Rochester, New York, Marie's Hometown

[Kellie19891992]

Rochester, also known as both The Flour City and The Flower City, is a city in Monroe County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, Rochester had a population of 219,773. As of 2004, the population given by the U.S. Census Bureau was 212,481, making this the third largest city in New York State. Rochester is also the county seat for Monroe County.

The City of Rochester is at the center of a larger Metropolitan Area which encompasses and extends past Monroe County and includes Genesee County, Livingston County, Ontario County, Orleans County, and Wayne County. This larger conurbation, or Metropolitan Area, has a population of 1,037,831 people as of the 2000 Census. As of July 1, 2005, this population rose slightly to 1,039,028.[1] Principal suburbs of the city include Brighton, Chili, East Rochester, Fairport, Gates, Greece, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Penfield, Pittsford and Webster.

The current Mayor of Rochester is Robert Duffy.


Founding and early history

Main article: History of Rochester, New York

On November 8, 1803, a one-hundred acre (ca. 40 ha) tract of land in Western New York along the Genesee River was purchased by Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, Major Charles Carroll, and Colonel William Fitzhugh, all of Hagerstown, Maryland. The site was chosen because of three cataracts on the Genesee, offering great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of fifteen, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts. In 1817, the Brown brothers (of Brown's Race) and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the Village of Rochesterville.

By 1821, Rochesterville was named as the seat of Monroe County. By 1823, Rochesterville consisted of 1012 acres and 2,500 residents, and the Village of Rochesterville became known as Rochester. Also in 1823, the Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, and the Erie Canal east to the Hudson River was opened. Later, after the advent of railroads, the presence of the canal in the center city became bothersome, and it was re-routed south of Rochester. By 1830, Rochester's population was 9,200, and in 1834, it was re-chartered as a city.

Rochester became known first as "The Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, Rochester was the largest flour-producing city in the world, and by 1840, it was the 19th largest city in America, with a population of 20,191. With the population having doubled in only ten years, Rochester became known as America's first "boomtown."

In 1847 Frederick Douglass founded the abolitonist newspaper The North Star in Rochester. Douglass, a former slave and a prominent antislavery speaker and writer, gained a circulation of over 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. The North Star served as an important forum for abolitionist views.

In the early 20th century, Rochester also became a center of the garment industry, particularly in men's fashions. It was the home of such well-known enterprises as Fashion Park and Hickey-Freeman.

The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900, and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, population of the city had reached an all-time high of 332,488. By 2000, the population had declined to 219,773.

Geography and climate

Barges on the Genesee River
Rochester skyline from the Cobbs Hill water reservoir (Rochester, New York)
View of downtown from BlueCross Arena (Rochester, New York)Rochester is located at 43°9′56″N, 77°36′41″W (43.165496, -77.611504).GR1 Rochester is east of Buffalo and west of Syracuse.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 96.1 km² (37.1 mi²). 92.8 km² (35.8 mi²) of it is land and 3.3 km² (1.3 mi²) of it (3.42%) is water.

Rochester's geography comes from the glaciers during the Cenozoic era. The retreating glaciers created the Genesee Valley and left rolling hills (drumlin fields) around it, including (from west to east) Mt. Hope, the rolling hills of Highland Park, Pinnacle Hill and Cobb's Hill. These glaciers also left behind Lake Ontario (one of the five fresh-water Great Lakes), the Genesee River with its waterfalls and gorges, Irondequoit, Sodus and Braddock's Bays, numerous local streams and ponds, the Ridge, and the nearby Finger Lakes.

According to the City of Rochester, the city presently has 537 miles (864 km) of public streets, 585 miles (941 km) of water mains, 44 vehicular and 8 pedestrian bridges, 11 public libraries, 2 police stations (1 for the east side, 1 west (formerly 7)), and 16 fire stations. The principal source of the city's water is Hemlock Lake, which, with its watershed, is wholly owned by the city. Other water sources are Canadice Lake and Lake Ontario. The 30 year annual average snowfall is 95.0 inches (2.4 m). The mean July temperature is 71.3 ºF (21.8 ºC), and the mean February temperature is 23.6 ºF (−4.7 ºC).

Rochester has 4 distinct seasons, although its often cold and snowy winters may garner the most attention. Autumn features brilliant foliage colors, and summer sees warm comfortable temperatures that usually stay in the low to mid 70's.

Demographics
Rochester
Population (1840-2004)[2]
1840 20,191
1850 36,403
1860 48,204
1870 62,386
1880 89,366
1890 133,896
1900 162,608
1910 218,149
1920 295,750
1930 328,132
1940 324,975
1950 332,488
1960 318,611
1970 296,233
1980 241,741
1990 231,636
2000 219,773
2004 212,481
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 219,773 people, 88,999 households, and 47,169 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,368.3/km² (6,132.9/mi²). There were 99,789 housing units at an average density of 1,075.3/km² (2,784.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 48.30% White, 38.55% African American, 0.47% Native American, 2.25% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 6.58% from other races, and 3.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.75% of the population. Rochester also has the largest deaf population per capita in the United States.

There were 88,999 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.1% were married couples living together, 23.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.0% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.1% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 32.2% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,123, and the median income for a family was $31,257. Males had a median income of $30,521, versus $25,139 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,588. About 23.4% of families and 25.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.5% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.


[edit] Economy
The Rochester area is home to a number of international businesses, including Fortune 1000 companies Eastman Kodak, Constellation Brands, and Paychex. Other international companies with local headquarters are Bausch & Lomb, Sutherland Global Services, Rochester Midland Corporation, and Gleason Corporation. Xerox, while no longer headquartered in Rochester, has its principal offices and manufacturing facilities in the Rochester area. Because of the high prevalence of imaging and optical science among the industry and the universities, Rochester is known as the world capital of imaging. The Institute of Optics of the University of Rochester is ranked number one in the country, and the Rochester Institute of Technology has one of the best imaging science departments in the country. In 2005, the University of Rochester became the largest employer in the Rochester area, surpassing Kodak.

Rochester is also home to regional businesses such as Frontier Telephone of Rochester, Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., High Falls Brewing Company, Roberts Communications, Inc., PAETEC Communications and major fashion label Hickey-Freeman. The Gannett newspaper company and Western Union were both founded in the Rochester area by Frank Gannett and Hiram Sibley respectively.

Because of Rochester's history as a high-tech city, it avoided the steep decline seen by most other cities across the great lakes and Upstate New York in the 1970s and 1980s. Out of the three largest metroplitan areas in Upstate NY, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse; Rochester was the only one to gain population every census between 1970 and 2000. (Syracuse's metropolitan area gained population in the 1970s and 1980s, albeit less than Rochester's, but saw a population decline in the 1990s)

Currently Rochester is experiencing job loss from some of the city's larger industrial employers (primarily due to large cutbacks at Kodak). On the other hand, the Rochester area's increasingly diversified economy has supported the growth of entrepreneurship throughout the region.


[edit] Food
One food that Rochester is proud to call its own is the famous "white hot," made by the local Zweigle's company, which can be found at numerous area restaurants and hot dog stands. Another is the "garbage plate," first served at Nick Tahou Hots.

The area was the birthplace of the Wegmans Grocery store chain, which now has locations throughout the Northeast and Northern Virginia. In 2005, they were rated the #1 best company in America to work for by Fortune Magazine.

Rochester is the home of the headquarters of Red Osier, a restaurant with locations at the airport, Frontier Field, Paetec Park, and many of the area's festivals.

Other local franchises include: Bill Gray's (a hamburger/hotdog joint that lays claim to having "The World's Greatest Cheeseburger"), Tom Wahl's, and Abbott's Frozen Custard.


[edit] Major area shopping centers
Eastview Mall (Victor, New York)
The Mall at Greece Ridge Center (Greece, New York)
Medley Centre (formerly known as Irondequoit Mall) (Irondequoit, New York)
Rochester Public Market
Village Gate Square
Marketplace Mall (Henrietta, New York)
Midtown Plaza
Pittsford Plaza (Pittsford, New York)

[edit] Top 5 employers
As of 2005, the top employers in the city are:

University of Rochester/Strong Health—17,075
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.—14,897
Eastman Kodak—14,100
Xerox—8,450
ViaHealth—6,565

[edit] Companies
Rochester is known for and is home to Eastman Kodak Company [3]. It is also the home of industrial giant Bausch & Lomb [4], and once was the home for both Xerox Corporation's [5] corporate headquarters and and Gannett's [6] headquarters. Wegmans [7] grocery store chain also calls Rochester home. Payroll giant Paychex [8] is also headquartered in suburban Rochester.

Other major companies in the Rochester metro include:

Bird's Eye: Producer of frozen and packaged foods.
Constellation Brands: Largest wine producer in the world
Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield Health care / insurance
High Falls Brewing Co. (formerly Genesee Brewing Co.): Brewery
Frontier Telephone, a Citizens Communications company: telecommunications
PAETEC Communications: telecommunications
Many companies not as well known are found here.

Alstom: produces railroad equipment and systems
BlueTie: IT firm
Don Alleson Athletic: creates professional league jerseys for many national teams
Genencor International: biotechnology company, manufactures enzymes
Harris Interactive: the #1 online survey firm
HeluvaGood: cheese manufacturer
Hickey-Freeman/Bobby Jones: creator of hand made suits and clothing
Home Properties: national real estate owner of apartment complexes
Monro Muffler: national chain of stores providing automotive undercar repair and tire services
People's Pottery: national home store chain
Pictometry: oblique aerial photography
Sutherland Global Services is headquartered in Rochester and has 17500+ employees world wide. [9]
Thomson West: publisher of Law books
Wergo, Inc.: Personal Training Company
Zweigle's: manufacturer of hot dogs and sausages
Many large companies also have divisions housed in Rochester.

Coca-Cola: has a bottling plant here
Delphi: research and development department
General Motors: hydrogen powered research and development
Getinge-Castle: US division of stainless steel instruments.
Harris RF: engineers radios and communications equipment
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen: US division of the printer corporation
ITT Corporation: Space Systems Division is headquartered in Rochester
Johnson & Johnson: Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics division
Kraft Foods: produces the nation's Cool Whip and Lunchables near Rochester
Samuel Adams (Boston Beer Company) has beer bottled in Rochester at High Falls Brewery.
Frito-Lay, Staples, and FedEx also have large distribution facilities located in the Rochester area.

[edit] Crime
Statistics from 2005 report 53 murders, 100 forcible rapes, 1,026 robberies, 795 aggrevated assaults, 2,758 burglaries, 8,826 larceny thefts and 2,244 vehicle thefts in the City of Rochester.[citation needed]


[edit] Education

Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity SchoolEducation is a primary industry in Rochester. The city and its suburbs are home to a number of colleges and universities, including the University of Rochester, the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry, Rochester Institute of Technology, Saint John Fisher College, Roberts Wesleyan College, Nazareth College, Monroe Community College, and the Eastman School of Music. Together with Alfred University, SUNY Brockport, Empire State College and SUNY Geneseo, each within an hour of Rochester, these institutions comprise the Rochester Area Colleges consortium.

These schools are known for many great reasons. RIT is the tenth largest private University in the country in terms of full-time students and is known for its science, computer, engineering, and art programs. RIT is also home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, with an outstanding program for the education of deaf people and a top ranked American Sign Language program. MCC is known as one of the best community college systems in the nation, and has a very high ranked soccer team. MCC is home to The Mercer Gallery where students and artists from all over the country exhibit work on a regular basis, located on MCC's Brighton Campus.

The University of Rochester, consistently ranked among the top 40 universities in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and deemed by Newsweek "one of the new Ivies," has some of the best undergraduate programs in the country when it comes to the arts, sciences, and engineering, and the medical school has top ranked research programs and one of the best primary care curricula in the nation. The business school is also at the top of its class in many categories.


River Campus of the University of RochesterThe University of Rochester's Laboratory For Laser Energetics (LLE) is home to the second highest energy laser in the world, the OMEGA laser. OMEGA is capable of emitting light at a power 100 times the electrical power output of the country in less than one billionth of a second. The LLE is currently constructing the OMEGA EP laser, which will be 50 times more powerful than OMEGA and will be the most powerful laser in the world, able to manifest power densities high enough to examine hawking radiation-like phenomena in the laboratory. The U of R's Laboratory for Laser Energetics is especially important now, because it serves at the US's main laser fusion program while the Department of Energy is building the National Ignition Facility. "The Laboratory for Laser Energetics has played a leading, national role in efforts to develop nuclear fusion as a reliable energy source and in the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship program," says University President Joel Seligman.

The University of Rochester is also home to its Eastman School of Music, which, according to U.S. News and World Report, is ranked the number one music school in America.


[edit] Culture and recreation
Rochester is home to a number of cultural institutions including Garth Fagan Dance [10], the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, the Memorial Art Gallery, the Rochester Museum & Science Center, the Strong - National Museum of Play, the A|V Room, the Strasenburgh Planetarium, and numerous arts organizations. Rochester's Geva Theatre Center is the city's largest professional theatre.


The pier at Ontario Beach Park offers stunning views of Lake Ontario and is a popular walk for RochesteriansThe city's Victorian era Mt. Hope Cemetery includes the final resting place of several famous Americans, including Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and George Baldwin Selden (inventor of the automobile). Rochester is also known for its extensive park system, including the Highland Botanical Park, Cobb's Hill Park, Durand-Eastman Park, Genesee Valley Park, Maplewood Park, Edgerton Park, Seneca Park and Ontario Beach Park.

The city also has 13 full-time recreation centers, 19 swimming programs, 3 artificial ice rinks, 66 softball/baseball fields, 47 tennis courts, 5 football fields, 7 soccer fields, and 43 outdoor basketball courts. Echoing its famous history as the Flower City, Rochester still has a yearly Lilac Festival for ten days in May, when nearly 400 named varieties of lilacs bloom, and 100,000 visitors arrive from as far away as Europe and Japan.

Suburban Mumford is home to the Genesee Country Village and Museum, a combination of: a model village, where numerous examples of local architecture are preserved; sporting art and carriage museums; a nature center; and model gardens. Further south of Rochester is the scenic Letchworth State Park, the so-called "Grand Canyon of the East", with its spectacular canyon and waterfalls. Also to the south and southeast is the glacially-formed Finger Lakes Region, with its numerous lakes and waterfalls.

Rochester has developed a number of festivals that celebrate the many aspects of Rochester life, and most of which occur between late spring and all throughout summer. These include the Rochester International Jazz Festival, now (2006) in its fifth year; the Corn Hill Festival (arts, crafts, and food in this historic Third Ward neighborhood); the High Falls Film Festival (held at the George Eastman House's Dryden Theatre and the Little Theatre downtown); the Image Out/Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (also held at the Little Theatre); the Clothesline Art Festival (artists from the region display their works on the grounds of the Memorial Art Gallery); the Park Avenue Merchants Festival; the Lilac Festival at Highland Park (world famous for its lilac bushes); the Rose Festival at Historic Maplewood Park; the Rochester Music Festival; and the Cold Rush Winter Celebration (celebrating the wide variety of winter sports in the Rochester area). There is something for everyone in these festivals.

In the summer month, and especially on the 4th of July, downtown after dark is lit up with fireworks and a laser show at the High Falls Entertainment venue.

Rapper MC Beneficial, a Rochester native, wrote a song Welcome to the ROC that referenced several aspects of Rochester life.


[edit] Vernacular
In the Greater Rochester Area, a soft drink can be referred to as "pop" or "soda", while hotdogs can be called "red hots" or "white hots" to distinguish the common (red) hotdog from its local hotdog variant which includes powdered milk in its ingredients. A banquet facility is known as a "party-house".

The nearby town of Chili is not pronounced like the food, but with long "i"s: "CHY-lye". The neighborhood of Charlotte is not pronounced like the North Carolina city but rather with the accent on the second syllable: "shar-LOT". The neighborhood of Charlotte was named and pronounced "SHA-lot" when founded, but as more people moved to Rochester from different cities, the pronunciation was misspoken and was eventually morphed into "shar-LOT", what the neighborhood is commonly heard as today.[citation needed] The suburb of Riga is pronounced "RYE-ga" rather than the "REE-ga" pronunciation of the Eastern European city. The suburb of Bergen is pronounced "BER-jin" rather than "BER-gen" like the county in New Jersey.

A slang term for the city itself is Roc city, The Roc, Rochacha, or r.o.c. the latter due perhaps to the fact that the IATA Airport Code for Rochester is "ROC". Another term is "fast ferry," a reference to the Fast Ferry Project, or the Spirit of Ontario I, which was a ferry that linked Toronto and Rochester beginning in June of 2004. The project was hit by numerous financial setbacks and was eventually nixed at the end of 2005/beginning of 2006.[11] Now it has come to mean something that is a very bad idea, as in, "That's a fast ferry if I ever heard one."[citation needed]


[edit] Accent
A "Rochester accent" can be described as similar to the accent commonly found in the Great Lakes region, like a "Chicago accent" or a "Detroit accent". It has also been described by some as "nasally", most easily recognized by the vocalization of the short "a" (æ) sound: "and" is delivered as something closer to "eee-yand".

It is often described as including the pronunciation of the city itself as "Rhaaaaach'str". The younger generations have, for the most part, a weaker accent.


[edit] Media
Rochester has one daily newspaper, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. There are four free weekly publications as well: City, which is an alternative news weekly; Rochester Insider, a weekly extension of the Democrat and Chronicle geared towards the under 35 crowd;, Rochester ConXion, another weekly extension of the Democrat and Chronicle geared toward the Latin American population and Golf Week Rochester which is an eighteen year old publication covering local, national and international golf. Other publications include the Rochester Business Journal, covering the local business community, 82 year old subscription based The Jewish Ledger newspaper, one of the oldest weekly running publications on Jewish life locally and worldwide, and the monthly Empty Closet, New York's oldest gay and lesbian community newspaper.

Rochester has six broadcast television stations:

CBS: WROC 8
NBC: WHEC 10
ABC: WHAM 13
PBS: WXXI 21 (cable 11)
FOX: WUHF 31 (cable 7)
MyNetworkTV: WBGT 40/26 (cable 18)
The market's CW affiliate (Rochester's CW) is available on WHAM-DT (13-2) and Time Warner Cable (cable 16).

Rochester's cable television provider is Time Warner Cable, which, in addition to WRWB, provides RNews, a 24-hour local news channel.


[edit] Points of interest
University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music ([12]) and Eastman Theatre ([13])
Ellwanger Garden
University and Park Avenue Artistic Districts
George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film
Genesee Country Village and Museum, about 20 miles away
Geva Theatre Center
Highland Botanical Park
Maplewood Park Rose Garden
Midtown Plaza, the nation's first downtown shopping mall
Port of Rochester (Charlotte)
Liberty Pole
Cobbs Hill Park and Reservoir
Mount Hope Cemetery, the nation's first Victorian cemetery.
Little Theatre, one of the oldest art-house movie theaters in the country
Seneca Park Zoo, one of the top three family attractions in the area. (SenecaParkZoo.org)
Strong - National Museum of Play, nation's second-largest children's museum housing the National Toy Hall of Fame
University of Rochester ([14])
University of Rochester Arboretum
Times Square Building, noted for its "Wings of Victory" statue.
Blue Cross Arena and the War Memorial
High Falls and the High Falls Entertainment District
Hamlin Beach
Charlotte Beach
Ontario Beach Park
The Penny Arcade

Sports
Rochester was named the #1 Minor League Sports market in the country by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal in July, 2005.


Professional sports
Club Sport Founded League Venue
Rochester Red Wings Baseball 1899 International League Frontier Field
Rochester Americans Ice hockey 1956 AHL Blue Cross Arena
Rochester Knighthawks Indoor lacrosse 1995 NLL Blue Cross Arena
Rochester Raging Rhinos Soccer 1996 USL First Division PAETEC Park
Rochester Rattlers Field lacrosse 2001 MLL PAETEC Park
Rochester Razorsharks Basketball 2005 PBL Blue Cross Arena
Empire State Roar Football 2005 WPFL East Rochester High School
Rochester Raiders Indoor football 2006 CIFL Main Street Armory

Rochester currently has eight professional sports teams. The Rochester Red Wings baseball club, the AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, play in the International League. The Rochester Americans ice hockey team, the AHL affiliate for the NHL Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers, are commonly known as the "Amerks". The Rochester Raging Rhinos soccer club play in the USL First Division, which is the second-highest level American soccer league.

There are two professional lacrosse teams in Rochester. The Rochester Knighthawks club plays box lacrosse in the National Lacrosse League during the winter and spring. In the summer, the Rochester Rattlers club plays field lacrosse in the Major League Lacrosse organization.

The newest professional sports teams in Rochester are the Rochester Razorsharks (formerly in the new American Basketball Association, and now in the newly-founded Premier Basketball League), the Empire State Roar (in the Women's Professional Football League), and the Rochester Raiders (in the Continental Indoor Football League).

Professional golf also comes to Rochester regularly. The PGA Championship and the US Open have been held at Oak Hill Country Club several times (along with the 1995 Ryder Cup and The Xerox Classic Nationwide PGA Tournament comes here every August. The Wegmans LPGA tournament is held yearly in June at Locust Hill Country Club.

While Rochester currently has no teams at the top level of any of the major American sports, the city does host training camp for the NFL's Buffalo Bills each summer (since 2000) at St. John Fisher College in the suburban town of Pittsford. The absence of a major pro sports team in the area has not always been the case. From 1920-1925, Rochester was home to the Rochester Jeffersons, a charter member of the National Football League. From 1948-1957, the Rochester Royals played in the National Basketball Association, winning the NBA championship in 1951. The Royals, after several moves, are now known as the Sacramento Kings.

Since 1877, twenty-nine different teams in eight professional sports have represented Rochester. In the spring of 2006 local sports historian Douglas Brei released a study on Rochester's pro sports franchises, and unearthed the fact that collectively Rochester's professional sports teams would soon surpass the 25,000-game milestone. That historic game was played on June 16, 2006 when the hometown Rochester Red Wings hosted the Indianapolis Indians at Frontier Field.

Incidentally, only six franchises in the history of North American professional sports have been playing in the same city and same league continuously and uninterrupted since the 1800s: The Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and Rochester Red Wings.

There are also 2 independent pro-wrestling leagues: Next Era Wrestling and NWA Upstate which operate in and around the city. In addition, many of the current and past companies throughout Western New York can trace their roots back to Rochester, hence the city is unofficially known as the Wrestling Capital of Upstate New York.


College sports
Although there are numerous colleges and universities in the Rochester area, almost all college sports are played at the NCAA Division III level. Two exceptions are Division I men's squash at the University of Rochester and the RIT men's ice hockey team, which moved up to the Division I level in 2005. Hobart College, an hour away from Rochester in Geneva, has a Division I men's lacrosse team. The Nazareth College Men's Lacrosse team has won NCAA Division III Championship three times (1992, 1996, 1997).


Maritime transport
There is marine freight service at the Port of Rochester on Lake Ontario, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

A short-lived, high-speed passenger/vehicle ferry across Lake Ontario linking Rochester to Toronto, Ontario ran between June 17, 2004, and late 2005. The Australian-flagged vessel, Spirit of Ontario I, ran under two operators, Canadian American Transportation Systems and Bay Ferries Great Lakes Limited before service was discontinued after two financially unsuccessful seasons of operation. On May 3, 2006, Mayor Robert Duffy announced the tentative sale of the Fast Ferry to Euroferries Ltd. for $29.8 million, to be used to provide service between Dover, England and Boulogne, France. After delays in securing funding, the ferry left Rochester on December 20, 2006, bound for Nova Scotia, where it berthed for the winter. Unable to close the Euroferries deal, on April 2, 2007, Mayor Duffy announced the sale to the German firm Forde Reederei Seetouristik Gmbh & Co (FRS) for $30 million. In July, 2006, the ferry will inaugurate service between Tarifa, Spain and Tangier, Morocco.[3]


Airports
Rochester is served by the Greater Rochester International Airport. Daily scheduled air service is provided by Air Canada / Air Georgian, AirTran Airways, American, Continental, Delta, JetBlue, Northwest, United, and US Airways. Most services are express services to larger airports.


Mass transit
See also: Rochester (Amtrak station)
Both Amtrak (passenger) and freight lines provide rail service to Rochester. Rochester has intercity and transcontinental bus service via Greyhound and Trailways.

Local bus service in Rochester and its immediate (Monroe County) suburbs is provided by the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) via its Regional Transit Service (RTS) subsidiary. RTS also provides suburban service outside of the immediate Rochester area and also runs several smaller transportation systems in outlying counties, such as WATS (Wayne Area Transportation System).

From 1927 to 1957, Rochester had an underground transit system. At the time, it was the smallest city in the world to have one. Sites that describe the system call it the "Rochester Subway", but pictures show that it used single streetcar vehicles. By today's standards, then, it would be called a light-rail system. There are proposals to put in a new system, possibly using some of the old tunnels. One proposal includes converting the old Broad St. Bridge tunnel into an underground pedestrian walkway, which would also include a Rochester Transportation Museum, and a rumoured "tram" system.

The Rochester Subway tunnels have become something of a controversy lately. Many of the city's homeless use the abandoned tunnels for shelter, and a few areas near the tunnel entrances have gained the reputation as being 'dangerous'. One proposal put before the City Council has asked the city to fill the tunnels in with dirt. This proposal has generated controversy, as the cost of filling in the tunnels would be comparable to that of restoring the Rochester Subway. It is also opposed by many who consider this to be inhumane treatment of the homeless persons living in the tunnels.

See http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-tl/maps/pages/subway.html for a map of the old line. The Genesee River bridge that it used retains the lower track level.


Roads
There are three exits off the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) that serve Rochester. Rochester has an extensive freeway (expressway) system which connects all parts of the city and the city with the Thruway. During the Thruway's construction, a disagreement between the governor of New York and mayor of Rochester resulted in a purposeful bypass of downtown Rochester, leaving the city struggling for growth in the decades following.[citation needed]

Interstate 390 runs north-south, spurring north from I-90 (exit 46) and routing through Rochester's western suburbs. Its northern end is at I-490, however it continues north as State Route 390 until it merges into the Lake Ontario State Parkway. South of I-90, I-390 runs to Avoca, New York, where it meets up with U.S. Highway 15 and the Southern Tier Expressway, I-86.

Interstate 490 runs west-east through Rochester, starting at Le Roy, New York and ending in Victor, New York. It interchanges with the two other Interstates in Rochester: I-390 at the western city limit and I-590 at the eastern limit, as well as connecting at both ends with the Thruway, I-90 (exits 47 and 45).

Interstate 590 runs north-south through Rochester's eastern suburbs. Its southern end is at I-390, while the northern end is at I-490; the highway continues north to the shore of Lake Ontario as State Route 590.

In decreasing usage is the term "Can of Worms," referring to the previously dangerous at-grade intersection of Interstate 490 and expressway NY-590 on the eastern edge of the Rochester city limits, bordering the suburb of Brighton. In the 1980s, a multimillion dollar project created a system of overpasses and ramps that reduced the danger but resulted in the loss of certain exits.

Sister cities
Rochester has ten sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI). They are all dedicated by a branched concrete walkway over the Genesee River, dubbed the Sister Cities Bridge:

Bamako, Mali
Caltanissetta, Italy
Hamamatsu, Japan
Kraków, Poland
Novgorod, Russia
San Felipe de Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Rehovot, Israel
Rennes, France
Waterford, Ireland
Würzburg, Germany

[crashbunny]

Yay Rochester!!!
thanks Kellie