, China (2007)
• Alytus, Lithuania (2009)

See also

• USS Rochester, 3 ships
• Rochester, Kent

Further reading

• Keene, Michael. Folklore and Legends of Rochester: The Mystery of Hoodoo Corner and Other Tales (2011) excerpt and text search
• McKelvey, Blake. Rochester on the Genesee: The Growth of a City (1993) excerpt and text search; 292 pp; a brief history by the leading specialist

External links

• Official website
• Greater Rochester Visitors Association
• Rochester at Curlie