Snowstorm in Syracuse
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
@thanksaj Loved living in Rochester... except for that whole being in a city thing.
Who thinks of Rochester as a city? Even downtown feels less like a city than, say, Binghamton or Utica!
Rochester is most definitely something I would consider a city. Although it was much easier to drive around then NYC or Albany. I don't think I really see Utica or Binghamton as any more or less city like...
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@coliver said:
Rochester is most definitely something I would consider a city. Although it was much easier to drive around then NYC or Albany. I don't think I really see Utica or Binghamton as any more or less city like...
Having lived in Rochester, it lacks any city feeling. It is so small and sprawling. You never get that feeling like you do in a normal city. It's like an endless suburb.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
Rochester is most definitely something I would consider a city. Although it was much easier to drive around then NYC or Albany. I don't think I really see Utica or Binghamton as any more or less city like...
Having lived in Rochester, it lacks any city feeling. It is so small and sprawling. You never get that feeling like you do in a normal city. It's like an endless suburb.
That's pretty much what I like.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
Rochester is most definitely something I would consider a city. Although it was much easier to drive around then NYC or Albany. I don't think I really see Utica or Binghamton as any more or less city like...
Having lived in Rochester, it lacks any city feeling. It is so small and sprawling. You never get that feeling like you do in a normal city. It's like an endless suburb.
Can't that be said for many southern cities as well? Even Albany has somewhat of a sprawl, although not as much as Rochester... or Buffalo for that matter.
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@thanksaj said:
That's pretty much what I like.
You should say that you like suburbs then, not that you like cities. Very different things. I like cities. I like living in high rises and being able (and needing) to walk to everything. I like public transportation and tons of people and resources.
I also like the country. The one thing that I don't like are suburbs.
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@coliver said:
Can't that be said for many southern cities as well? Even Albany has somewhat of a sprawl, although not as much as Rochester... or Buffalo for that matter.
Yes, Dallas, for example, has almost no city. It's horrible. But Austin and Houston have huge city centers.
Albany at a fraction the "size" of Rochester has so much more "city." It's all centralized and feels like a real metropolitan area. Rochester lacks that.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
That's pretty much what I like.
You should say that you like suburbs then, not that you like cities. Very different things. I like cities. I like living in high rises and being able (and needing) to walk to everything. I like public transportation and tons of people and resources.
I also like the country. The one thing that I don't like are suburbs.
I like the mix between country and high-rises, which is the suburbs.
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I can't stand high-rises. Three-story apartment buildings drive me nuts as it is!
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
Can't that be said for many southern cities as well? Even Albany has somewhat of a sprawl, although not as much as Rochester... or Buffalo for that matter.
Yes, Dallas, for example, has almost no city. It's horrible. But Austin and Houston have huge city centers.
Albany at a fraction the "size" of Rochester has so much more "city." It's all centralized and feels like a real metropolitan area. Rochester lacks that.
Oh I see what you are saying... I wasn't understanding your definition of city. I was thinking more along the lines of population density. Yes Rochester lacks a huge city center proportional to its size. It is "unique" in that way for northern cities, however I still think many southern cities like Charlotte, Jacksonville , even Atlanta have a huge suburb to city-center ratio.
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@coliver said:
Oh I see what you are saying... I wasn't understanding your definition of city. I was thinking more along the lines of population density. Yes Rochester lacks a huge city center proportional to its size. It is "unique" in that way for northern cities, however I still think many southern cities like Charlotte, Jacksonville , even Atlanta have a huge suburb to city-center ratio.
Rochester has a suburb that is expected to actually surpass the city in population. Rochester, technically, is about to become a suburb of Greece
I've worked in every city in NY almost (including places like Auburn, Jamestown, Schenectady, Poughkeepsie, Johnson City, Endicott, Cortland, Ithaca, etc.) Rochester really stands out as lacking a city feel. Even standing right in the middle of the big buildings they just feel like big buildings in a suburb. Ithaca's secondary downtown area (collegetown) actually feels more like a real city and has more to do than Rochester's actual city center.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
Oh I see what you are saying... I wasn't understanding your definition of city. I was thinking more along the lines of population density. Yes Rochester lacks a huge city center proportional to its size. It is "unique" in that way for northern cities, however I still think many southern cities like Charlotte, Jacksonville , even Atlanta have a huge suburb to city-center ratio.
Rochester has a suburb that is expected to actually surpass the city in population. Rochester, technically, is about to become a suburb of Greece
I've worked in every city in NY almost (including places like Auburn, Jamestown, Schenectady, Poughkeepsie, Johnson City, Endicott, Cortland, Ithaca, etc.) Rochester really stands out as lacking a city feel. Even standing right in the middle of the big buildings they just feel like big buildings in a suburb. Ithaca's secondary downtown area (collegetown) actually feels more like a real city and has more to do than Rochester's actual city center.
Downtown Rochester, around the Blue Cross Arena, has a pretty "city" feel, even by your definition. It isn't very big though.
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@thanksaj said:
Downtown Rochester, around the Blue Cross Arena, has a pretty "city" feel, even by your definition. It isn't very big though.
Only barely. Not as much as Ithaca does. And definitely not as much as Utica does.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
Downtown Rochester, around the Blue Cross Arena, has a pretty "city" feel, even by your definition. It isn't very big though.
Only barely. Not as much as Ithaca does. And definitely not as much as Utica does.
Utica must have changed a lot since I was there last...granted, it's been quite a few years...I don't remember Utica having much like downtown Rochester...
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@thanksaj said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
Downtown Rochester, around the Blue Cross Arena, has a pretty "city" feel, even by your definition. It isn't very big though.
Only barely. Not as much as Ithaca does. And definitely not as much as Utica does.
Utica must have changed a lot since I was there last...granted, it's been quite a few years...I don't remember Utica having much like downtown Rochester...
Utica has a large downtown area compared to its overall size.
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@thanksaj said:
Utica must have changed a lot since I was there last...granted, it's been quite a few years...I don't remember Utica having much like downtown Rochester...
From the train station (my personal pick for the best grand railroad station in the state) to the arena and south for a bit with the old hotels and banks is a very "city" feeling area. It's not large but it does have a real "urban" feel to it. Like people actually live in the city and do things there. Rochester feels like a mall (except the mall got torn down) in that it is shopping and a little bit of jobs but there is no housing downtown at all.
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@coliver said:
Utica has a large downtown area compared to its overall size.
Yeah, almost zero suburbs, all city center. Tiny city that feels way larger than it is.
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I always find it amazing the conversations that come up on these forums... getting sidetracked seems to be the best thing about it.
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@coliver said:
I always find it amazing the conversations that come up on these forums... getting sidetracked seems to be the best thing about it.
Definitely, it's a bit like real life conversations.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
I always find it amazing the conversations that come up on these forums... getting sidetracked seems to be the best thing about it.
Definitely, it's a bit like real life conversations.
Without all the human interaction... Which makes it much better.
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I actually like Utica quite a bit. @Dominica is from there so we are there all of the time. The outlying areas are pretty drab. But the city proper is quite nice. The brewery district is revitalized and really nice. There is an awesome prohibition era bar right downtown that we love. Lots of good food and if you need to stay in town hit up the Hotel Utica, it is great. Her mother works in downtown and her father works in downtown Rome (the other downtown in the area) so they know the area really well. I know much of Utica better than Rochester at this point even though I grew up with Rochester as my main city. Utica has the best train access to downtown of any upstate city. Take the train to Utica and you can walk to your hotel, restaurant and late night bars. Can't do that in Rochester.
