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Hi... I'm moving to the Rochester Area this summer with my fiance who just got a residency position at Strong Memorial Hospital. We currently live in Boston MA (I've lived here all my life) so we need some help figuring out where to live. I've read that Brighton is very close to the city and a nice suburb, as is Pittsford. Does anyone recommend anywhere else? how about in the city? We're both in our mid 20s, like to go out, but also want a nice friendly neighborhood to make some new friends. Also, any private schools in the area? I'm looking for a teaching position...
Thanks for any help or suggestions. Alot of it is needed!
Any suburb will be fine. In the city, the Park ave neighborhood has lots of people in their mid 20s. South Wedge also, to a lesser extent. Upper Monroe neighborhood has some younger residents, but is more mixed with all sorts of people.
Teaching positions are tight since many of the area colleges pump out lots of people with teaching degrees. Your best bet is to start to subsititute and make good with the people working in the school so that you will get a permanent position when one opens up. A few people I know got jobs this way.
Most family neighborhoods will be in the suburbs, most mid-20's couples will be in the park avenue area of the city. You can get a large newer home on a decent sized lot in Penfield, Pittsford, Henrietta, Greece, Webster etc. for around $200k (maybe a little more than that in Pittsford, and probably less in Greece and Heniretta). In the park avenue area of the city that amount of money would get you a beautiful turn of the century home on a smaller city lot with tons of charecter. It's all a matter of preferenses. Schools will DEFINITLY beyond a shadow of a doubt, be much better in the suburbs. There are several good Catholic and private schools in the city and suburbs as well. The most "prestigious" is probably Bishop Karney, in Irondequoit.
There are lofts and condos in the downtown area. They renovated some older buildings and put lofts in them. There were also some newer condo buildings put up. They seem to be attracting people, but more people of a different age range.
The most "prestigious" is probably Bishop Karney, in Irondequoit.
Allendale and Harley are much more prestigious than BK by far. McQuaid is as well (my husband went there)
There are a lot of new lofts in the downtown city area (but they are really $$) My mom does work with the city and I know she has said that the population for these are older people whose kids are gone from home and they don't need to live in the burbs anymore. Cornhill can be a nice area depending on where you are and is good for 20 somethings as of course the forementioned Park Ave.
Teaching jobs are going to be tough to come by for you IMO. Rochester does not have as many private schools as other areas because the public schools are so good..there are many denominational schools though (we live in Charlotte now and there are many more private schools here because the public schools are poor) The job market will be very competitive for any teaching jobs. Are you NYS certified and have your masters? That would be a first step
Brighton and Pittsford both are very nice (I'm from Brighton) but mostly filled with families
we've been looking alot at Brighton (I've heard it's very nice and close to the city) but have actually found alot of nice houses and townhouses in Greece. Is this a nice area? How far is it to Strong Memorial? (I mapquested it and it says 17 minutes, but is there alot of traffic?)
Andiegav,
We lived in Rochester for a number of years before leaving last year. I would stay away from the northern suburbs on either side (east or west) such as Greece, Webster, etc. 390 on the west and 590 on the east have some real traffic problems for those commuting south each day. When we moved to Rochester, we lived in Webster and that was a great place, however, my wife worked at Strong and her commute on 590 south was terrible. 390 on the west side has similar traffic problems.
We eventually moved to Pittsford and until my first daughter was born, my wife commuted to Strong and it was I think 7-8 miles and not much of a problem. If you like Brighton, I would think that would be a homerun. Very short commute to Strong and you wouldn't necessarily even get on the highway depending on where you were. Brighton is very nice from my perspective. Pittsford as well, and you could probably go north to Perinton, also a very nice town. I wouldn't go much further north (Penfield, Webster) on the east side. Henrietta would be close, but it is very commericial. I'm sure there are nice neighborhoods, but I don't get the nice town feeling you get from a Brighton, Pittsford, Perinton.
Other than Greece being too far north for a decent commute to Strong, since we lived on the east side, I don't have a real good feel for the west side towns. I did work with a lot of people who lived on the west side (Greece, Spencerport, etc.) and I think they were very satisfied.
Coming from Boston, maybe a commute from Greece or Webster isn't much of an issue. Personally, my wife and I have low tolerance for difficult commutes and that is why we have stayed in upstate NY vs. moving back to Massachusetts where we are both from. Also, something to keep in mind that Rochester winters are pretty tough and those commutes from a Greece or Webster are even worst with winter weather.
Rochester is a great area in my opinion. Regardless of where you end up, I would think you would be very happy there. Good luck.
Greece is a big town, the biggest in monroe county by land area and population in fact (after the city of Rochester of course), so it really depends WHERE in Greece you are if you are considering a commute to Strong Memorial. Brighton is a very nice town, but it it has older housing stock (40''s-60's...where as most of Greece's housing stock is from 70's-present...lots of new construciton in North Greece) with somewhat smaller lots. Although I grew up in Greece and went to Greece schools my whole life, I do have to admit that Brighton has better schools, some of the best in the country as a matter of fact. It is probably true that you would have a better commute to the city from Brighton, but I don't think the commute from Greece should to too bad unless you are in the far north or far west of the town....it kind of depends on the type of neighborhood you are looking for.
I think the commute is all relative to what you are used to. When I go back to visit Rochester, I am always amazed at the light traffic compared to the larger cities I have lived in (Los Angeles and Ft. Lauderdale). I am thinking the Boston area traffic is probably worse than any Rochester commute if it is like most larger cities.
I was raised in Greece for the most part and most of my family is there. I like it overall, but as others have said, the schools are not nearly as good as Pittsford or Brighton. My relatives basically say that if you are hoping for any appreciating real estate in Greece stay north of Maiden Lane and west of Mt. Read. However, my parents live just east of Mt. Read just south of Maiden and it is a very quiet neighborhood that has just transitioned from more elderly to families as owners have passed away.....
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