Rochester - A Great Place to Live
Every day businesses in the Greater Rochester region are moving people to and from our community. REALTORS® often serve as the first point of contact for these relocating individuals and families and part of our job is to introduce them to what we have to offer.
To be honest, I have worked with a few clients in the past who have been reluctant at first to move to Rochester. They have heard about the lagging upstate economy, the job layoffs and let's not forget the snow....
Down the road when it's time for another move, these same clients are often sad to go because they have come to appreciate the excellent quality of life that the region offers. Some clients even decide to make Rochester their permanent home.
One of the first surprises for many out-of-town buyers is our housing prices. Some of these people are moving from metropolitan areas where the median sale price can range anywhere from $300,000 - $500,000. The median sale price in the Greater Rochester area is $118,000 (June 2008). Clients are amazed at the amount of home they can afford as well as the large lot sizes that are often available.
The diverse neighborhoods, towns and housing types are also very attractive to buyers coming in from out of town. There's something for everyone's taste whether it's a quaint Victorian in any of our villages, a beautiful Queen Anne-style mansion in the Northeast Quadrant, a charming cottage on Conesus Lake, a ranch-style home in the suburbs, or a modern town home in downtown Rochester. We have single- double- and multi-family dwellings; riverside, canalside and lakefront properties; historic landmarks and new houses built to suit; urbane downtown dwellings, suburban housing tracts and rural developments.
There are tremendous educational opportunities available for everyone. Public schools have excellent athletic programs and state-of-the-art facilities. Advanced Placement courses are available to students, as well as creative learning opportunities to help students with career-building skills.
Our public school system provides a good learning environment for our children. Forbes Magazine ranked Rochester as one of the top 10 metro areas with the best education opportunities. In the City School District, 72% of graduates go on to college. In our suburban school districts, up to 94% of graduates go on to college. According to the U.S. Census, 84.4% of residents in the region are high school graduates and over 27% have attained a Bachelor's Degree or higher.
Our community is home to a number of world renowned universities and colleges, such as the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester. Scientists from RIT have participated in an ongoing international project that works on recovering lost information and preserving texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. The U of R is ranked as one of the top 50 national research universities. U of R faculty and alumni have included eight Nobel Prize winners and 11 Pulitzer Prize winners (from www.rochester.edu). The Eastman School of Music ranks first in graduate music programs in the country according to a recent survey conducted by U.S. News & World Reports.
The cultural attractions Rochester offers are numerous as well. We have a diverse, rich mix of cultures and during the summer months we celebrate these cultures at the various festivals held. People from all over turn out for the annual Ukrainian, Polish, Greek and Puerto Rican Festivals, to name a few.
Arts and crafts festivals are popular as well, with the annual Corn Hill, Park Avenue and Clothesline Festivals. The Erie Canal is an important part of many of our villages and is celebrated through the various "Canal Days" festivals that take place each year. Wine is another important commodity in our region and the wineries of the Finger Lakes host a variety of festivals and activities throughout the year.
Looking for some entertainment? Rochester plays host to annual jazz and musical festivals during the year that attract top talents and we also have one of the top 20 orchestras in the nation right here in town. Theater and the arts are embraced by the community. Broadway shows come to town and other options abound such as Geva or the Downstairs Cabaret Theater. We have beautiful museums and science centers, from the Memorial Art Gallery to the George Eastman House Museum of Photography and Film to the Strassenberg Planetarium.
Money Magazine ranked our region as one of the top 10 places to vacation. The Rochester area has a rich history. Home to Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas, Rochester was a hotbed of activity for the women's suffrage and abolitionist movements. George Eastman revolutionized the film industry and built his impressive home on East Avenue. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, resided in Palmyra where the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant is still held.
One of the main attractions of our region to travelers and residents alike is the change of seasons and variety of things to do during each. Spring in Rochester is beautiful and celebrated with the annual Lilac Festival.
Our waterways offer endless outdoor activities in the summer months. There are boat tours available of the Erie Canal and many of the Finger Lakes. We have clean beaches that are free to the public, or relatively inexpensive. Historic landmarks include the lighthouses at Charlotte and Sodus. And fishing is a year-round activity, from casting a pole on the side of the canal or Genesee River to taking a chartered boat out on Lake Ontario to ice fishing in the winter months.
The breathtaking fall foliage is something that many people across America never see and creates a beautiful segue into the arrival of winter snows. The hilly landscape of Upstate New York makes for beautiful ski slopes and what would winter be without ice skating and sledding?
But what about the economy? A recent report by Robert Huggins Associates of Cardiff, Wales ranked the world's 50 strongest economic regions based on 17 indicators, including employment in IT, computer manufacturing, per capita R&D spending, labor productivity and per capita Internet hosts. Not only did Rochester make this list, it came in fourth, behind only San Francisco, Austin, Texas, and Boston.
Were it not for space limitations I could go on listing all of the assets that make the Greater Rochester region attractive to out-of-town buyers - and to current residents too. The bottom line is that our community offers an exceptional quality of life that can't easily be found elsewhere, which is why so many of us choose to call it home.
Steve Vaisey
RE/MAX Plus
2171 Monroe Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618
Phone: 585-223-7000
Fax: 585-279-8181
E-mail: stevevaisey@remax.net
Web: www.SteveVaisey.com
Newsletter: http://realtytimes.com/c/SteveVaisey
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