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University of Rochester - Local Atmosphere - Local Atmosphere - College ProwlerCollege Prowler3.08

Local Atmosphere

B-
Where does this grade come from?View all Local Atmosphere rankingsReview this school to add your opinion

Comparable Schools' Local Atmosphere Grades:

Quick Stats

Fun Local Trivia
  1. Twelve days after the famous Seneca Falls women's suffrage convention, the group came to Rochester where Susan B. Anthony became the movement's voice. Rochester is thus known as the birthplace of the women's rights movement.
  2. In 1998, Rochester was one of only 10 communities nationwide to receive the All-America City Award in recognition of its status as a great place to live.
  3. Rochester is known as the "Flower City," and its symbol is the lilac flower, which is abundant in Rochester, along with a water wheel, representing continual progress and vitality.
  4. More than 40 percent of the workforce in Rochester is made up of people in technical, scientific, professional, or precision occupations.
  5. There are 3,112 parks, malls, and green areas in Rochester and 537 miles of streets.
Notable Natives
  • Taye Diggs
  • John Lithgow
Local Slang 315er: Person from outlying, rural areas of upstate NY named for their telephone area code; somewhat derogatory
Points of Interest
  • Alexander Street
  • Downtown
  • Eastman House
  • Memorial Art Gallery
  • Public Market
  • Rochester Museum and Science Center

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

Considering the enormous amount of college students in the area, there isn’t a specific area where you will find a concentration of college students. The city of Rochester is 5 or 10 minutes away from campus, and 20 by bus, so having a car comes in handy. Eastman School of Music students have the city at their fingertips, and there are some good coffee shops and restaurants there, but for the most part the city is fairly quiet; everything tends to close early. East Avenue and the Gibbs Street area have the coffee shops and theaters, and down Alexander Street are some nicer restaurants and bars. Down in the St. Paul area are some clubs as well.

There are about seven suburbs of Rochester that surround the campus and the city. Henrietta in particular has tons of stores, malls, and restaurants as well, but they tend to be more of the franchised businesses, which is convenient if you need big-box outlets like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, or mall stores. A lot of the suburbs outside the campus are just quiet residential. If you go a few hours in any direction, however, you can find some fun. Niagara Falls is only an hour and half away, and Toronto is a few hours away. Students tend to like going up to the Falls for a night—it’s a fun day or night trip. Being in upstate New York with lots of colleges around also has its advantages. If there are concerts or people you know, you can hop down and visit easily as well.

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Rochester Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Local Atmosphere at University of Rochester

joroshiba

Mechanical Engineering '15

2.7
C+

Kind of Eh....

Rochester can be a really cool city if you really learn it's ins and outs. At first glance though it is hard to find much to do in the dying city.

Mar 22, 2012

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Local Atmosphere at University of Rochester

heezae

Economics '15

5.0
A+

University of Rochester

Rochester has a nice atmosphere. People here are really nice and they are very friendly to students of U of R. There are malls about 15 minutes away from school where you can take the school shuttle bus. Gym on campus is really nice:)

Mar 08, 2012

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Local Atmosphere at University of Rochester

collegefinger

Film and Video Studies '15

4.2
A-

Give it a chance.

Rochester is a hidden gem. True, it's not a metropolitan city but it's not an abandoned town either (sort of). You have to be pretty explorative to find some stuff, but there really is some nice things here. There are pubs and clubs down at Alexander Street, a neat little art scene, some awesome indie bands play here (avicii, anyone?) and the restaurants are awesome. It's pretty much a hipster's dream. But if you want to go anywhere, you need a car. Or plan accordingly with the shuttles and a map.

If you're adventurous enough, you could always drive out to a campground for a weekend with friends by the lakes, or go to the beach if it's in season.

During breaks, you could always go to Toronto and NYC, not that far away either.

And even if the city starts to turn creepy, going back to U of R always feels better.

People tend to complain a lot because they're so absorbed by the U of R bubble. If you broke away and actually got out and looked around, you might be able to see some cool stuff. I'm a freshman, and I've seen a lot of awesome things already. Though, I admit transportation is a bit of an issue.

Feb 08, 2012

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Page 1 of 10
User rating for University of Rochester - Local Atmosphere is 3.5 out of 5 based on 30 user reviews.

Student Survey Poll ResultsWhat's This?

Rate the local atmosphere on the following topics

What is the local atmosphere like at your school?

What is the proximity to other universities? Is there much interaction?

Can you see yourself living here after graduation?

Facts

Shopping Centers
  • Eastview Mall
  • Marketplace Mall
  • Pittsford Plaza
Major Sports Teams
  • Rochester Americans: minor league hockey
  • Rochester Razorsharks: basketball
  • Rochester Redwings: minor league baseball
  • Rochester Rhinos: soccer
City Web Sites
Distances to Nearest Major Cities
  • New York City: NY: 6 hours
  • Toronto: ON: 3 hours

Movie TheatersWhat's This?

Cinemark IMAX
2291 Buffalo Rd.
Rochester
(585) 426-2629

Marketplace Cinema 7
1100 Miracle Mile Dr.
Rochester
(585) 272-7420

Movie 10
2613 W. Henrietta Rd.
Rochester
(585) 292-5840

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Most Recent Student Author View all

Name
Dave Levy
Hometown
Randolph, NJ
Major
History and International Relations

College Prowler is seeking talented student authors to assist with writing and updating the College Prowler guides to their schools. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain experience and tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is really like at your college.

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How do we get our information? Find out here or report an error here. The statistics on our site are from the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS database.
We update this information twice annually, most recently in May 2012, but it may not be the most recent information available for a particular school.
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