Rochester

Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers. 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. Rochester rose to prominence as the birthplace and home of some of America's most iconic companies, in particular Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch & Lomb. The Rochester metro is ranked highly in terms of livability and quality of life and is often considered to be one the best places in America for families due to low cost of living, highly ranked public schools and a low unemployment rate. Rochester is also known for its music culture and is home to several world-famous museums such as The Strong National Museum of Play and the George Eastman Museum, which houses the oldest photography collection in the world. It is the site of multiple major festivals every year (such as the Lilac Festival, the aforementioned Jazz Festival and the Rochester Fringe Festival, and others that draw hundreds of thousands of attendees each) The Rochester International Jazz Festival anchor a vibrant music industry, ranked as one ofthe top-10 music scenes in the US. Rochester's gross metropolitan product is US$50.6 billionabove those of Albany and Syracuse, but below that of Buffalo. Rochester has also played a key part in US history as a hub for certain important social and political movements, especially abolitionism and the women's rights movement.

History

Rochester is the primary city name, but also Brighton are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is City of Rochester. 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. In 1847, Frederick Douglass founded the abolitionist newspaper, the North Star in Rochester. Susan B. Anthony, a national leader of the women's suffrage movement, lived in Rochester for several years in the late 19th century. Rochester had significant unrest in labor, race, and anti-war protests during the Civil War. Rochester is a National Historic Landmark as the home of the National Susan B Anthony Museum and Museum. It is also home to the National Museum of the American Indian, which was established in 1872. The city's nickname is the Flower City, because of its large number of nursery businesses. It was also called the "Young Lion" due to its rapid growth in the early 20th century, when the Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed. The name Rochester was first used in the 18th century as a nickname for the city's wheat-processing industry. Rochester was named after the Rochester, New York, town, where the first flour was produced. The town's name is derived from the Rochester River, which runs through the center of the city, and was once known as the Young Lion River. The word Rochester means "young lion" or "lion" in English, and "boom town" means "booming town" in French.

Geography

Rochester is located at 43°956N 77°3641W (43.165496, 77.611504) in Upstate New York. The city is about 73 miles (120 km) east-northeast of Buffalo and about 87 miles (140 km) west of Syracuse. Albany, the state capital, is 226 miles (360 km) to the east; it sits on Lake Ontario's southern shore. The Genesee River bisects the city. 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). The principal source of water is Hemlock Lake, which, with its watershed, is owned by the state of New York, and other water sources include Canadice Lake and Lake Ontario. Rochester has a number of neighborhoods, including the 19th Ward, Beechwood, Browncroft, Cascade District, Cobbs Hill, Charlotte, Corn Hill, Dewey, Dutchtown, Edgerton, German Village, Grove Place, High Falls District, Highland Park, Maplewood (10th Ward), Marketview Heights, Mt. Read, North Winton Village, Neighborhood of the Arts, Plymouth-Exchange, Southwest, East End, South Wedge, Susan B. Anthony, Upper Monroe, and more.

Demographics

In 2020, for the first time in 200 years, Rochester dropped to fourth most populous city in the state behind Yonkers. Rochester has become a major center for immigration, particularly for arrivals from Eastern and Southeastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean. 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 2012, Rochester had 28,000 reported violent crimes, compared to a national average rate of 553.5 crimes per 100,000 people. That same year, Rochester reported 827 personal-crime incidents and 11,054 property crimes. In 2013, the city had the highest percentage of Puerto Ricans of any major U.S. city in 2013, one of the four largest Turkish American communities, and a large concentration of Polish Americans along with nearby Buffalo, New York. In 1938, Rochester's population was roughly half Protestant and half Catholic, although a significant Jewish population was also present. In 2018, Rochester ranked number 9 in the nation for the largest Italian population inThe United States in 2018, with a population of 211,328. In 2010, of 88,999 households, 30.0% had children under 18 living with them, and 25.1% were married couples living together. The median income for a city household was $27,123, and for a family was $31,257. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 87.3 males. The per capita income for the city was $15,588.

Economy

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. 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. In 2006, the University of Rochester became the Rochester area's largest employer, surpassing the Eastman Kodak Company. 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. The Rochester area is important in the field of photographic processing and imaging, and is incubating an increasingly diverse high-technology sphere encompassing STEM fields. Other organizations such as High Tech Rochester provide local startups with mentorship, office space, and other resources. 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).

Government and politics

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. Mayor Malik Evans was sworn in as mayor at midnight on January 1, 2022. The city is covered by New York's 25th congressional district currently represented by Democrat Joe Morelle of Irondequoit, Monroe County, in Congress. Rochester is represented by districts 7, 16, and 2129 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. Rochester has played an important role in both regional and national politics at various points over the past 150 years (particularly as a hub for American Progressivism and sweeping social and cultural movements). It was one of the key centers of Abolitionism and a top destination for freed and escaped slaves, most notably Frederick Douglass, who settled in Rochester and did most of his work and writings there, including publishing The North Star. A critical suffragettes' convention was held in 1848 in nearby Seneca Falls, and Rochester was the home base of Susan B. Anthony (the most prominent American leader in the fight for women's voting rights) and other notable Suffragettes like Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Fire department

The Rochester Fire Department (RFD) is the third-largest fire department in the state of New York. It operates from 16 fire stations throughout the city. The department operates 13 engines, six ladders, one heavy rescue, two hazardous material units, a fireboat, and a salvage unit (Rochester Protectives) Around 90% of RFD personnel are certified NY State EMTs and roughly 50% of the calls each year are for EMS. The RFD also operates its own apparatus repair division at the Public Safety Training Facility. The chief of department is Willie Jackson. He has been the chief of the RFD for the past three years. He is the first African-American chief of a fire department to hold the position. He took over from the late, legendary fire chief, William "Bill" Curnow, who died in a fire on December 31, 2009. He was the first black fire chief in the city's history. The city is home to about 500 professional firefighters. RFD responds to around 40,000 emergency calls annually. It has about 87 front-line members work each shift, including chief officers and fire investigation (not including staff divisions such as Fire Safety, the Training Academy, and Supply Depot). The department has a budget of about $1.2 million a year. It is the state's third largest fire department, after New York City and Buffalo. It responds to about 40,00 emergency calls a year, with about half of those being EMS calls.

Education

The City of Rochester is served by the Rochester City School District, which encompasses all public primary and secondary education. Rochester also offers 15 free public charter schools with 26 locations serving students K12. 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. 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. The high-school graduation rate for African-American males is lower in Rochester than in any city in the United States (9%). 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. The Empire State College Rochester Learning Center moved from its Prince Street address to Irondequoit in 1999. Rochester Institute of Technology moved from South Washington Street to Henrietta, also in 1968. St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry moved from space leased in Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School to Pittsford in 2003. Rochester is 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. It also contributed greatly to the University of Rochester from wealth based on the success of Eastman Kodak.

Culture and recreation

Rochester's East End district, located downtown, is well known as the center of the city's nightlife. The South Wedge district, directly south of downtown, has seen significant gentrification in recent years. The city's Victorian-era Mt. Hope Cemetery includes the final resting places of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, George B. Selden, and many others. Rochester's parks include Highland, Cobb's Hill, Durand Eastman, Genesee Valley, Maplewood, Edgerton, Seneca, Turning Point, and Ontario Beach; four of these were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. As a legacy of its time as "The Flower City", Rochester hosts a Lilac Festival for ten days every May, when nearly 400 varieties of lilacs bloom, and 100,000 visitors arrive. The Rochester International Jazz Festival is 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. A record 205,000 people attended the 360 Film Festival at the George Eastman High-Falls International Film Festival (formerly the Little Theatre) in 2016. Several films screened at the festival have been honored at the Golden Globes and the Golden Globe Awards. These musical acts include the Wailers who attended the festival in 2012 and 2014, and the musical acts themselves include Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea and Wy Marsalis.

Transportation

Rochester used to be a major stop on several railroad lines. The city was one of the original 25 cities FedEx served on its first night of operations on April 17, 1973. Rail service to Rochester is provided by Amtrak's Empire Service between New York City and Niagara Falls. Local bus service is also provided by the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transit Service (RTS) RTS also provides suburban service outside the immediate Rochester area through its subsidiary RTS Transit Center on Mortimer Street in the town of Mortimer. 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. A short-lived, high-speed passenger/vehicle ferry Spirit of Ontario I built in Australia, nicknamed The Breeze or The Fast Ferry, linked Rochester to Toronto across Lake Ontario. In 2010, the GRIA was ranked the 14th-least expensive airport in the United States by Cheapflights. The last long-distance train in a southern direction was the Northern Southern Express that went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, via Canandaigua, in 1971. Also serving Rochester was the Erie Railroad and Lehigh Valley Railroad, which went to Erie, Williamsport, and Williamsport in 1971, and Erie, Elmira, and Elmira in 1971; service ended in 1971 and 1971 respectively. Rochester has a smaller station reminiscent of New York's "Grand Central Terminal" It was among Claude Fayette Bragdon's best works in Rochester, New York.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Rochester, Monroe County, New York = 77. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 48. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 40. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Rochester = 3.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 2,006 individuals with a median age of 33.5 age the population dropped by -6.67% in Rochester, Monroe County, New York population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 5,909.45 residents per square mile of area (2,281.62/km²). There are average 2.34 people per household in the 82,840 households with an average household income of $29,117 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 10.70% of the available work force and has dropped -3.04% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 23.22%. The number of physicians in Rochester per 100,000 population = 298.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Rochester = 32.2 inches and the annual snowfall = 85.6 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 161. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 165. 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 53, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Rochester, Monroe County, New York which are owned by the occupant = 34.37%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 19.7 years with median home cost = $82,860 and home appreciation of 3.95%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $28.04 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,141 per student. There are 14.2 students for each teacher in the school, 530 students for each Librarian and 393 students for each Counselor. 7.71% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 12.44% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 8.30% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).