chris wrote:
West Irondequoit. As for suburban flight, that's not exactly something only happening in Rochester, now is it?
No, but in a rust belt region with stagnant overall population it causes major problems. Now, in addition to the city core being 'rotten', the first ring of older suburbs are decaying (parts of henrietta, brighton, greece, etc).
chris wrote:
Well, *I* have a high tech job, and I work for a boatload of people doing a lot of high tech research. What exactly are your job qualifications?
I have a job in software development sales and lots of experience selling J2EE and Web Services development/testing/etc. Problem for me is that there isn't much demand here for high end technology development and i'd have to bite the bullet and sell sys admin or web design services or cars i guess.
chris wrote:
That's a fact of life for about, oh, HALF OF THE UNITED STATES. That's also why we have these things called "garages".
Personal preference there, I've lived here 12 years after places like Seattle, Richmond, South Carolina, and Florida and will just never like the weather here.
chris wrote:
Can't answer that...it's been an awfully long time since I could go out at night. :(
you're not missing much, i haven't bothered to go out much lately.
chris wrote:Music Scene?
Water Street Music Hall? Jazz Fesival? MusicFest?
Sure the music hall can be fun, i've had fun myself doing nitrus baloons on the street waiting for 'great' bands like the buddahood and United Booty Foundation.
chris wrote: Maggie Brooks (and the Republican legislature which does whatever it can to fuck over the city even though without Rochester there wouldn't be their beloved Pittsford):Examples please.
Sure thing:
- Frontier Field:
http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gbase ... oid%3A1685
- Two words, School Nurses: County government had obligation to continue decade long practice of providing school nurses to ALL schools within Monroe county.
- County stopped helping to fix roads inside the city even though it controls the budget for the Rochester Transit authority
- downtown DMV: county could have kept open the downtown DMV, the closure of which makes life difficult for city residents and puts the last nail in the coffin of the sibley building.
chris wrote:
140,000 people rode the ferry for the 80 days it was running. The ferry sits idle NOT because of a lack of customers, but because of customs issues and delays in allowing commercial cargo. I also know for a fact that a number of Canadians came down from Toronto to see what was up (and to enjoy the favorable exchange rate).
True, the biggest problem is just bad business. For the owners to go forward purchasing a $42M boat partially with public money, they should have had CONTRACTS and APPROVALS instead of Assumptions about customs and cargo. Canadian interest is marked by the quality of the port they have built as part of the deal:
Architecture Canada wrote:
February 26 2004: Toronto ferry port a pathetic afterthought
The Globe and Mail
Some cities build ferry terminals that redefine architecture. Toronto is building a cheap metal shed that architects were given one month to design. After years of waiting for something better to happen along the waterfront, the lowest form of public architecture is being dished out. Patience isn't a virtue -- it's a trap laid out for the unsuspecting. The Toronto Ferry Terminal, which will connect the city with Rochester, N.Y., is like the crappy little bauble that comes wobbling out of a bubble-gum machine -- and breaks the moment you try it on.
chris wrote:
Ya know, if you dared spend more than $200/month on an apartment, you'd probably find some nice places to live.
more like 650 for a 2 bedroom in corn hill which is supposed to be an ok urban neighborhood.
chris wrote:Police patrols of the park are common because of the potential for trouble during the summer. That's pretty much true of anyplace where drinking and partying go on, not to mention the fact that people like to drag race down there. As for the swimming, anybody who swims on a beach where signs saying DO NOT SWIM are prominently displayed deserves to drown.
Yeah, wonderful. Rochester has miles and miles of shoreline but the water is either too polluted (city pier) or too polluted with no lifeguards (durand, etc). A quiet evening with a girl on the beach shouldn't be off limits but it is. During the day, it's obvious the Sherrifs are mainly concerned with issuing as many tickets as possible, not keeping the peace.
chris wrote:
Never been a problem for me.
Must never have had to try to spend a quiet evening with a woman on the beach. I've done it in the Florida Keys but it's not allowed here.
chris wrote:
I'll agree that Doyle fucked up a lot of things, and that the Republicans basically control the county. However, Frontier Field is not a fuckup, and Renaissance Square is just something on paper at this point...there's no state funding for it this year. I also find it ironic that you complain about how shitty downtown is, then complain when somebody tries to do something about it.
The question about Frontier field is why it was built mainly by firms (law firms, engineering firms, construction firms) which are big Republican donors and why was it over budget with structural deficiencies that cost extra. The question about the bus station which has morphed into Ren. Square is why people that actually live in the city don't seem to have much of a voice in the project.
chris wrote:
There's lots of cultural diversity here, lots of downtown festivals, good retail (especially Wegmans), good traffic, lots of good food, good schools (at least mine), quick access to Canada, etc.
Sure, the festivals were fun for me the first few years but then they became more of the same. Wegmans is great but Safeway and Publix are good too all over the country, not to mention Supercenters. Traffic is fine, so is the variety of ethnic restaurants. Schools are great if the tax base is fine and concentrated poverty is low, glad you are in a good district.
chris wrote:Go for it!
I intend to, thanks for the encouragement.
