America’s Most Affordable Cities: Rochester Ranks #4!!!

November 1, 2010 by Jason
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Here is a great article that I found recently on Forbes.com about our very own Rochester, NY! (As of 6/13/11, that article has been taken down by Forbes, but please read on… you’ll get the gist.)

This blog posting ties in with a previous posting from Kristin on “The Rent is Too Damn High Party” (Ha! I love it!) and the fact that we, here in Rochester, have some of the most affordable rents and the cost of living is considerably cheaper than many of the cities throughout the country.

Did you just hear that? Someone’s stomach just growled (inside joke from the video clip of “The Rent is Too…”)–but it wasn’t here in Rochester.

From what the Forbes article says about the few northeastern city winners as  ”… emerging from long slumps after being deserted by their manufacturing economies…”, while now providing “…the combination of a newly diversified economy and a history of sustained low costs makes them affordable.”

While we do have a lot of work to do in our community to build Rochester back up from the heydays of the mid-twentieth century, I think the article provides a great base for building upon as we move forward out of the recession.

The time is now to act upon to change Rochester for the better! We must continue to diversify our local economy in order to prevent another “All your eggs in one basket” meltdown with Kodak; we must fully take advantage of our local resources of low costs, a vibrant, educated workforce, and high quality living to attract the best businesses, changemakers, and policies; and we must not succumb to any negativity about how Rochester is “too this, or too that, or not enough of this…”

—because for that matter, if you don’t like the Rochester area, you can always move to a city where Karate Experts will campaign on your behalf where “The Rent is TOO Damn High!”.

If you haven’t checked out our local rent stock lately, go to www.Newdigs.com to find the latest and greatest of affordability in our Rochester area. I am sure you will agree that, in this context, we’re in a much better position than our downstate neighbors.

Jason Schwingle’s passions include travel, art and design, and our City of Rochester. He works for Jetblue Airways and is a Sr. Community Coordinator for Newdigs.com, a local tech start-up here in our very own Rochester, NY. Please comment on the postings or feel free to contact him at Jason@Newdigs.com.

What Makes Great Neighborhoods? Shopping-Grocery Stores

October 26, 2010 by Jason in Rochester Metro Area
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So what makes a neighborhood and community great? As I am traveling the country and spending many hours away from my home, I am often struck as to the simplicity of the answers to this question.

For one thing, the residents of a neighborhood must not have to look far for food options, and that includes having many choices available for restaurants as well as grocery stores. Here in Rochester we are extremely lucky to have one of the country’s best and most respected high-end grocery chains—Wegman’s—call home throughout our area. And although Wegman’s has long shutdown its operations in the former Midtown Plaza in center city Rochester,  the company currently has major plans to revamp its store in the city’s East Avenue location.

But is it enough? In a bid to get people living back in downtown Rochester, do we have enough options available for our city residents when it comes to grocery stores?

I do a ton of travel on the west coast, and one of the stores that I really enjoy is Trader Joe’s.

This is a chain of small specialty stores that sells many of its own labeled products of organic, frozen, and gourmet foods in an average location setting of about 10,000sq. ft. which is considerably smaller than the average sized Wegman’s in our area.

Is this a viable option for the city in terms of size and offerings for our city residents? I think so. Not that I am against Wegman’s or anything, because that is far from the truth. But the fact is that more options like a Trader Joe’s or a Whole Foods store would bring about more competition in the area and keep all prices competitive and attractive for residents. Different food options such as gourmet foods and organic options also would give many city residents what they want, especially when you have a good portion of the younger market looking to the city for residences.

Are these options that will be in Rochester’s near future? Right now, the suburbs might have the bid. But the city of Rochester still has more work to do. And only if we can get a critical mass of people back into downtown Rochester I think will these options come available. With that said, I am still hoping that Wegman’s will someday open another location in the downtown Rochester to make up for the closing of its Midtown store.

Jason Schwingle’s passions include travel, art and design, and our City of Rochester. He works for Jetblue Airways and is a Sr. Community Coordinator for Newdigs.com, a local tech start-up here in our very own Rochester, NY. Please comment on the postings or feel free to contact him at Jason@Newdigs.com.