5 ms·

My wife is from Rochester so I end up there a couple times a year. It's pretty incredible what the decline of Kodak has done to the city. It's something everyon

by shakes 15y ago

My wife is from Rochester so I end up there a couple times a year. It's pretty incredible what the decline of Kodak has done to the city. It's something everyone talks about. I think the challenge is people worked at Kodak because it was in their town. And, IMO, a lot of these people remain jobless because they don't want to leave Rochester. Accessing this talent-base would require a company making an investment in not only the people but the city. In my opinion, the potential reward doesn't justify the risk.

bproper 15y ago
Kogeto, a small NYC start-up, is already investing there. I can imagine a very productive corridor opening up between software companies funded and headquartered in NYC and manufacturing/hardware in Rochester.
- shakes 15y ago
  Nice! It would definitely be great if that type of productive corridor opened up. Did Kogeto setup their own team there, or did they partner with a Rochester-based hardware supplier?
bradfa 15y ago
Rochester is an awesome place to raise a family. Housing is low priced, $150k gets you a very nice 1800 sqft house in Irondequoit / Greece or $200k gets you a very nice 2000 sqft house in Webster / Penfield. There's very little vehicle traffic (other than 390 and 590 southbound around 8am) and most places in Monroe county can be gotten to from anywhere else in 20 minutes. The spring, summer, and fall are amazing weather wise. There's tons of local festivals and parks. At least 7 local sports teams (men's [minor outdoor, pro indoor] & women's [pro outdoor] soccer, indoor and outdoor lacrosse, minor league baseball and ice hockey, and minor league basketball), it's an hour and 30 minute drive to Buffalo for Bills / Sabres games or to Syracuse for college sports. Both RIT and the University of Rochester are good schools and there's a bunch of smaller, lesser known, high quality schools as well. Parts of the city itself may be in need of some improvement but the overall area around Rochester is a great place to live. If only there was more local investment in engineering. The talent's here because of Kodak, Xerox, and the universities, how long it will stay is uncertain.
- bproper 15y ago
  Bradfa - Do you want to talk for a story next week about Rochester to NYC tech corridor? @benpopper
  - bradfa 15y ago
    Possibly. Email me some info, my username @ gmail.
- matt_s 15y ago
  Definitely a good place to raise a family. A couple of the top public schools in the country are here in the suburbs. There are a lot of Fortune 5000 (so to speak) companies around, some were sold off from the Fortune 500 in town, others have started up on their own: Blue Tie, Pictometry. I think every year it is a close race for largest employer between the University of Rochester and Wegmans (awesome grocery store chain). The big companies get more press because of their history and visibility in the market. If Kodak were to fold up shop, there would be a loss of jobs, but it wouldn't devastate the area like the auto industry and Detroit.

by shakes 15y ago

bproper 15y ago

Kogeto, a small NYC start-up, is already investing there. I can imagine a very productive corridor opening up between software companies funded and headquartered in NYC and manufacturing/hardware in Rochester.

shakes 15y ago
Nice! It would definitely be great if that type of productive corridor opened up. Did Kogeto setup their own team there, or did they partner with a Rochester-based hardware supplier?

bradfa 15y ago

Rochester is an awesome place to raise a family. Housing is low priced, $150k gets you a very nice 1800 sqft house in Irondequoit / Greece or $200k gets you a very nice 2000 sqft house in Webster / Penfield. There's very little vehicle traffic (other than 390 and 590 southbound around 8am) and most places in Monroe county can be gotten to from anywhere else in 20 minutes. The spring, summer, and fall are amazing weather wise. There's tons of local festivals and parks. At least 7 local sports teams (men's [minor outdoor, pro indoor] & women's [pro outdoor] soccer, indoor and outdoor lacrosse, minor league baseball and ice hockey, and minor league basketball), it's an hour and 30 minute drive to Buffalo for Bills / Sabres games or to Syracuse for college sports. Both RIT and the University of Rochester are good schools and there's a bunch of smaller, lesser known, high quality schools as well. Parts of the city itself may be in need of some improvement but the overall area around Rochester is a great place to live. If only there was more local investment in engineering. The talent's here because of Kodak, Xerox, and the universities, how long it will stay is uncertain.

bproper 15y ago
Bradfa - Do you want to talk for a story next week about Rochester to NYC tech corridor? @benpopper
- bradfa 15y ago
  Possibly. Email me some info, my username @ gmail.
matt_s 15y ago
Definitely a good place to raise a family. A couple of the top public schools in the country are here in the suburbs. There are a lot of Fortune 5000 (so to speak) companies around, some were sold off from the Fortune 500 in town, others have started up on their own: Blue Tie, Pictometry. I think every year it is a close race for largest employer between the University of Rochester and Wegmans (awesome grocery store chain). The big companies get more press because of their history and visibility in the market. If Kodak were to fold up shop, there would be a loss of jobs, but it wouldn't devastate the area like the auto industry and Detroit.