View source for Rochester, New York

{{Short description|City in New York, United States}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
<!-- {{Tone|date=April 2020}} -->
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Rochester, New York
| settlement_type    = [[City (New York)|City]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
  | total_width              = 280
  | border                   = infobox
  | perrow                   = 1/2/2/2/1
  | caption_align = center
  | image1                   = Downtown Rochester, NY HDR by patrickashley.jpg
  | caption1                 = [[Downtown Rochester]]
  | image2                   = RushRheesLibraryOnTheEveOfGraduation.jpg
  | caption2                 = [[University of Rochester]]
  | image3                   = 2. Grove Place.jpg
  | caption3                 = [[Grove Place Historic District|Grove Place]]
  | image4                   = Building on George Eastman House Grounds 03.jpg
  | caption4                 = [[George Eastman Museum]]
  | image5                   = Memorial Art Gallery main entrance.JPG
  | caption5                = [[Memorial Art Gallery]]
  | image6                  = External view of Museum of Play.jpg
  | caption6                = [[The Strong National Museum of Play]]
  | image7                  = 1874 Gate House.jpg
  | caption7                = [[Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester)|Mount Hope Cemetery]]
}}
| image_flag         = Flag of Rochester, New York.svg
| flag_size          = 110px
| image_seal         = Seal of Rochester, New York.svg
| seal_size          = 88px
| image_blank_emblem = Logo of Rochester, New York.svg
| blank_emblem_type  = Logo
| blank_emblem_size  = 80px
| blank_emblem_alt   = 
| blank_emblem_link  = 
| nicknames           = "The Flour City", "The Flower City", "The World's Image Center"
| named_for          = [[Nathaniel Rochester]]
| motto              = 
| mapframe           = yes
| mapframe-zoom      = 10
| mapframe-point     = none
| pushpin_map        = New York#USA
| pushpin_relief     = yes
| coordinates        = {{Coord|43|09|56|N|77|36|58|W|type:city(219000)|display=title,inline}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[New York (state)|New York]]
| subdivision_type2  = Region
| subdivision_name2  = [[Western New York]]; [[Genesee Valley]]; [[Finger Lakes|Finger Lakes Region]]
| subdivision_type3  = Metro
| subdivision_name3  = [[Rochester metropolitan area, New York|Rochester metropolitan area]]
| subdivision_type4  = [[List of counties in New York|County]]
| subdivision_name4  = [[Monroe County, New York|Monroe]]
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = {{start date and age|1788}}
| established_title2 = Incorporated (village)
| established_date2  = {{start date and age|1817|03|21}} (as Rochesterville)
| established_title3 = Incorporated (city)
| established_date3  = {{start date and age|1834|04|28}}
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = [[Mayor–council]]
| leader_title       = [[Mayor of Rochester, New York|Mayor]]
| leader_name        = [[Malik Evans]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
| leader_title1      = City council
| leader_name1       = {{Collapsible list
| title       = List
| frame_style = border:none; padding: 0;
| title_style = <!-- (optional) -->
| list_style  = text-align:left;display:none;
| 1           = At-Large Members
| 2           = President:
| 3           = • Miguel Meléndez (D)
| 4           = East District - Vice President:
| 5           = • Mary Lupien (D)
| 6           = Other At-Large:
| 7           = • Wilie Lightfoot (D)
| 8           = • Mitchell D. Gruber (D)
| 9           = • Stanley Martin (D)
| 10          = • Kim Smith (D)
| 11          = Northeast District:
| 12          = • Michael A. Patterson (D)
| 13          = South District:
| 14          = • LaShay Harris (D)
| 15          = Northwest District:
| 16          = • Bridget Monroe (D)
}}
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 96.27
| area_total_sq_mi   = 37.17
| area_land_km2      = 92.62
| area_land_sq_mi    = 35.76
| area_water_km2     = 3.65
| area_water_sq_mi   = 1.41
| area_water_percent = 3.6
| elevation_max_m    = 214
| elevation_max_ft   = 702
| elevation_min_m    = 70
| elevation_min_ft   = 230
| population_total   = 211328
| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = 
| population_density_km2 = 2281.62
| population_density_sq_mi = 5909.45
| population_urban   = 704,327 (US: [[List of United States urban areas|62nd]])
| population_density_urban_km2 = 931.9
| population_density_urban_sq_mi = 2,413.5
| population_metro   = 1,067,486 (US: [[List of Metropolitan Statistical Areas|52nd]])
| population_demonym = Rochesterian
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP code]]s
| postal_code        = 146xx (14604=downtown)
| area_code          = [[Area code 585|585]]
| area_code_type     = [[North American Numbering Plan|Area code]]
| unemployment_rate  = 
| website            = {{URL|https://www.cityofrochester.gov|cityofrochester.gov}}
| footnotes          = 
| utc_offset         = −05:00
| timezone_DST       = [[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]]
| utc_offset_DST     = −04:00
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 36-63000
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 979426<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|979426}}</ref>
| pop_est_as_of      = 
| pop_est_footnotes  = 
| population_est     = 
| population_rank    = US: [[List of United States cities by population|116th]] NY: [[List of cities in New York (state)|4th]]
| timezone1          = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
}}

'''Rochester'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɒ|tʃ|ɛ|s|t|ər|,_|-|ɪ|s|-|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Rochester, New York.wav}}; {{respell|ROTCH|ess|tər|,_|-iss-}}; officially the '''City of Rochester'''}} is a city in and the [[county seat]] of [[Monroe County, New York]], United States. It is the [[List of municipalities in New York|fourth-most populous city]] in New York, with a population of 211,328 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Rochester city, New York|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/rochestercitynewyork,US/PST045219|access-date=August 13, 2021|website=www.census.gov|language=en|archive-date=August 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812124030/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/rochestercitynewyork,US/PST045219|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Rochester metropolitan area, New York|Rochester metropolitan area]] in [[Western New York]] has an estimated 1.06 million residents and is the [[Metropolitan statistical area|54th-largest metropolitan area]] in the U.S. Throughout its history, Rochester has acquired several nicknames based on local industries; it has been known as "[[History of Rochester, New York#Rochesterville and The Flour City|the Flour City]]" and "[[History of Rochester, New York#The Flower City|the Flower City]]" for its dual role in flour production and floriculture,<ref name=":1" /> and as the "World's Image Center" for its association with film, optics, and photography.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitrochester.com/see&do/photography-film/|title=Photography & Film|access-date=May 7, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011213617/http://www.visitrochester.com/see%26do/photography-film/|archive-date=October 11, 2015}}</ref>

The city was one of the United States' first [[boomtown]]s, initially due to the fertile [[Genesee River]] valley which gave rise to numerous flour mills, and then as a manufacturing center, which spurred further rapid population growth.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QZO8LAAACAAJ|title=America's First Boomtown - Rochester, NY: The Early Years and the Notables Who Shaped It|last1=Publications|first1=Rochester History Alive|last2=Kling|first2=Warren|date=April 1, 2008|publisher=Rochester History Alive Publications|isbn=9780981510705|access-date=June 3, 2020|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819204239/https://books.google.com/books?id=QZO8LAAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Rochester has also played a key part in US history as a hub for social and political movements, especially [[abolitionism]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Abolition - Freethought Trail - New York|url=https://freethought-trail.org/causes/cause:abolition/|access-date=May 13, 2021|website=freethought-trail.org|archive-date=May 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523042938/https://freethought-trail.org/causes/cause:abolition/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Women's Suffrage in the United States|women's rights movement]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Rochester History |volume=X |date=July 1948 |issue=2 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v10_1948/v10i2-3.pdf |title=Woman's Rights in Rochester: A Century of Progress |first=Blake |last=McKelvey |access-date=June 29, 2020 |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227034919/https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v10_1948/v10i2-3.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rochester is the birthplace and/or home of many notable companies including [[Eastman Kodak]], [[Xerox]], [[Bausch & Lomb]], [[Wegmans]], [[Constellation Brands]], [[Gannett]], [[Paychex]], and [[Western Union]]. In part due to their influence, the region became a global center for science, technology, and research and development. This has been aided by the presence of several internationally renowned universities, notably the [[University of Rochester]] and [[Rochester Institute of Technology]] (RIT), and their research programs; these schools, along with many other smaller colleges, have played an increasingly large role in its economy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://13wham.com/news/local/fisher-rit-u-of-r-named-among-best-universities-in-us|title=Fisher, RIT, U of R named among best universities in U.S.|date=September 10, 2018|website=13 WHAM News|publisher=[[WHAM-TV]]|access-date=February 28, 2020|archive-date=February 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228214729/https://13wham.com/news/local/fisher-rit-u-of-r-named-among-best-universities-in-us|url-status=live}}</ref> The city experienced significant population decline due to [[deindustrialization]] in the late 20th century, although less severely than its [[Rust Belt]] peers. The Rochester metropolitan area is the third-largest regional economy in New York, after [[New York metropolitan area|New York City]] and [[Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area|Buffalo–Niagara Falls]].<ref>Daneman, Matthew, [http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080302/BUSINESS/803020356 "Our manufacturing roots sprout jobs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126223921/http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20080302%2FBUSINESS%2F803020356 |date=January 26, 2016 }}, ''Democrat and Chronicle'' (March 2, 2008) ([https://www.rochesterbusinessalliance.com/core/contentmanager/uploads/0302%20Manufacturing%20DANDC.pdf archived copy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326103145/https://www.rochesterbusinessalliance.com/core/contentmanager/uploads/0302%20Manufacturing%20DANDC.pdf |date=March 26, 2009 }})</ref><ref>The United States Conference of Mayors & The Council on Metro Economies & the New American City, ''[https://usmayors.org/metroeconomies/2014/06/report.pdf U.S. Metro Economies: GMP & Employment 2013–2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112743/http://usmayors.org/metroeconomies/2014/06/report.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }}'', prepared by IHS Global Insight (U.S.A.) [Lexington, Mass.: IHS Global Insight (U.S.A.), 2014‑06], app., table 1, pp. 1–9.</ref>

Rochester is also known for its culture; in particular, the [[Eastman School of Music]], one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world, and the [[Rochester International Jazz Festival]] anchor a vibrant music industry.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-08-06/the-geography-of-america-s-music-scenes|title=The Geography of America's Music Scenes|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=August 6, 2012|access-date=June 29, 2020|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630175228/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-08-06/the-geography-of-america-s-music-scenes|url-status=live}}</ref> It is the site of several museums such as [[The Strong|The Strong National Museum of Play]] and the [[George Eastman Museum]], which houses the oldest photography collection in the world.<ref>{{cite news|title=History of George Eastman House|url=http://www.eastmanhouse.org/Main/museum/history.php|work=George Eastman House website|access-date=January 27, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114050143/http://www.eastmanhouse.org/Main/museum/history.php|archive-date=January 14, 2010}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Rochester, New York}}

===18th century===
The [[Seneca people|Seneca]] tribe of the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] lived around Rochester prior to the [[American Revolution]], and used the area as a hunting ground.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> Allied with the British, the Seneca were forced to cede or sell most of their land in New York after the war. The area now occupied by Rochester was ceded in the [[Phelps and Gorham Purchase]] of 1788. As a reward for their loyalty to the British crown, the Iroquois were given a large [[Haldimand Proclamation|land grant]] on the [[Grand River (Ontario)|Grand River]] in Canada.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sam |first=Bleiweis |url=http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume5/gunpowder-age-v-bleiweis.pdf |title=The Downfall of the Iroquois |publisher=[[Emory University]] |year=2013 |access-date=February 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170336/http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume5/gunpowder-age-v-bleiweis.pdf |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Catapano|first=Andrea Lucielle|url=https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/handle/1951/44779/000000159.sbu.pdf?sequence=3|title=The Rising of the Ongwehònwe: Sovereignty, Identity, and Representation on the Six Nations Reserve|publisher=[[Stony Brook University]]|year=2007|access-date=February 28, 2020|archive-date=June 2, 2017|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170602062444/https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/handle/1951/44779/000000159.sbu.pdf?sequence%3D3|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 19th century ===
Rochester was founded shortly after by a wave of English-Puritan-descended immigrants from [[New England]], who were looking for new agricultural land. They were the dominant cultural group in Rochester for over a century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peck |first=William F. |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/History_of_Rochester_and_Monroe_County_volume_I.pdf |title=History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York, From the Earliest Historic Times to the Beginning of 1907 |publisher=The Pioneer Publishing Company |year=1908 |volume=I |location=New York and Chicago |pages=181}}</ref> On November 8, 1803, three men from [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], purchased a 100-acre (40-[[hectare|ha]]) tract from [[The Pulteney Association|the Pulteney Estate]] along the Genesee River: Major Charles Carroll, Colonel William Fitzhugh Jr, and Colonel [[Nathaniel Rochester]], the namesake of the city. They chose the site because its three [[Waterfall#Types of waterfalls|cataracts]] on the Genesee offered great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts.<ref>Peck, pp. 32–35</ref> In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville. This name was unpopular, and in 1822 it was shortened to Rochester.<ref>Peck, p. 51</ref>

By 1821, Rochesterville became the seat of Monroe County.<ref>Peck, p. 59</ref> In 1823, the [[Erie Canal]] aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, connecting the city to the [[Hudson River]] to the east.<ref>Peck, p. 60</ref> New commerce from the canal turned the village into America's first [[boomtown]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |page=99 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> By 1830, Rochester's population had grown to 9,200,<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1850a-02.pdf|title=Census|publisher=United States Census|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808210104/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1850a-02.pdf|archive-date=August 8, 2010}} page 36</ref> and in 1834, it was rechartered as a city.<ref>Peck, p. 68</ref> Rochester was first known as "the Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, it was the largest flour-producing city in the United States.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Desrochers|first1=Pierre|url=https://archive.org/details/locavoresdilemma0000desr|url-access=registration|quote=flour producing cities 1838.|title=The Locavore's Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000-mile Diet|last2=Shimizu|first2=Hiroko|date=June 5, 2012|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1-58648-940-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/locavoresdilemma0000desr/page/68 68]|language=en}}</ref> A series of religious revivals occurred as part of the [[Second Great Awakening]], including a particularly notable revival led by [[Charles Grandison Finney]] which inspired local social reform movements.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=190–193 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref>

During the mid-19th century, as the center of the wheat-processing industry moved west with population and agriculture, the city became home to an expanding [[Plant nursery|nursery]] business, giving rise to the city's second nickname, the Flower City. Nurseries ringed the city, the most famous of which was started in 1840 by immigrants [[George Ellwanger]] from Germany and [[Patrick Barry (horticulturist)|Patrick Barry]] from Ireland.<ref>Blake McKelvey, [http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/%7Erochhist/v20_1958/v20i1.pdf "The Germans of Rochester: Their Traditions and Contributions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608184254/http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/%7Erochhist/v20_1958/v20i1.pdf |date=June 8, 2011 }}, ''Rochester History'', Vol. 20, No. 1 (January 1958), pp. 7–8.</ref> [[Shoemaking]] also became a major local industry as the city began to industrialize.<ref name="industry">{{cite journal |last1=Rosenberg-Naparsteck |first1=Ruth |title=Two Centuries of Industry and Trade in Rochester |journal=Rochester History |date=Fall 1989 |volume=LI |issue=4 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v51_1989/v51i4.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref>

In 1847, [[Frederick Douglass]] founded ''[[The North Star (anti-slavery newspaper)|The North Star]]'', an [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] newspaper, in Rochester. A former slave and an antislavery speaker and writer, he gained a circulation of over 4,000 subscribers in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=Victoria Sandwick |title=Rochester's Frederick Douglass: Part One |journal=Rochester History |date=Summer 2005 |volume=LXVII |issue=3 |page=18 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v67_2005/v67i3.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Douglass lived in Rochester until his home was destroyed in a fire in 1872, and a historical marker was erected at the site on South Avenue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=Victoria Sandwick |title=Rochester's Frederick Douglass: Part Two |journal=Rochester History |date=Fall 2005 |volume=LXVII |issue=4 |page=3 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v67_2005/v67i4.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Many other prominent abolitionists operated in the area and operated on the [[Underground Railroad]], such as [[Thomas James (minister)|Thomas James]] and [[Austin Steward]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.syracuse.com/living/2021/02/upstates-forgotten-abolitionists-the-former-slave-who-wrote-his-autobiography.html|title = Upstate's forgotten abolitionists: The former slave who wrote his autobiography|date = February 22, 2021|access-date = May 19, 2021|archive-date = May 19, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210519155948/https://www.syracuse.com/living/2021/02/upstates-forgotten-abolitionists-the-former-slave-who-wrote-his-autobiography.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

Around the same time, the nearby Finger Lakes region was the birthplace of the [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage movement]]. A [[Seneca Falls Convention|critical suffragettes' convention]] was held in 1848 in nearby Seneca Falls, and Rochester was the home of [[Susan B. Anthony]] along with other notable Suffragettes such as [[Abigail Bush]] and [[Amy Post]]. The city itself played host to the [[Rochester Women's Rights Convention of 1848]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |page=287 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n115/mode/2up |access-date=13 January 2024}}</ref> The [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], in 1920, which guaranteed the right of women to vote, was known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment because of her work toward its passage, which she did not live to see.<ref>{{cite news|title=Senators to Vote on Suffrage Today; Fate of Susan B. Anthony Amendment Hangs in Balance on Eve of Final Test|newspaper=New York Times|date=September 26, 1918|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60F17F63E5511738DDDAF0A94D1405B888DF1D3|access-date=February 12, 2017|archive-date=December 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225181245/https://www.nytimes.com/1918/09/26/archives/senators-to-vote-on-suffrage-today-fate-of-susan-b-anthony.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Anthony's home is a [[National Historic Landmark]] known as the [[Susan B. Anthony House|National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/ny/NY.pdf|title=Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: New York|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=September 10, 2016|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117072134/https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/ny/NY.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===20th century===

Rochester saw an expansion of new industries in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Irish immigrant James Cunningham founded the [[carriagemaker]] [[James Cunningham, Son and Company]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://carriagemuseumlibrary.org/home/library-archives/carriage-manufacturers/james-cunningham-son-co/|title=James Cunningham Son & Co|website=carriagemuseumlibrary.org|publisher=[[Carriage Museum of America]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917205345/http://carriagemuseumlibrary.org/home/library-archives/carriage-manufacturers/james-cunningham-son-co/|archive-date=September 17, 2016|access-date=February 28, 2020}}</ref> James Cunningham and Sons later founded the [[Cunningham Car Company]], a pioneer automobile maker.<ref>Like many early companies, its production was small, about 400 a year including [[Hearse|hearses]], designed by [[Volney Lacey]]. [[G.N. Georgano]] ''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886–1930''. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)</ref> German immigrants [[John Jacob Bausch]] and [[Henry Lomb]] launched [[Bausch & Lomb]] in 1861 and inventor and entrepreneur [[George Eastman]] founded [[Eastman Kodak]] in 1892. [[Xerox]] was founded in Rochester in 1906 as the Haloid Company.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/019d.jsp?view=Factbook&id=XAG&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US |title=Xerox Corporation Fact Book: Company facts, history, information |publisher=Xerox.com |access-date=December 28, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805182953/http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/019d.jsp?view=Factbook&id=XAG&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US |archive-date=August 5, 2009  }}</ref> In the early 20th century, Rochester became a center of the garment industry, particularly men's fashions. It was the base of [[Bond Clothing Stores]], [[Fashion Park Clothes]], [[Hickey Freeman]], and Stein-Bloch and Co.<ref name="industry" /> The Erie Canal was rerouted south of Rochester by 1918 to allow widening as part of the [[New York State Barge Canal|Barge Canal]]'s construction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Erie Canal Time Machine - 1918: The Barge Canal |url=http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/primary-source-sets-erie-canal-1918 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228214742/http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/primary-source-sets-erie-canal-1918 |archive-date=February 28, 2020 |access-date=February 28, 2020 |website=New York State Archives |language=en}}</ref> The short-lived [[Rochester subway]] was constructed in the abandoned canal bed and operated from 1927 to 1956.<ref name="subway">{{Cite journal |last=Lipman |first=Andrew David |date=April 1974 |title=The Rochester Subway: Experiment in Municipal Rapid Transit |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v36_1974/v36i2.pdf |journal=Rochester History |volume=XXXVI |issue=2 |pages=}}</ref>

The dawn of the 20th century in Rochester saw rapid growth, driven by waves of immigrants arriving from Germany, Italy, Poland, and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McvKelvey |first1=Blake |title=Rochester's Ethnic Transformations |journal=Rochester History |date=July 1963 |volume=XXV |issue=3 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v25_1963/v25i3.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> The city also grew in area, annexing suburban neighborhoods from the surrounding towns to arrive at its present borders.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Joseph W. |url=https://libraryweb.org/~digitized/books/Rochesters_era_of_annexations_1901-1926.pdf |title=Rochester's Era of Annexations, 1901–1926 |publisher=PhD Diss., [[University at Buffalo|State University of New York at Buffalo]] |date=January 1974 |pages=167–176}}</ref> The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900, and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, the population had reached a high of 332,488.<ref name="census1">{{cite web|title=New York – Race and Hispanic Origin for Selected Cities and Other Places: Earliest Census to 1990|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|access-date=May 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812191959/http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html|archive-date=August 12, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The surge in new arrivals, along with increased [[industrialization]], resulted in the city becoming a hotbed of labor activism.<ref>{{cite web|last=Donahue |first=Linda H.|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/opinion/guest-column/2016/09/03/rochesters-long-history-organized-labor/89841542/|title=Rochester's long history of organized labor|date=September 3, 2016|access-date=May 19, 2021|website=Democrat and Chronicle |archive-date=May 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519155946/https://amp.democratandchronicle.com/amp/89841542|url-status=live}}</ref> From the 1920s and continuing into the post-war era Rochester grew into a power center for newly formed industrial unions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rochesterlabor.org/laborhistory.html|title=Labor History|access-date=May 19, 2021|archive-date=January 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129051121/http://www.rochesterlabor.org/laborhistory.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was one of the very few American cities where the labor movement was powerful enough to mount a successful [[general strike]] when in 1946 an estimated 50,000 workers across multiple sectors walked off in support of hundreds of city employees who had been fired for attempting to unionize.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rochesterlabor.org/strike/|title=The 1946 General Strike of Rochester New York|access-date=May 19, 2021|archive-date=May 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507190508/http://www.rochesterlabor.org/strike/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Moscow |first1=Warren |title=THOUSANDS RETURN TO ROCHESTER JOBS |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1946/05/30/88365808.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 30, 1946 |page=2}}</ref>

[[File:Rochester Downtown - Late 1930s.jpg|thumb|Rochester in 1938]]

During [[World War II]], Rochester factories produced a variety of goods for the war effort, including fuel tanker ships, optical equipment, and radio proximity fuses, amounting to {{Currency|1.2 Billion|USD}} of military orders.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marcotte |first1=Bob |title=Arsenal of Freedom: Part One Rochester Products that Helped Win World War II |journal=Rochester History |date=Winter 2004 |volume=LXVI |issue=1 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v66_2004/v66i1.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Following the war, the city began engaging in [[urban renewal]] projects to revitalize downtown, including the construction of [[Midtown Plaza (Rochester, New York)|Midtown Plaza]] and freeways like the [[Inner Loop (Rochester)|Inner Loop]], and the demolition of the Front Street neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morrell |first1=Alan |title=Whatever Happened To ... Front Street? |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/03/22/whatever-happened-front-street/6702515/ |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=22 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030202411/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/03/22/whatever-happened-front-street/6702515/ |archive-date=30 October 2020}}</ref> By the 1970s, the city experienced highway revolts against new projects,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=David |title=Swillburg to celebrate highway project's defeat |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/10/08/swillburg-celebrate-highway-projects-defeat/73519192/ |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111101336/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/10/08/swillburg-celebrate-highway-projects-defeat/73519192/ |archive-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> and in the 2010s, the city began filling in the Inner Loop to restore older neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Nadja Popovich |author2=Josh Williams |author3=Denise Lu |title=Can Removing Highways Fix America's Cities? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/27/climate/us-cities-highway-removal.html |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211005916/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/05/27/climate/us-cities-highway-removal.html |archive-date=11 December 2023}}</ref>

In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Rochester's population as 97.6% White and 2.3% Black.<ref name="census1" /> Rochester's black population tripled to more than 25,000 during the 1950s. Casually employed by the city's major industries, most African Americans in the city held low-pay and low-skill jobs, and lived in substandard housing. Discontent exploded in the three-day [[1964 Rochester race riot]], which resulted in five deaths, 350 injuries, nearly a thousand arrests, and 204 stores looted or damaged.<ref name="Goodman 2014">{{cite web | last=Goodman | first=James | title=Riots revisited: 3 days that shook Rochester | website=Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | date=July 20, 2014 | url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/roberta-abbott-buckle-rochester-riots/12855941/ | access-date=April 11, 2021 | archive-date=January 24, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124230646/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/roberta-abbott-buckle-rochester-riots/12855941/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Hosmer, Howard C. ''A Panoramic History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York'', 1979. Windsor Publishers.</ref> In the wake of the riot, the Rochester Area Churches, together with black civil rights leaders, invited [[Saul Alinsky]] of the [[Industrial Areas Foundation]] to help the community organize. With the Reverend [[Franklin Florence]], they established FIGHT (Freedom, Integration, God, Honor, Today), which successfully brought pressure to bear on Eastman Kodak to help open up employment and city governance.<ref>{{cite web |first1=James |last1=Goodman |first2=Brian |last2=Sharp |title=Riots spawned FIGHT, other community efforts |newspaper=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=July 20, 2014 |url=https://eu.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/franklin-florence-dorothy-hall-kodak-fight/12853477/ |access-date=November 20, 2019 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308174408/https://eu.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/07/19/franklin-florence-dorothy-hall-kodak-fight/12853477/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>R. D. G. Wadhwani. "Kodak, FIGHT, and the Definition of Civil Rights in Rochester, New York: 1966-1967". ''The Historian''. Vol. 60, No. 1 (FALL), pp. 59-75</ref>

With industrial restructuring in the later 20th century, Rochester's manufacturing workforce shrank.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Owens |first1=Cassie |title=Can the City of Kodak and Xerox Rebuild Its Workforce for the Digital Age? |url=https://nextcity.org/features/can-the-city-of-kodak-and-xerox-rebuild-its-workforce-for-the-digital-age |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=Next City |date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118195853/https://nextcity.org/features/can-the-city-of-kodak-and-xerox-rebuild-its-workforce-for-the-digital-age |archive-date=18 January 2022}}</ref> Kodak, long the city's largest employer, conducted massive layoffs prior to a 2012 bankruptcy. Demographic changes also occurred, including thousands of Puerto Ricans moving to the city after World War II.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCally |first1=Karen |title=Building the Barrio: A Story of Rochester's Puerto Rican Pioneers |journal=Rochester History |date=Fall 2007 |volume=LXX |issue=2 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v70_2007/v70i2.pdf |access-date=14 January 2024}}</ref>

===21st century===
By 2022, the city's population had declined to 209,352 (although the metropolitan area was considerably larger) with 45.1% recorded as White and 38.4% as Black or African American.<ref name="census2018">{{cite web |title=United States Census Bureau Quick Facts Rochester, NY |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/rochestercitynewyork |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309103954/https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/rochestercitynewyork |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |access-date=October 24, 2023 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref> Although the total population declined, new arrivals continued to move to the city and change its demographic profile. The city became a major destination for refugees in the 21st century.<ref>{{cite news |last1=SCHERMERHORN |first1=JACOB |title=A haven for refugees |url=https://rochesterbeacon.com/2021/07/22/a-haven-for-refugees/ |access-date=14 January 2024 |work=Rochester Beacon |date=22 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727021815/https://rochesterbeacon.com/2021/07/22/a-haven-for-refugees/ |archive-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> In 2017, Rochester affirmed its status as a [[sanctuary city]] and in 2025 was sued by the [[second Trump administration]] for immigration issues.<ref>{{Cite web | title=White House Sues Rochester Over Sanctuary City Policy (1) | url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/trump-administration-sues-rochester-over-sanctuary-city-policy | access-date=2025-05-22 | website=news.bloomberglaw.com}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:GeneseeMist.jpg|thumb|The [[Genesee River]] in 2013]]
Rochester is located in [[Upstate New York]],<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990|archive-date=August 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824085937/https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|url-status=live}}</ref> on the southern shore of [[Lake Ontario]]. The [[Genesee River]] bisects the city. According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|37.1|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|35.8|sqmi|km2}} are land and {{convert|1.3|sqmi|km2}} are covered by water (3.42%).<ref name="TigerWebMapServer" /> Rochester borders the towns of [[Irondequoit, New York|Irondequoit]] to the north and northeast, [[Brighton, Monroe County, New York|Brighton]] to the southeast and south, [[Chili, New York|Chili]] to the southwest, [[Gates, New York|Gates]] to the west, and [[Greece, New York|Greece]] to the northwest.

Rochester's landscape was formed by the [[ice sheet]]s during the [[Pleistocene]] epoch. The retreating ice sheets reached a standstill at what is now the southern border of the city, melting at the same rate as they were advancing, depositing sediment along the southern edge of the ice mass. This created a line of hills, including (from west to east) Mt. Hope, the hills of Highland Park, Pinnacle Hill, and Cobb's Hill. Because the sediment of these hills was deposited into a proglacial lake, they are stratified and classified as a "[[Kame|kame delta]]". A brief retreat and readvance of the ice sheet onto the delta deposited unstratified material there, creating a rare hybrid structure called "[[Moraine|kame moraine]]".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Broad|first=William J.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/science/how-the-ice-age-shaped-new-york.html|title=How the Ice Age Shaped New York|date=June 5, 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508055054/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/science/how-the-ice-age-shaped-new-york.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Fairchild|first=H. L.|date=1896|title=Kame Areas in Western New York South of Irondequoit and Sodus Bays|journal=[[The Journal of Geology]]|volume=4|issue=2|pages=129–159|issn=0022-1376|jstor=30054321|doi=10.1086/607458|bibcode=1896JG......4..129F|s2cid=129916017|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1431437|access-date=June 3, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806195232/https://zenodo.org/record/1431437|url-status=live}}</ref> The ice sheets also created Lake Ontario, the [[Glacial geology of the Genesee River|Genesee River]] with its waterfalls and [[Canyon|gorge]]s, [[Irondequoit Bay]], [[Sodus Bay]], [[Braddock Bay]], [[Mendon Ponds Park|Mendon Ponds]], numerous local streams and ponds, [[Ridge Road (Western New York)|the Ridge]], and the nearby [[Finger Lakes]].<ref name=":4" />

Water to the city is sourced from [[Hemlock Lake]], [[Canadice Lake]], and Lake Ontario.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Pocket History of the Rochester Water Works |url=http://www.cityofrochester.gov/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=8589965735&libID=8589965719 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=cityofrochester.gov}}</ref>

===Neighborhoods===
Celebrate City Living, a partnership program between the city government and Rochester Coalition for Neighborhood Living, defines 35 neighborhoods in Rochester. Among these are the 14621 Community, 19th Ward, Beechwood, Browncroft, [[Charlotte, Rochester, New York|Charlotte]], Cobbs Hill, Corn Hill, [[downtown Rochester]], Dutchtown, [[Edgerton (neighborhood)|Edgerton]], EMMA (East Main, Mustard & Atlantic Avenue), High Falls, Highland Park, Homestead Heights, JOSANA (Jay-Orchard Street Area), Lincoln Park, Lyell-Otis, Maplewood, Marketview Heights, Mayor's Heights, Monroe Village, NOTA (Neighborhood of the Arts), North Winton Village, Northland-Lyceum, Park Avenue, Plymouth-Exchange, South Wedge, Susan B. Anthony, Swillburg, Upper Falls, Upper Monroe, and Upper Mount Hope.<ref>{{cite news |title=City and Rochester Coalition for Neighborhood Living team up for "Celebrate City Living" campaign |url=https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/city-and-rochester-coalition-for-neighborhood-living-team-up-for-celebrate-city-living-campaign/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=Rochester First |date=30 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Home - Celebrate City Living |url=https://celebratecityliving.com/# |website=Celebrate City Living |access-date=15 January 2024}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed">
File:RochesterSkyline2017.jpg|Center City and the [[Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge]]
File:Corn Hill 2.jpg|Townhouses in Corn Hill
File:Oxford Street Homes 1.jpg|Oxford Street Houses
File:Park and Oxford Intersection.jpg|Park and Oxford
File:EastEndApartments.jpg|Apartments in Rochester's East End
File:Rochouse wintercolours (8458281227).jpg|Houses on Park Avenue
File:Rochester aerial aug 17 2007.jpg|An aerial image of the city of Rochester taken in August 2007
</gallery>

====19th Ward====
The 19th Ward is a southwest neighborhood bordered by Genesee Street, West Avenue, and the Erie Canal, and is across the river from the University of Rochester. The neighborhood is one of the largest in Rochester.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Macaluso |first=Tim Louis |date=14 October 2015 |title=History, activism, and resilience in the 19th Ward |work=City Magazine |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/history-activism-and-resilience-in-the-19th-ward-2652071 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230924080923/https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/history-activism-and-resilience-in-the-19th-ward-2652071 |archive-date=24 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=19th Ward Community Association |url=http://www.19wca.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110620214532/http://www.19wca.org/ |archive-date=June 20, 2011 |access-date=November 12, 2012 |publisher=19wca.org}}</ref> Now known by its slogan "Urban by Choice",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southwest Neighborhoods - 19th Ward |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589942749 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328142456/https://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589942749 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=City of Rochester}}</ref> in the early 19th century, the area was known as Castle Town, after Castle Inn, a tavern run by [[Colonel]] Isaac Castle. By the early 1820s, however, the area was overshadowed by developments in the north that became downtown Rochester. Due to a tumultuous bend in the Genesee, the area was home to skilled boatsmen who assisted boats traveling north to Rochester and the area was consequently known during this time as "The Rapids".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosenberg-Naparsteck |first1=Ruth |title=At the Rapids on the Genesee Settlement at Castletown |journal=Rochester History |date=Summer 1992 |volume=LIV |issue=3 |page=3 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v54_1992/v54i3.pdf |access-date=31 December 2023}}</ref> In the 1890s, as Rochester expanded, the area rapidly urbanized. By 1930, it was a booming residential area for doctors, lawyers, and other skilled workers. Homes in the originally upper-class neighborhood typically have gumwood trim, leaded glass, fireplaces, hardwood floors, and open porches. In the 1960s, property values fell as the population of Rochester did, the area experienced [[white flight]] accelerated by school busing, [[blockbusting]], and [[List of ethnic riots|race riot]]s downtown, and crime increased, with violence, [[Substance abuse|drug use]], and neglected property further diminishing property values.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Leavy |first1=Michael |title=Rochester's 19th Ward |last2=Leavy |first2=Glenn |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=978-0738539478}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2023}} In recent years, neighborhood revitalization has come from the "Brooks Landing" development along the Genesee River.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 21, 2004 |title=Sticking it to the 19th Ward |url=http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/archives/2004/4/Sticking+it+to+the+19th+Ward |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930221133/http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/archives/2004/4/Sticking+it+to+the+19th+Ward |archive-date=September 30, 2011 |access-date=May 7, 2016 |work=City Newspaper}}</ref> [[Gentrification]] has occurred in the 19th Ward and adjacent Plymouth-Exchange area from the conversion of housing stock to student housing for the University of Rochester.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=James |date=5 June 2019 |title=The state of the neighborhoods |work=Rochester City Magazine |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/the-state-of-the-neighborhoods-10375532 |url-status=live |access-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229191444/https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/the-state-of-the-neighborhoods-10375532 |archive-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> Located in the 19th Ward are the [[Arvine Heights Historic District]], [[Chili–West Historic District]], [[Inglewood and Thurston Historic District]], and [[Sibley–Elmdorf Historic District]], listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="nps">{{cite web |url= https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2015-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf |title= National Register of Historic Places Listings |date= June 12, 2015 |work= Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 6/01/15 through 6/05/15 |publisher= National Park Service }}</ref><ref name="nps1">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2015-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=July 10, 2015|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 6/29/15 through 7/02/15 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref name="nps2">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2015-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Listings|date=September 11, 2015|work=Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 8/31/15 through 9/04/15 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

====Browncroft====
The Browncroft neighborhood is built on the former nursery grounds of the Brown Brothers nursery, between the town of Brighton and Winton Road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southeast Neighborhoods - Browncroft |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589944125 |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=City of Rochester}}</ref> Many Tudor and Colonial houses are contained within, and the business district situated on Winton Road has a mix of restaurants and shops.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Macaluso |first1=Tim Louis |last2=Moule |first2=Jeremy |date=14 March 2012 |title=ANNUAL MANUAL '12: Rochester neighborhoods |work=Rochester City Magazine |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/special-sections/annual-manual-12-rochester-neighborhoods-2134111 |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> The [[Browncroft Historic District]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2004.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2009a}}</ref>

====Charlotte====
[[File:RocNightAqueduct.jpg|thumb|[[Genesee River]] and the historic Aqueduct [[Downtown Rochester|Downtown]]]]
[[Charlotte, Rochester, New York|Charlotte]] is a lakefront community in Rochester bordering Lake Ontario. It is home to Ontario Beach Park,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northwest Neighborhoods - Charlotte |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943405 |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=City of Rochester}}</ref> commonly known as Charlotte Beach, which is a popular summer destination for Rochesterians. A new terminal was built in 2004 for the [[HSC Dolphin Jet|Rochester-to-Toronto ferry service]] and was later sold after the ferry ceased operations in 2005. The Port of Rochester terminal still exists, but multiple attempts by the city to make additions have failed since 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.twcnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2016/06/30/charlotte-project-new-developer-rochester.html |title= Port of Rochester Project Now On Hold, Charlotte Residents Say It's Great News |agency= Time Warner Cable News |date= June 30, 2016 |access-date= August 30, 2016 |archive-date= September 14, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160914121126/http://www.twcnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2016/06/30/charlotte-project-new-developer-rochester.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sharp |first=Brian |date=12 June 2019 |title=Another push to redevelop the Port of Rochester has fizzled |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/06/12/city-walks-away-latest-port-developer-try-again/1425553001/ |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>

==== Corn Hill ====
Corn Hill is located in the city's old Third Ward, and best known today for the annual Corn Hill arts festival. Many of the city's wealthiest residents lived in the neighborhood during the 19th century, but they relocated to the East End and suburbs after the turn of the century.<ref name="cornhill">{{Cite news |last=Morry |first=Emily |date=6 July 2018 |title=Where were you in 1969? Corn Hill Arts Festival looks back |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2018/07/06/1969-woodstock-abbey-road-and-new-corn-hill-festival/746717002/ |access-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624225823/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2018/07/06/1969-woodstock-abbey-road-and-new-corn-hill-festival/746717002/ |archive-date=24 June 2022}}</ref> The neighborhood experienced decline, and much of the Third Ward was demolished for the construction of I-490 in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Pressley |first1=Georgia |last2=Batlle |first2=Maryann |last3=Brooks |first3=Terrell |date=19 August 2023 |title=Clarissa Street Reunion: A vital Rochester neighborhood gathers to remember what happened |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2023/08/19/rochester-black-history-on-clarissa-st-corn-hills-vibrant-story/70631435007/ |access-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827090418/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2023/08/19/rochester-black-history-on-clarissa-st-corn-hills-vibrant-story/70631435007/ |archive-date=27 August 2023}}</ref> Revival began in the late 1960s, as several of the Victorian homes in the neighborhood were restored by the Genesee Landmarks Foundation. In 1969 the Corn Hill arts festival was held and became an annual feature.<ref name="cornhill" /> The [[Third Ward Historic District (Rochester, New York)|Third Ward Historic District]] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.<ref name="nris" />

====Edgerton====
The [[Edgerton (neighborhood)|Edgerton]] neighborhood is in the city's northwest quadrant, along Lake Avenue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northwest Neighborhoods - Edgerton, Dewey and Driving Park |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943425 |access-date=29 December 2023 |website=City of Rochester}}</ref> Historically an Italian-American neighborhood, the area around Lyell Avenue has been a target for the formation of a designated Little Italy neighborhood, although few Italian Americans live there today.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/05/31/little-italy-district-along-lyell-avenue-seek-historic-designation/358953001/ |title=Group pushing "Little Italy" concept seeks historic district in Rochester |last=Sharp |first=Brian |date=May 31, 2017 |access-date=December 31, 2017 |archive-date=January 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121184805/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/05/31/little-italy-district-along-lyell-avenue-seek-historic-designation/358953001/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=May 23, 2017 |title=A new logo for Little Italy Historic District, and a look at what the future could hold |url=http://13wham.com/news/local/a-new-logo-for-little-italy-and-a-look-ahead-to-what-the-future-could-hold |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101025922/http://13wham.com/news/local/a-new-logo-for-little-italy-and-a-look-ahead-to-what-the-future-could-hold |archive-date=January 1, 2018 |access-date=December 31, 2017 |website=13 WHAM}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Fanelli |first=Gino |date=30 June 2021 |title=Lyell Avenue, a very 'Little Italy,' and a neighborhood at a crossroads |work=Rochester City Magazine |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/lyell-avenue-little-italy-edgerton-neighborhood-at-crossroads-13371683 |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> The neighborhood is known for struggling with a high crime rate. Residents have pursued a number of strategies to improve the neighborhood in recent years, including the construction of housing for the homeless.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sharp |first=Brian |date=3 May 2022 |title=Plan for tiny house village a first for Rochester, Monroe County |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2022/05/03/tiny-house-village-first-rochester-monroe-county-ny/9573765002/ |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> The neighborhood features Edgerton Park, which was once home to most of the city's professional sports teams.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=James |date=12 November 2019 |title=5 things to know about the Rochester Jeffersons |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/in-depth/sports/2019/11/12/rochester-jeffersons-5-things-know-founding-nfl-team/4062054002/ |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kramer |first=David |date=2 March 2015 |title=When NBA history was made at Edgerton Park |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/editorial/2015/03/02/when-nba-history-was-made-at-edgerton-park/24249671/ |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>

==== Maplewood ====
[[File:RidgeRdRochesterNY.jpg|thumb|A commercial part of Ridge Road in Maplewood]]
Maplewood is located in the northwest quadrant, centered around Lake Avenue and Maplewood Park. [[Eastman Business Park]] is located on its north edge. The neighborhood once contained both mansions for the wealthy and worker housing for nearby factories like Kodak's.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Macaluso |first=Tim Louis |date=23 August 2017 |title=Maplewood and North Clinton in transition |work=Rochester City Magazine |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/maplewood-and-north-clinton-in-transition-4033089 |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref> Many of the neighborhood's old mansions have been converted to multi-family housing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 March 2011 |title=ANNUAL MANUAL '11: Welcome to the Neighborhoods |work=Rochester City Magazine |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/special-sections/annual-manual-11-welcome-to-the-neighborhoods-2132143}}</ref> Due to its diverse architectural heritage, the [[Maplewood Historic District]] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.<ref name="nris" />

====Marketview Heights====
The Marketview Heights neighborhood is northeast of downtown Rochester, running east from Union Street just north of Atlantic Ave.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/marketviewheights/|title=NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOODS - MARKETVIEW HEIGHTS|website=CityofRochester.gov|access-date=February 28, 2020|archive-date=February 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228214729/https://www.cityofrochester.gov/marketviewheights/|url-status=live}}</ref> It is best known as the location of the Public Market, which first opened in 1905 and offers a variety of groceries and other goods from farms and shops from surrounding areas, primarily on the weekends.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fuller |first1=Kevin |title=Movers of the soil: Farmers of the Rochester Public Market |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/movers-of-the-soil-farmers-of-the-rochester-public-market-3758838 |access-date=30 December 2023 |work=Rochester City Magazine |date=28 June 2017}}</ref> In the late twentieth century, the neighborhood experienced a severe decline, and roughly half of residents lived below the poverty line in 2000. Public investment was made in the neighborhood after 2008 to implement a number of community proposals.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=David |title=How to fix a neighborhood on the edge |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/09/06/how-fix-neighborhood-edge/32349207/ |access-date=30 December 2023 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=6 September 2015}}</ref> A second round of proposals are being explored currently for the planned removal of the Inner Loop in the southern end of the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pressley |first1=Georgia |title=Legacy of urban renewal: What does a church hope for when the Inner Loop gets filled in? |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2023/08/21/rochester-inner-loop-removal-race-dominated-moves-still-resonate/70561563007/ |access-date=30 December 2023 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=28 August 2023}}</ref>

====Park Avenue====
Park Avenue is centered on the eponymous street southeast of downtown. It originally functioned as a service street with businesses that catered to wealthy residents who lived on nearby East Avenue.<ref name="parkavenue">{{cite news |title=Know your neighborhoods |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/special-sections/know-your-neighborhoods-2510312 |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=Rochester City Magazine |date=25 March 2015}}</ref> Between 1894 and 1975, it was also home to Park Avenue Hospital.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morrell |first1=Alan |title=Whatever Happened To ... Park Avenue Hospital? |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2014/08/29/whatever-happened-park-avenue-hospital/14829263/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=30 August 2014}}</ref> Today, the neighborhood is one of the most desirable in the city, highly valued for its walkability and density of bars, clubs, and restaurants.<ref name="parkavenue" /> The city's annual pride parade is hosted in the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Batlle |first1=Maryann |title=Rochester's 2023 Pride Parade and Festival are less than a month away. What to know |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/entertainment/2023/06/20/rochester-ny-pride-parade-and-festival-2023-time-date-and-details/70327677007/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=20 June 2023}}</ref> The Park Avenue Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gorbman |first1=Randy |title=Park Ave. neighborhood gets historic designation |url=https://www.wxxinews.org/arts-life/2020-02-27/park-ave-neighborhood-gets-historic-designation |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=[[WXXI Public Broadcasting Council|WXXI]] |date=27 February 2020}}</ref>

====South Wedge====
The South Wedge is a wedge-shaped neighborhood centered on South Avenue between the Genesee River and Interstate 490. It began as the home of several families involved in trades on the Erie Canal. In the 1840s, the Ellwanger and Barry nursery was built on South Avenue, introducing greenery to the neighborhood and drawing tourists. Frederick Douglass lived in a house in the neighborhood. The area fell on hard times after World War II, when residents moved to the suburbs and several homes and businesses were abandoned. The South Wedge Planning Committee was established in 1973 to revitalize the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news |title=Retrofitting Rochester: Old South Wedge |url=http://media.democratandchronicle.com/retrofitting-rochester/old-south-wedge |access-date=30 December 2023 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303162650/http://media.democratandchronicle.com/retrofitting-rochester/old-south-wedge |archive-date=3 March 2013}}</ref> Today, the neighborhood is a hub of small businesses.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vhao |first1=Mary |title=Small businesses thrive in the South Wedge |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/11/27/small-businesses-grow-south-wedge-community/76323054/ |access-date=30 December 2023 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=27 November 2015}}</ref> The [[South Wedge Historic District]] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, and the Gregory Tract Historic District was listed in 2022.<ref name="nris" />

===Climate===
Rochester lies in the [[humid continental climate]] zone ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Dfa'')<ref>Peel, M. C., Finlayson, B. L., and McMahon, T. A.: [//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Americas_K%C3%B6ppen_Map_original_colors.png Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification], Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11, 1633–1644, 2007.</ref> and has four distinct seasons.

Winters are cold (temperatures drop to {{convert|0|°F|0}} on 4.2 nights annually). Like much of the eastern Great Lakes, Rochester is very cloudy and overcast in winter. Rochester normally receives heavy snow in winter (primarily [[lake effect snow]] resulting from its location on the southern shores of Lake Ontario), ranking among the snowiest large cities on earth<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/top-10-snowiest-major-cities-around-the-world/375130 |title=Top 10 snowiest major cities around the world |first=Michael |last=Kuhne |website=AccuWeather |orig-date=January 21, 2016 |date=January 23, 2016 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827152004/https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/top-10-snowiest-major-cities-around-the-world/375130 |url-status=live }}</ref> and occasionally setting records for annual snowfall among large US metros.<ref>{{cite web|title=Snowiest Cities in United States - Current Results|url=https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/snowiest-cities.php|access-date=May 13, 2021|website=www.currentresults.com|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207184721/https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/snowiest-cities.php|url-status=live}}</ref>  The 30-year annual average snowfall is just above {{convert|100|in|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name = NOAA >{{cite web |url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=buf |title = NowData - NOAA Online Weather Data |publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] |access-date = December 29, 2011 |archive-date = July 21, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150721220904/http://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=buf |url-status = live }}</ref> Spring sees plentiful rain with the rising temperatures, and occasional late snowstorms depending on the year. Summers are warm and sunny; there are occasional short periods of high heat and humidity but in general, Rochester is set apart from most of the continental US by comparatively cool, comfortable summers (ranking among the top five coolest summers among large metros alongside [[San Francisco]], [[Seattle]], [[Portland, Oregon]], and neighboring [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Coolest US Cities in Summer - Current Results|url=https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/coldest-cities-summer.php|access-date=May 13, 2021|website=www.currentresults.com|archive-date=December 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230101933/https://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/coldest-cities-summer.php|url-status=live}}</ref>). Autumn features brilliant foliage colors, cooling temperatures and occasionally an excess of rain depending on the year, though precipitation is generally plentiful and dispersed fairly evenly throughout the year.
{{Rochester, New York weatherbox}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
| 1810 = 1001
| 1820 = 1502
| 1830 = 9207
| 1840 = 20191
| 1850 = 36403
| 1860 = 48204
| 1870 = 62386
| 1880 = 89366
| 1890 = 133896
| 1900 = 162608
| 1910 = 218149
| 1920 = 295750
| 1930 = 328132
| 1940 = 324975
| 1950 = 332488
| 1960 = 318611
| 1970 = 296233
| 1980 = 241741
| 1990 = 231636
| 2000 = 219474
| 2010 = 210565
| 2020 = 211328
| estyear = 2023
| estimate = 207274
| estref = 
| align-fn = center
| footnote = Historical Population Figures<ref name="auto1"/><br />U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=April 19, 2013|archive-date=October 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003185009/https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

As of the [[2020 United States census]], the population of Rochester was 211,328. Like most [[Rust Belt]] cities, the city has experienced a sustained population decline over the last 60 years. In 2020, for the first time in 200 years, Rochester dropped to the [[List of cities in New York|fourth most populous city]] in the state behind [[Yonkers, New York|Yonkers]]. However, in 2020, an increase in the city's population was reported for the first time since the [[1950 United States census|1950 Census]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Andreatta |first1=David |title=Census: Rochester falls to New York's fourth-largest city |url=https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2021-08-12/census-rochester-falls-to-new-yorks-fourth-largest-city |access-date=23 May 2024 |work=WXXI News |date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302154654/https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2021-08-12/census-rochester-falls-to-new-yorks-fourth-largest-city |archive-date=2 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsed collapsible" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
! Historical racial composition !! 2020<ref name="census">{{cite web |url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3663000.html |title=Rochester (city), New York |work=State & County QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=May 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123000948/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/3663000.html |archive-date=November 23, 2012  }}</ref>  !! 2010<ref name="census"/> !! 1990<ref name="census1" /> !! 1970<ref name="census1" /> !! 1950<ref name="census1" />
|-
| [[White American|White]] || 35% || 43.7% || 61.1% || 82.4% || 97.6%
|-
| —Non-Hispanic || 33% || 37.6% || 58.3% || 80.2%{{efn|name="fifteen"|From a 15% sample.}} || n/a
|-
| [[African American|Black or African American]] || 38% || 41.7% || 31.5% || 16.8% || 2.3%
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (of any race) || 19.8% || 16.4% || 8.7% || 2.8%{{efn|name="fifteen"|From a 15% sample.}} || (X)
|-
| [[Asian American|Asian]] || 3.9% || 3.1% || 1.8% || 0.2% || −
|}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+'''Rochester city, New York – racial and ethnic composition'''<br /><small>{{nobold|''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.''}}</small>
!Race / ethnicity <small>(''NH = Non-Hispanic'')</small>
!Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>{{Cite web|title=P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Rochester city, New York |url=https://data.census.gov/table?g=160XX00US3663000&tid=DECENNIALSF12000.P004|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= }}</ref>
!Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Rochester city, New York |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=160XX00US3663000&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= }}</ref>
!{{partial|Pop 2020}}<ref name=2020CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Rochester city, New York |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=160XX00US3663000&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date= }}</ref>
!% 2000
!% 2010
!{{partial|% 2020}}
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|White]] alone (NH)
|97,395
|79,178
|style='background: #ffffe6; |69,792
|44.32%
|37.60%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |33.03%
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino African Americans|Black or African American]] alone (NH)
|82,267
|83,346
|style='background: #ffffe6; |80,459
|37.43%
|39.58%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |38.07%
|-
|[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[Alaska Native]] alone (NH)
|809
|666
|style='background: #ffffe6; |490
|0.37%
|0.32%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.23%
|-
|[[Asian Americans|Asian]] alone (NH)
|4,867
|6,350
|style='background: #ffffe6; |8,403
|2.21%
|3.02%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.98%
|-
|[[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]] alone (NH)
|61
|77
|style='background: #ffffe6; |62
|0.03%
|0.04%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.03%
|-
|Some Other Race alone (NH)
|474
|392
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,004
|0.22%
|0.19%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.48%
|-
|[[Multiracial Americans|Mixed-race or multiracial]] (NH)
|5,868
|6,100
|style='background: #ffffe6; |9,249
|2.67%
|2.90%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.38%
|-
|[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (any race)
|28,032
|34,456
|style='background: #ffffe6; |41,869
|12.75%
|16.36%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |19.81%
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''219,773'''
|'''210,565'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''211,328'''
|'''100.00%'''
|'''100.00%'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''100.00%'''
|}

As of the 2020 Census, 38.0% of Rochester residents were non-Hispanic Black, 33.0% were non-Hispanic White, 19.8% were Hispanic/Latino, 3.9% were Asian, 0.2% were Native American or Pacific Islander, and 5.1% were mixed or other.<ref name=Census2020>{{cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=Rochester%20city,%20ny&y=2020 |website=data.census.gov |access-date=19 January 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Race and ethnicity 2020 Rochester, NY.png|thumb|Map of racial distribution in Rochester, NY 2020 U.S. Census. Each dot is one person. {{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(115, 178, 255)|White}} {{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(159, 212, 0)|Black}} {{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(255, 0, 0)|Asian}} {{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(255, 170, 0)|Hispanic}} {{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(140, 81, 181)|Multiracial}} {{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(153, 102, 51)|Native American/other}}]]

In 2020, there were 91,500 households, of which 18.8% were married couples living together, 9.9% were unmarried co-habitating couples, 42.3% had a female householder with no partner present, and 29.0% had a male householder with no partner present. Of all households, 41.3% were made up of individuals, 25.3% had children under 18 living with them, and 9.2% had someone living alone 65 or older. 33.1% of housing units were owner-occupied, and 66.9% were rented. The age distribution was 18.8% under 18, 15.4% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 or older. The [[Population pyramid|median age]] was 32.9. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males.<ref name=Census2020 />

According to 2020 [[American Community Survey]] estimates, The median income for a city household was $37,395, and for a family was $43,873. Males had a median income of $30,379, versus $28,260 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $24,916. About 25.5% of families and 30.4% of the population were below the [[Poverty threshold|poverty line]], including 48.2% of those under age 18 and 17.3% of those age 65 or over.<ref name=Census2020 />

Although losing population since 1950, over the course of the past 70 years Rochester has become a major center for immigration, particularly for arrivals from [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Southeast Europe|Southeastern Europe]], [[sub-Saharan Africa]], and the [[Caribbean]]. Rochester had the highest percentage of [[Puerto Ricans]] of any major city in the United States in 2013,<ref name="factfinder2.census.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places of 50,000 or More, Ranked by July 1, 2013 Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013|access-date=May 22, 2014|archive-date=May 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512074548/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08000.html|url-status=live}}</ref> one of the four largest [[Turkish American]] communities,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kaya|first=Ilhan|date=2005|title=Identity and Space: The Case of Turkish Americans*|journal=[[Geographical Review]]|language=en|volume=95|issue=3|pages=425–440|doi=10.1111/j.1931-0846.2005.tb00374.x|bibcode=2005GeoRv..95..425K |s2cid=146744475|issn=1931-0846}}</ref> one of the largest [[Jamaican American]] communities in any major U.S. city<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Jamaican.html |title=Ancestry Map of Jamaican Communities |publisher=Epodunk.com |access-date=August 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011153154/http://epodunk.com/ancestry/Jamaican.html |archive-date=October 11, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a large concentration of [[Polish Americans]] along with nearby Buffalo, New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2018/02/upstate_ny_irish_italian_german_polish_ancestry_cities.html|title=Which Upstate NY cities are the most Irish, Italian, Polish? 30 ancestries, ranked|last=Axelson|first=Ben|date=February 28, 2018|website=newyorkupstate|language=en|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806204836/https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2018/02/upstate_ny_irish_italian_german_polish_ancestry_cities.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Rochester's [[Bhutanese people|Bhutanese]] and [[Nepalis|Nepalese]] communities are among the largest in the United States, concentrated primarily in Jones Square and Edgerton with growth fueled by recently arrived migrants and refugees.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas|url=https://statisticalatlas.com/place/New-York/Rochester/Ancestry|access-date=May 13, 2021|website=statisticalatlas.com|archive-date=July 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718193352/http://statisticalatlas.com/place/New-York/Rochester/Ancestry|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, Rochester was ranked number 9 in the nation for the largest Italian population in the United States in 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.niaf.org/culture/statistics/5187-2/|title=The 50 U.S. cities with the most Italian Americans|website=National Italian American Foundation|access-date=February 10, 2018|archive-date=February 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180401/http://www.niaf.org/culture/statistics/5187-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rochester has been reported to have the largest ''per capita'' [[Hearing loss|deaf]] population in the United States by the [[New York Times]] because it is home to the [[National Technical Institute for the Deaf]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Making History: A Black Man's Hands Speak Eloquently|date=May 24, 2003|url=https://www.ntid.rit.edu/media/full_text.php?article_id=277|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 3, 2008|archive-date=July 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710181920/https://www.ntid.rit.edu/media/full_text.php?article_id=277|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=York |first1=Michelle |title=Where Sign Language Is Far From Foreign |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/nyregion/25deaf.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=25 December 2006}}</ref> A 2012 report by the NTID concluded 3.7% of the Rochester metropolitan area is deaf or hard-of-hearing, compared to a national rate of 3.5%.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walter |first1=Gerard |last2=Dirmyer |first2=Richard |title=Number of Persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Rochester, NY |url=https://www.dor.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2018/11/number_of_persons_who_are_deaf_or_hard_of_hearing.pdf |access-date=15 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115194814/https://www.dor.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2018/11/number_of_persons_who_are_deaf_or_hard_of_hearing.pdf |archive-date=15 January 2024}}</ref> Rochester has the largest deaf and hard-of-hearing population ''per capita'' when analyzing the working-age population, but may not have the largest ''per capita'' deaf population among all cities, due to deafness being much more prevalent in the elderly.

==Economy==
{{See also|Rochester, New York metropolitan area#Economy}}
{|class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:90%; text-align:center; margin:1em;"
|+Top private-sector Rochester area employers, 2024<br /><small>Source: ''The City of Rochester, New York''</small><ref name="2023report">{{Cite web |title=Annual Comprehensive Financial Report {{!}} City of Rochester, New York |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/departments/finance-department/annual-comprehensive-financial-report |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=www.cityofrochester.gov |language=en}}</ref>
|-
!Rank !! Employer !! Employees
|-
| 1||[[University of Rochester]]||32,100
|-
| 2||[[Rochester Regional Health]]||17,592
|-
| 3||[[Wegmans]]||12,946
|-
| 4||[[Paychex]]||4,579
|-
| 5||[[Rochester Institute of Technology]]||4,155
|-
| 6||[[L3Harris Technologies]]||3,724
|-
| 7||Heritage Christian Services||2,456
|-
| 8||Finger Lakes Health||2,308
|-
| 9||Lifetime Healthcare Companies{{efn|name="Excellus"|Including [[Excellus BlueCross BlueShield]].}}||2,298
|-
| 10||[[Tops Markets]]||2,038
|}

Like many Rust Belt cities, Rochester was traditionally a manufacturing center, home to companies such as [[Bausch & Lomb]], [[Kodak]], and [[Xerox]]. In the 21st century, [[deindustrialization]] has occurred. Xerox and Kodak each laid off thousands of workers in the 1990s and 2000s, causing the [[University of Rochester]] to become the city's top employer in 2005, a title it holds today.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dickinson |first1=Mike |title=Kodak loses title as top employer |url=https://rbj.net/2005/04/08/kodak-loses-title-as-top-employer/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Rochester Business Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118005718/https://rbj.net/2005/04/08/kodak-loses-title-as-top-employer/ |archive-date=18 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Xerox cutting 9,000 jobs |url=https://money.cnn.com/1998/04/07/companies/xerox/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=[[CNN Money]] |date=7 April 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051205060302/http://money.cnn.com/1998/04/07/companies/xerox/ |archive-date=5 December 2005}}</ref> [[Bausch & Lomb]] moved to Bridgewater, New Jersey, in 2014.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Tobin | first = Tom | title = Bausch + Lomb tower in downtown Rochester to be sold for $15 million | work = Democrat & Chronicle | access-date = October 1, 2014 | date = June 6, 2014 | url = https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2014/06/06/bausch-lomb-bor-rochester-larry-glazer/10089063/ | archive-date = December 25, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211225181236/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2014/06/06/bausch-lomb-tower-rochester-larry-glazer/10089063/ | url-status = live }}</ref> The [[Gannett Company|Gannett]] newspaper company and [[Western Union]] were founded in Rochester by [[Frank Gannett]] and [[Hiram Sibley]], respectively, but have since moved to other cities. Today, the city's top employers are its educational and medical institutions. After the University of Rochester, major employers in these fields include [[Rochester Regional Health]], the [[Rochester Institute of Technology]], and [[Carestream Health]]. In recent years, a [[high technology]] industry has grown in Rochester, fostered in part by collaborations between private [[startup company|startup enterprises]] and the local higher learning institutions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2013/11/07/high-tech-rochester-adds-4-businesses/3466157/|title=High Tech Rochester adds 4 businesses|newspaper=Rochester Democrat and Chronicle|date=November 7, 2013|access-date=October 29, 2015|archive-date=November 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110090419/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2013/11/07/high-tech-rochester-adds-4-businesses/3466157/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Astor |first1=Will |title=As a tech hub, Rochester has hidden strengths |url=https://rochesterbeacon.com/2021/06/25/as-a-tech-hub-rochester-has-hidden-strengths/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=Rochester Beacon |date=25 June 2021}}</ref> Other organizations such as High Tech Rochester provide local startups with mentorship, office space, and other resources.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.htr.org/ |title=Home |publisher=NextCorps |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827045436/http://htr.org/ |archive-date=August 27, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=May 29, 2023}}</ref> Like its legacy manufacturers, Rochester's modern technological focus is on imaging and [[optical science]] among the industry and universities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Optics, Photonics & Imaging |url=https://rochesterbiz.com/optics-photonics-imaging/ |publisher=Greater Rochester Enterprise |access-date=19 January 2024}}</ref> [[The Institute of Optics]] of the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology have popular imaging programs,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=The Society for Imaging Science and Technology |url=http://www.imaging.org/ist/resources/education.cfm |title=University Imaging Programs |access-date=September 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425123800/http://www.imaging.org/ist/resources/education.cfm |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rafferty |first1=Rebecca |title=Development of a Photo City |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/special-sections/development-of-a-photo-city-5833608 |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=City Magazine |date=21 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Moule |first1=Jeremy |title=From flour to photonics |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/special-sections/from-flour-to-photonics-5833599 |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=City Magazine |date=21 March 2018}}</ref> and a research hub for [[photonics]] has operated in the city since 2015 following federal and state investment.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sharp |first1=Brian |title=Rochester photonics hub aims to ramp up with $27M investment |url=https://www.wxxinews.org/2023-03-09/rochester-photonics-hub-aims-to-ramp-up-with-27m-investment |access-date=19 January 2024 |work=WXXI |date=9 March 2023}}</ref> Rochester is also home to the [[Fortune 500|''Fortune'' 500]] beverage company [[Constellation Brands]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Constellation Brands opens new headquarters in downtown Rochester's Aqueduct Building |work=Democrat & Chronicle |access-date=25 June 2024 |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2024/06/25/constellation-brands-opens-new-headquarters-rochester-ny/74190196007/}}</ref> and the [[Fortune 1000|''Fortune'' 1000]] company [[Paychex]] (Fortune #681)<ref>{{cite web |title=Fortune 500 |url=https://fortune.com/ranking/fortune500/2023/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127094649/https://fortune.com/ranking/fortune500/2023/ |archive-date=November 27, 2023 |access-date=January 17, 2024 |website=Fortune |language=en}}</ref> and the supermarket chain [[Wegmans]]. The median single-family house price was $247,000 in the third quarter of 2023 in greater Rochester, an increase of 10.3% from a year earlier, according to the [[National Association of Realtors]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cdn.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/metro-home-prices-q3-2023-single-family-2023-11-09.pdf |title=Median Sales Price of Existing Single-Family Homes for Metropolitan Areas |website=[[National Association of Realtors]] |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113232256/https://cdn.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/metro-home-prices-q3-2023-single-family-2023-11-09.pdf |archive-date=November 13, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Arts and culture==
[[File:Rochester - Geva Theatre - Rear Angle.jpg|thumb|[[Geva Theatre Center]] in downtown Rochester]]
[[File:LittleTheatreRochesterNewYork.JPG|thumb|The [[Little Theatre (Rochester, New York)|Little Theatre]] in the East End]]
The city of Rochester is home to numerous cultural institutions. These include the [[Garth Fagan]] Dance, the [[Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra]], the Rochester City Ballet,  [[Rochester Contemporary Art Center]],  the Rochester Broadway Theater League, [[Hochstein School of Music & Dance]], the Auditorium Theater, and numerous arts organizations. [[Geva Theatre Center]] is the city's largest professional theater. The East End Theater is on East Main Street in the theater district. The [[Eastman School of Music]], one of the top musical institutes in the nation, and its auditorium are also within the East End neighborhood. The [[Eastman Theatre]] is host to the [[Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra]] and other musical/drama events.The Rochester Association of Performing Arts is a non-profit organization that provides educational theater classes to the community.

===Architecture===
Several churches are among Rochester's architectural features, including [[Asbury First United Methodist Church]], [[St. Joseph's Church and Rectory (Rochester, New York)|St. Joseph's Church and Rectory]], and the [[First Unitarian Church of Rochester (building)|First Unitarian Church of Rochester]], which was designed by [[Louis Kahn]] and described by [[Paul Goldberger]] as one of "the most significant works of religious architecture of the century".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/26/books/housing-for-the-spirit.html?&pagewanted=all |title=Housing for the Spirit |author=Paul Goldberger |date=December 26, 1982 |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=February 13, 2015 |author-link=Paul Goldberger |archive-date=December 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216215808/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/26/books/housing-for-the-spirit.html?&pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> Significant [[Art Deco]] buildings include the [[Cinema Theater (Rochester, New York)|Cinema Theater]] and [[Times Square Building (Rochester)|Times Square Building]], noted for its 42' tall "Wings of Progress" sculpture. The [[Midtown Plaza (Rochester)|Midtown Plaza]], the nation's first downtown shopping mall, first opened in 1962, and remains partially standing today.

===Museums===
Museums in the Rochester area include the [[Genesee Country Village and Museum]], [[George Eastman Museum]], [[Memorial Art Gallery]], [[Rochester Museum and Science Center]], [[Strasenburgh Planetarium]], [[Susan B. Anthony House]], [[New York Museum of Transportation]], [[Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum]], and [[The Strong National Museum of Play]]. In 2023, plans were announced for a museum dedicated to the life of Frederick Douglass in the city.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gorbman |first1=Randy |title=Frederick Douglass museum plans for downtown Rochester |url=https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2023-02-15/frederick-douglass-museum-plans-for-downtown-rochester |access-date=10 February 2024 |work=[[WXXI News]] |date=15 February 2023}}</ref>

===Festivals===
Rochester hosts a number of cultural festivals every year. The [[Lilac Festival (Rochester)|Lilac Festival]] at [[Highland Park, Rochester, New York|Highland Park]] is attended by hundreds of thousands annually. Established after an 1898 gathering, it features the largest collection of lilac varieties in North America, a parade, and dozens of musical acts and food vendors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Orr |first1=Steve |title=2017 Lilac Festival dates set |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2016/12/12/when-will-the-rochester-lilac-festival-be-held/95337662/ |access-date=12 January 2024 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927012626/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/2016/12/12/when-will-the-rochester-lilac-festival-be-held/95337662/ |archive-date=27 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Freile |first1=Victoria E. |title=Lilac Festival 2023: What to know about parking, music and more |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/entertainment/2023/05/11/lilac-festival-2023-in-rochester-ny-parking-concerts-parade-info/70206395007/ |access-date=12 January 2024 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511182347/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/entertainment/2023/05/11/lilac-festival-2023-in-rochester-ny-parking-concerts-parade-info/70206395007/ |archive-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> The [[Rochester International Jazz Festival]] was established in 2002 and is one of the largest [[List of jazz festivals|jazz festivals]] in the United States. It takes place in late June at dozens of clubs, concert halls and free outdoor stages throughout [[Downtown Rochester]], regularly drawing over 200,000 visitors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stein |first1=Eli |title=Rochester International Jazz Festival Reaches 20-Year Milestone in Style |url=https://nysmusic.com/2023/07/07/rochester-international-jazz-festival-reaches-20-year-milestone-in-style/ |website=New York State Music |date=July 7, 2023 |access-date=12 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112214150/https://nysmusic.com/2023/07/07/rochester-international-jazz-festival-reaches-20-year-milestone-in-style/ |archive-date=12 January 2024}}</ref> Other notable annual festivals in Rochester include the [[Rochester International Film Festival]] in June,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gross |first1=Dan |title=Rochester International Film Festival continues its historic run, moves all films to online viewing |url=https://www.rochesterfirst.com/around-town/rochester-international-film-festival-continues-its-historic-run-moves-all-films-to-online-viewing/ |access-date=12 January 2024 |work=Rochesterfirst.com |date=12 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620220525/https://www.rochesterfirst.com/around-town/rochester-international-film-festival-continues-its-historic-run-moves-all-films-to-online-viewing/ |archive-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> the Corn Hill Arts Festival in July,<ref name="cornhill" /> and the [[Rochester Fringe Festival]] in September.<ref>{{cite news |title=Going to the 2023 Rochester Fringe Festival? Here's what to know: Parking, tickets and more |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/entertainment/2023/09/11/rochester-ny-fringe-festival-what-to-know-about-tickets-parking-accessibility-venues-more/70818214007/ |access-date=12 January 2024 |work=Democrat and Chronicle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112222555/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/entertainment/2023/09/11/rochester-ny-fringe-festival-what-to-know-about-tickets-parking-accessibility-venues-more/70818214007/ |archive-date=12 January 2024}}</ref>

===Cuisine===
{{See also|History of brewing in Rochester, New York}}
[[File:Nick Tahou's Garbage Plate.JPG|thumb|A white hot [[Garbage Plate]] from [[Nick Tahou Hots]]]]
One food product Rochester calls its own is the "[[white hot]]", a variant of the [[hot dog]] or smoked [[bratwurst]] made by the local [[Zweigle's]] company and other companies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zweigles.com/recipes|title=Zweigle's - Recipes using our products|website=www.zweigles.com|access-date=May 24, 2017|archive-date=June 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620014354/http://www.zweigles.com/recipes|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/20-must-try-hot-dogs-in-america-20140623/boardwalk-hot-dog-brooklyn|title=Boardwalk Hot Dog (Brooklyn)|website=Men's Journal|date=June 23, 2014|access-date=May 24, 2017|archive-date=June 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627122305/http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/20-must-try-hot-dogs-in-america-20140623/boardwalk-hot-dog-brooklyn|url-status=live}}</ref> Another local specialty is the [[Garbage Plate]], a trademark of [[Nick Tahou Hots]] that traditionally includes macaroni salad, home fries, and two hot dogs or cheeseburgers topped with mustard, onions, and their famous meat hot sauce. Many area restaurants feature copies or variations with the word "plate" commonly used as a general term.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Memmott |first1=Jim |title=How the Garbage Plate surpassed Kodak as Rochester's signature thing |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/01/23/garbage-plate-rochester-ny-signature-dish-gets-props-jim-gaffigan-conan-obrien-nick-tahou-hots/4540227002/ |website=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |access-date=23 April 2024 |date=23 January 2020}}</ref> [[Chicken Francese]] was first popularized by Rochester's Italian American community.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Memmott |first1=Jim |title=Memmott: In Rochester, chicken French rules the roost |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2014/12/02/rochester-chicken-french-rules-roost/19787107/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=2 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926172058/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2014/12/02/rochester-chicken-french-rules-roost/19787107/ |archive-date=26 September 2018}}</ref>

The [[Genesee Brewing Company]] is headquartered in Rochester, where it holds an annual December tradition of assembling a tower of beer kegs in the shape of a Christmas tree.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Greenwood |first1=Marcia |title=Genesee Brewery keg tree lighting 2023: What to know about the event this year |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2023/11/03/genesee-brewery-keg-tree-lighting-2023-rochester-ny-what-to-know/71435268007/ |access-date=27 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=3 November 2023}}</ref> Other local franchises include [[Abbott's Frozen Custard]], [[Bill Gray's]], [[DiBella's]], and [[Tom Wahl's]]. [[Dinosaur Bar-B-Que]], which originated in Syracuse, also operates its second franchise downtown in the former [[Lehigh Valley Railroad Station (Rochester, New York)|Lehigh Valley Railroad station]] on the Genesee River. The [[Ragú]] brand of pasta sauce used to be produced in Rochester. Some of the original facility still exists and produces products for other labels (including Newman's Own) as Private Label Foods.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Morrell|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2015/05/30/whatever-happened-ragu/28079047/|title=Whatever Happened to ... Ragu?|date=May 30, 2015|work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|access-date=February 28, 2020|archive-date=May 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510223933/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2015/05/30/whatever-happened-ragu/28079047/|url-status=live}}</ref> Rochester was also the original home of [[French's]] Mustard, whose address was 1 Mustard Street.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2015/10/16/whatever-happened-frenchs/73860638/|title=Whatever Happened To ... French's?|work=Rochester Democrat and Chronicle|access-date=May 24, 2017|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124003727/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2015/10/16/whatever-happened-frenchs/73860638/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Sports==
{{Main|Sports in Rochester, New York}}

===Professional sports===
Rochester has several professional sports teams:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.rochester.ny.us/index.cfm?id=485 |title=Rochester Sports |access-date=January 13, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223124844/https://www.ci.rochester.ny.us/index.cfm?id=485 |archive-date=December 23, 2007 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=March 2024}}

[[File:Frontier Field 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Frontier Field]], including the Rochester skyline]]
[[File:PAETEC Park overview.JPG|thumb|right|[[Rochester Community Sports Complex Stadium]]]]
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Club
! Sport
! Began play
! League
! Venue
! Titles
|-
| [[Rochester Red Wings]]
| [[Baseball]]
| 1899
| [[International League|IL]]
| [[innovative Field]]
| 20
|-
| Rochester Royal Ballers
| [[Basketball]]
| 2024
| [[American Basketball Association (2000–present)|ABA]]
| [[Roberts Wesleyan University]]
| 0
|-
| [[Rochester Americans]]
| [[Ice hockey]]
| 1956
| [[American Hockey League|AHL]]
| [[Blue Cross Arena]]
| 6
|-
| [[Rochester Knighthawks]]
| [[Box lacrosse|Indoor lacrosse]]
| 2019
| [[National Lacrosse League|NLL]]
| [[Blue Cross Arena]]
| 0
|-
| [[Flower City Union]]
| [[Association football|Soccer]]
| 2021
| [[National Premier Soccer League|NPSL]]
| [[Rochester Community Sports Complex Stadium]]
| 1
|}

The Rochester Royals (now the [[Sacramento Kings]]) were a professional basketball team in Rochester from 1945 to 1957 with roots as an amateur team dating back to 1923. They won the NBA title in [[1951 NBA playoffs|1951]], defeating the [[New York Knicks]] in seven games. Rochester and its surrounding area also has a rich [[golf]] history and has hosted numerous professional tournaments on its local golf courses, most recently the [[2023 PGA Championship]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/2015-02/americas-100-greatest-golf-courses-ranking|access-date= August 19, 2015|title= America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses|archive-date= August 19, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150819084513/http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-courses/2015-02/americas-100-greatest-golf-courses-ranking|url-status= live}}</ref>

===Collegiate===
[[NCAA Division I]] teams include the [[Rochester Institute of Technology|RIT]] [[RIT Tigers men's ice hockey|men's]] and [[RIT Tigers women's ice hockey|women's]] ice hockey teams, and the [[University of Rochester]] men's squash team, which has ranked top 5 in Division I.

==Parks and recreation==
[[File:Stairshighlandparkrochester2001.JPG|thumb|upright|Highland Park]]
[[File:RushRheesLibraryFromMountHopeCemeteryB.jpg|thumb|right|Mount Hope Cemetery]]

Notable cemeteries include the Victorian-era [[Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester|Mount Hope Cemetery]], [[Holy Sepulchre Cemetery (Rochester, New York)|Holy Sepulchre]] and [[Riverside Cemetery (Rochester, New York)|Riverside Cemetery]]. Mount Hope became a popular picnicking destination during the late nineteenth century, and the city began to develop public parks.<ref name="LegacyOlmstead">{{cite journal|last1=Wickes|first1=Majorie|last2=O'Connell|first2=Tim|date=April 1988|title=The Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted|journal=Rochester History|volume=L|issue=2|publisher=Rochester Public Library|issn=0035-7413|url=http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/~rochhist/v50_1988/v50i2.pdf|access-date=December 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608180754/http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/~rochhist/v50_1988/v50i2.pdf|archive-date=June 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rochester's park system was initially designed by landscape architect [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] in the 1890s. Olmsted intended to preserve natural landscapes for the city residents to enjoy. The system included four major parks: [[Genesee Valley Park]], [[Highland Park (Rochester, New York)|Highland Park]], Maplewood Park, and Seneca Park,<ref name="LegacyOlmstead" /> the last of which is today home to the [[Seneca Park Zoo]].

The park system was expanded in the early twentieth century with Cobb's Hill Park and [[Durand Eastman Park]] in 1908, Edgerton Park in 1911, and Ontario Beach Park in the early 1920s. The Park Commission also constructed new facilities in all parks, filling them with playgrounds, pavilions, and sports facilities. Modern additions to the park system include Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, Turning Point Park, and Tryon Park, which are located on former industrial and urban sites, in contrast to the early parks.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Comeau |first1=Katie Eggers |title=125 Years of Rochester's Parks |journal=Rochester History |date=Fall 2013 |volume=75 |issue=2 |url=https://www.libraryweb.org/~rochhist/v75_2013/v75i2.pdf |access-date=28 January 2024}}</ref> Most of the city's parks lie on the Genesee River and can be accessed by the Genesee Riverway Trail, which runs for the river's entire length through the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=GENESEE RIVERWAY TRAIL |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/grt/ |website=City of Rochester |access-date=12 October 2023}}</ref> Current city facilities include 12 full-time recreation centers, 48 playgrounds, two artificial ice rinks, 74 softball/baseball fields, 42 tennis courts, four soccer fields, and 45 outdoor basketball courts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Department of Recreation and Human Services |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/drhs/ |publisher=City of Rochester |access-date=28 January 2024}}</ref>

==Government==
{{further|List of mayors of Rochester, New York}}
[[File:FederalBuildingRochesterNewYorkFrontView.JPG|thumb|right|[[Rochester City Hall (New York)|Rochester City Hall]]]]
Rochester is governed by a [[mayor]] serving as chief executive of city government and a city council consisting of four district members and five at-large members.<ref>{{cite web |title=Article V, Part A, The Council |url=https://ecode360.com/28971422#28971422 |website=Charter of the City of Rochester |access-date=12 January 2024}}</ref> Rochester has had a [[Strong Mayor|Strong mayor-council]] form of government since the approval of its current charter in a referendum in 1984.<ref name="strongmayor">{{Cite news |date=November 11, 1984 |title=STRONG-MAYOR SYSTEM RETURNING IN ROCHESTER |pages=47 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/11/nyregion/strong-mayor-system-returning-in-rochester.html |access-date=January 12, 2024}}</ref>  Administrative officers are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council.<ref>{{cite web |title=Article II, Administrative Departments |url=https://ecode360.com/28971181 |website=Charter of the City of Rochester |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref> All city legislation is proposed and passed by the council, and subject to a [[veto]] by the mayor, unless a majority of two-thirds approved it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Article V, Part A, Legislative Acts |url=https://ecode360.com/28971422#28971422 |website=Charter of the City of Rochester |access-date=28 December 2023}}</ref> The current mayor is [[Malik Evans]], serving since January 1, 2022.

Upon the city's charter in 1834, the mayor had few powers and most power was vested in the city council, which was composed of alderman representing individual wards.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=ROCHESTER THE WATER - POWER CITY 1812-1854 |date=1945 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=245–246 |url=https://archive.org/details/rochesterthewate000355mbp/page/n277/mode/2up |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref> The charter was frequently modified during the 19th century to expand or reduce the mayor's powers, until an 1898 act by the New York State Legislature centralized all appointments under the mayor. The city abolished the mayor's office and adopted a city manager system in a 1925 referendum, after which the mayor became a minor position and the city manager assumed executive authority, with both being chosen by the members of the city council.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McKelvey |first1=Blake |title=His Honor, The Mayor of Rochester |journal=Rochester History |date=January 1969 |volume=XXXI |issue=1}}</ref> A 1984 referendum restored the Strong mayor system.<ref name="strongmayor" /> [[William A. Johnson Jr.|William A. Johnson]], the city's first African American mayor, served from 1994 to 2005. [[Lovely Warren]], the city's first female mayor, served from 2014 to 2021.

=== Federal representation ===
The city is covered by [[New York's 25th congressional district]] currently represented by Democrat [[Joseph D. Morelle|Joe Morelle]] of [[Irondequoit, New York|Irondequoit, Monroe County]], in Congress. From 1987 until 2018, the city was represented by longtime Democrat [[Louise Slaughter|Louise M. Slaughter]] of [[Fairport, New York|Fairport, Monroe County]], in Congress.

=== State representation ===
After redistricting based on the [[2020 United States census]], the city was split between two state senate districts:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|- 
! District !! Area of the city !! Senator !! Party !! First took office !! Residence
|- {{party shading/Democratic}}
| [[New York's 55th State Senate district|55]] || Eastern<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/senate2022/sen55.pdf | title = Senate District 55 | work = 2022 Senate Maps | publisher = The New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment | location = [[Albany, New York]] | access-date = December 28, 2023 | archive-date = January 8, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230108000413/https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/senate2022/sen55.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> || [[Samra Brouk]] || Democratic || 2021 || Rochester, Monroe County
|- {{party shading/Democratic}}
| [[New York's 56th State Senate district|56]] || Western<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/senate2022/sen56.pdf | title = Senate District 56 | work = 2022 Senate Maps | publisher = The New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment | location = [[Albany, New York]] | access-date = December 28, 2023 | archive-date = December 8, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231208034447/https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/senate2022/sen56.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> || [[Jeremy Cooney]]  || Democratic || 2021 || Rochester, Monroe County
|}

After redistricting based on the 2020 census, the city was split between three state assembly districts:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|- 
! District !! Areas of the city !! Assemblyperson !! Party !! First took office !! Residence
|- {{party shading/Democratic}}
| 136 || [[Brighton, Monroe County, New York|Brighton]], [[Irondequoit, New York|Irondequoit]], northwest portion and easternmost tip of the City of Rochester<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2024assembly/asm136.pdf | title = Assembly District 136 | work = 2024 Assembly Maps | publisher = The New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment | location = [[Albany, New York]] | access-date = December 28, 2023 | archive-date = December 8, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231208022450/https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2024assembly/asm136.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> || [[Sarah Clark (politician)|Sarah Clark]] || Democratic || 2020 || Rochester, Monroe County
|- {{party shading/Democratic}}
| 137 || [[Gates, New York|Gates]], center of the City of Rochester<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2024assembly/asm137.pdf | title = Assembly District 137 | work = 2024 Assembly Maps | publisher = The New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment | location = [[Albany, New York]] | access-date = December 28, 2023 | archive-date = December 8, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231208022451/https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2024assembly/asm137.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> || [[Demond Meeks]] || Democratic || 2020 || Rochester, Monroe County
|- {{party shading/Democratic}}
| 138 || [[Chili, New York|Chili]], [[Henrietta, New York|Henrietta]], [[Riga, New York|Riga]], and the Southeast portion of the City of Rochester<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2024assembly/asm138.pdf | title = Assembly District 138 | work = 2024 Assembly Maps | publisher = The New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment | location = [[Albany, New York]] | access-date = December 28, 2023 | archive-date = December 8, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231208022450/https://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/2024assembly/asm138.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> || [[Harry Bronson|Harry B. Bronson]] || Democratic || 2011 || Rochester, Monroe County
|}

=== County representation ===
{{See also|Monroe County, New York#Government and politics}}
Rochester is represented by districts 7, 16, and 21–29 in the Monroe County legislature (a 29-seat body with legislators elected to two-year terms).<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www2.monroecounty.gov/files/County%20Legislative%20Districts.pdf | title = Legislative District Map | date = 2016 | publisher = Monroe County Board of Elections | location = Rochester, New York | access-date = June 20, 2019 | archive-date = November 16, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171116033627/http://www2.monroecounty.gov/files/County%20Legislative%20Districts.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> Rochester is also under the jurisdiction of the county executive (currently Democrat Adam Bello) along with the rest of Monroe County. The District Attorney is also elected at the county level along with several other offices (such as Sheriff and Clerk) which in part govern the city.

=== Courts ===
Rochester is part of the 7th Judicial District of the [[New York Supreme Court]] and the 4th Department of the [[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division]].

====Rochester City Court====
Rochester City Court is part of the [[judiciary of New York|New York State Unified Court System]]<ref>N.Y. Const. Art. VI, § 17(a).</ref> and consists of ten full-time judges, each of whom is elected to a 10-year term. Each judge must be a city resident and must have been an attorney in New York for at least five years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/UCT/2104|title=Legislation|website=NY State Senate}}</ref> Judges have a mandatory retirement age of 70. Vacancies on the court are filled by the mayor, and judges so appointed must run for a full term at the next general election.<ref>UCCA § 2104 (e)(2)(i)</ref>

In New York State, the 61 [[city courts]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Latwin |first1=Joseph |title=City Courts: Organization and Civil Jurisdiction |journal=Westchester Bar Journal |date=Fall 1990 |volume=17}}</ref> outside of New York City handle the arraignment of felonies, try misdemeanors and lesser offenses, and try civil lawsuits involving claims of up to $15,000. Rochester City Court also hears small claims matters up to $5,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ww2.nycourts.gov/courts/7jd/monroe/City-Court/Resources/SmallClaimsAppRocCityCourt.pdf|title=SmallClaimsAppRocCityCourt &#124; NYCOURTS.GOV|website=ww2.nycourts.gov}}</ref> Rules of practice and procedure within all city courts are prescribed by the Uniform City Court Act.<ref>UCCA § 102</ref> Rochester City Court, like all city courts, follows the individual assignment system ("IAS"). This means that each case is assigned to a judge when the case is first initiated, and, with a few exceptions, stays under the supervision of that particular judge until the case is resolved.<ref>Latwin, Joseph (Fall 1990). "City Courts: Organization and Civil Jurisdiction". Westchester Bar Journal, 280.</ref>

Created in 1876, the court was initially named the "Municipal Court of the City of Rochester" and had two judges.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Henry |title=The Courts of the State of New York |date=1909 |publisher=Wilson Publishing Co. |location=New York |page=473}}</ref> Originally, city courts throughout the state were self-regulating, and prescribed their own rules of procedure and bounds of jurisdiction.<ref name="auto">Latwin, Joseph (Fall 1990). "City Courts: Organization and Civil Jurisdiction". Westchester Bar Journal, 279.</ref> Rochester City Court was governed by the Rochester City Court Act, which was a part of the Charter of the City of Rochester.<ref>H.G. Fischer & Co. v Lincoln Rochester Trust Co., 195 Misc 983, 985 (Rochester City Court, 1949).</ref> In 1935, Judge Jacob Gitelman introduced weekend sentencing. He was the first judge in New York State to do so.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://roccitylibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013.004-Gitelman.pdf |title=Jacob Gitelman Papers |website=Rochester Public Library |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420035220/https://roccitylibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013.004-Gitelman.pdf |archive-date=April 20, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1964, the New York State Constitution was amended to require uniform jurisdiction, practice, and procedure for the city courts, to be regulated by the state legislature.<ref name="auto"/> The court's first African-American judge, Reuben K. Davis, was appointed to the city court bench in March 1967.<ref>{{cite web |title=Celebrating Black History Month in the 7th Judicial District |url=https://www.nycourts.gov/legacypdfs/courts/7jd/7JD%20Black%20History%20Month%202022%20Overview%20Booklet.pdf |publisher=The Legacy}}</ref>

In the 1980s, the court heard cases involving the prosecution of the "Topfree Seven", women who intentionally bared their chests once a year in order to protest the criminalization of female nudity. Judge Herman J. Walz  ruled that the women could not be prosecuted under New York's public nudity statute because their act of going topless in order to protest the law was imbued with First Amendment protections.<ref>{{cite web |title=Judge Rules Women Free To Bare Breasts To Get A Message Across |work=AP NEWS |url=https://apnews.com/article/0aa95d20d279772537c579b9b99922b3 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref> The decision was later affirmed by the [[New York Court of Appeals]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bauder |first1=David |title=NY's Highest Court Throws Out Charges Against Topless Protesters |work=AP NEWS |url=https://apnews.com/article/dc9d9094606f9c7a4df3beaee0ee63d6 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>People v Santorelli, 80 NY2d 875 (1992), affg People v Craft, 134 Misc 2d 121 (Rochester City Court, 1986).</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fahringer |first1=H P |title=Equal in all things: drawing the line on nudity |journal=Criminal Law Bulletin |date=1993 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=137–146}}</ref> By 1995, Rochester City Court had eight judges. A ninth was added in 2001.<ref>L.2001, c. 584, §§ 3 to 6, effective December 28, 2001</ref> The court was brought to its current complement of ten judges in 2014.<ref>L.2013, c. 548 §§ 1 to 4, effective April 1, 2014.</ref>

==Education==
===Primary and secondary education===
[[File:Front Facade of James Monroe High School, Rochester, NY 2009-07-28.JPG|thumb|[[James Monroe High School (Rochester, New York)|James Monroe High School]]]]

The City of Rochester is served by the [[Rochester City School District]], which encompasses all public primary and secondary education. During the 2022–23 school year, 22,238 students were enrolled in the district, with an average expenditure per student of {{Currency|23,266|USD}} and a four-year graduation rate of 71%.<ref>{{cite web |title=ROCHESTER CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT DATA |url=https://data.nysed.gov/profile.php?instid=800000050065 |website=data.nysed.gov |publisher=[[New York State Education Department]] |access-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125031040/https://data.nysed.gov/profile.php?instid=800000050065 |archive-date=25 January 2024}}</ref> The district is governed by a popularly elected seven-member board of education.<ref>{{cite web |title=Article II, Part I, Elective Officers |url=https://ecode360.com/28971179 |website=Charter of the City of Rochester |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> The Rochester City School District operates 14 public secondary schools, each serving grades 7 through 12.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rcsdk12.org/domain/11468 |title=School Directory |publisher=Rochester City School District |access-date=September 17, 2023}}</ref>
{{Div col}}
*Dr. Alice Holloway Young School of Excellence (7–8)
*[[East High School (Rochester, New York)|East Lower School]] (6–8)
*[[East High School (Rochester, New York)|East Upper School]] (9–12)
*[[Edison Technical School|Edison Career & Technology High School]] (9–12)
*Franklin Lower School (7–8)
*Franklin Upper School (9–12)
*[[James Monroe High School (Rochester, New York)|James Monroe Lower School]] (7–8)
*[[James Monroe High School (Rochester, New York)|James Monroe Upper School]] (9–12)
*[[Wilson Magnet High School|Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School]] (9–12)
*Northeast College Preparatory High School (9–12)
*[[Northwest College Preparatory School|Northwest Junior High at Douglass]] (7–8)
*Rochester Early College International High School (9–12)
*[[School of the Arts (Rochester, New York)|School of the Arts]] (7–12)
*[[School Without Walls (Rochester, New York)|School Without Walls]] (9–12)
{{Div col end}}

For the 2022–23 school year, Rochester additionally had fourteen free [[charter school]]s serving grades Kindergarten through 12.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charter Schools Directory |url=https://www.nysed.gov/charter-schools/charter-schools-directory |website=nysed.gov |publisher=[[New York State Education Department]] |access-date=27 January 2024}}</ref> Other private schools in and near Rochester include [[McQuaid Jesuit High School]], [[Aquinas Institute]] and [[Bishop Kearney High School (Irondequoit, New York)|Bishop Kearny High School]].

===Colleges and universities===
{{For|a complete list of institutions of higher learning in the metropolitan area|Rochester, New York metropolitan area#Colleges and universities}}
[[File:RushRhees.jpg|thumb|[[Rush Rhees Library]] at the [[University of Rochester]]]]
[[File:Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School1.jpg|thumb|[[Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School]]]]
Rochester and the surrounding region host a high concentration of colleges and universities, which drive much of the economic growth in the five-county area. The [[University of Rochester]] is the only large research institution primarily within the city limits, although [[Monroe Community College]] and [[State University of New York at Brockport|SUNY Brockport]] operate campuses [[Downtown Rochester|downtown]]. The Highland Park neighborhood was home to [[Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School]] (part of whose facility is leased by [[Ithaca College]]'s Department of Physical Therapy) and an office maintained by the [[Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations]].

The University of Rochester is the metropolitan area's oldest and most prominent institution of higher learning, and one of the country's top research centers. It includes a nursing school, the [[William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration|Simon School of Business]], and the [[Eastman School of Music]]. It was founded and endowed by [[George Eastman]] in his years as a [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]].<ref>[https://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2230 "University of Rochester Rises in U.S. News Rankings"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508192520/https://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=2230 |date=May 8, 2016 }}, University of Rochester Press Releases</ref> He also contributed greatly to the University of Rochester from wealth based on the success of Eastman Kodak.

Five institutions began operations in the city and later moved to Rochester's inner-ring suburbs: the [[Empire State College]] Rochester Learning Center,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.esc.edu/genesee-valley/locations/rochester/ | title = Empire State College in Rochester | publisher = [[Empire State College]] | location = Saratoga Springs, New York | access-date = December 21, 2011 | quote = In 1999, the center moved from Prince Street to 1475 Winton Road North, where it celebrates 30 years of service, of excellence and innovation. | archive-date = November 11, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121111044714/http://www.esc.edu/genesee-valley/locations/rochester/ | url-status = live }}</ref> [[Monroe Community College]],<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.monroecc.edu/go/inauguration/aboutmcc.htm | title = The Inauguration of Anne M. Kress; About MCC | publisher = [[Monroe Community College]] | location = Brighton, Monroe County, New York | access-date = December 21, 2011 | quote = In June 1968, MCC moved to a new, modern campus at 1000 East Henrietta Road. The college opened its Damon City Campus, located at Main Street and Clinton Avenue, in January 1992. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120604014512/http://www.monroecc.edu/go/inauguration/aboutmcc.htm | archive-date = June 4, 2012 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> [[Rochester Institute of Technology]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rit.edu/overview/history.html|title=History of RIT|access-date=May 29, 2010|publisher=Rochester Institute of Technology|archive-date=May 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528063736/https://www.rit.edu/overview/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry]] and [[Nazareth University]]. Rochester was the host of the [[Barleywood Female University]], a short-lived women's college from 1852 to 1853. The Lutheran seminary that became [[Wagner College]] was established in the city in 1883 and remained for some 35 years before moving to Staten Island.<ref>{{cite news | title = College graduates fuel Rochester's fame | url = http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100424/NEWS0202/4240317/College-graduates-fuel-Rochester-s-fame | newspaper = [[Democrat and Chronicle]] | location = Rochester, New York | issn = 1088-5153 | date = April 24, 2010 | access-date = July 4, 2013 | quote = What is now Staten Island's Wagner College was founded in Rochester in 1883 as the Lutheran Proseminary. It operated out of two homes in its first three years until Rochester builder John George Wagner donated the money that the college used to start its own campus on Oregon Street near downtown. In 1886, the school was renamed in honor of Wagner, and in 1918, it moved to Staten Island... | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140723014632/http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100424/NEWS0202/4240317/College-graduates-fuel-Rochester-s-fame | archive-date = July 23, 2014 }} [https://wagner.edu/newsroom/node-539/ Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428114152/https://wagner.edu/newsroom/node-539/ |date=April 28, 2016 }}</ref>

===Libraries===
The Rochester Public Library is headquartered at the Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County, which is located in the [[Rundel Memorial Library]] building and the adjacent Bausch & Lomb Public Library Building in downtown Rochester. The city is part of the larger Monroe County Library System. Library cards are freely available to residents of Monroe County and valid at the eleven branch libraries in the city and other branches in the county.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rochester Public Library - More Than You Think |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/RPL/ |website=cityofrochester.gov |publisher=City of Rochester |access-date=27 January 2024}}</ref> The library had 8.1 visits per capita and over 6,000 programs as of 2018.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Archived copy | url=https://libraryweb.org/rpl/HesterSt-2018.12.06_Final%20Report%20V2_reduced.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408215912/https://libraryweb.org/rpl/HesterSt-2018.12.06_Final%20Report%20V2_reduced.pdf | archive-date=2020-04-08}}</ref>

==Media==
{{Main|Media in Rochester, New York}}
The ''[[Democrat and Chronicle]],'' a [[Gannett]] newspaper'','' is Rochester's main daily newspaper. Other local publications exist which cater to special interests, such as the ''Rochester Business Journal''<ref>{{cite web |title=Rochester Business Journal |url=https://rbj.net/ |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref> and the ''Minority Reporter''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Minority Reporter |url=https://www.minorityreporter.net/ |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref> Former publications serving the city include ''Insider'' magazine, the ''Rochester Post Express'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84031519/|title=About The post express. (Rochester, N.Y.) 1882–1923|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=May 26, 2011|archive-date=October 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021195343/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84031519/|url-status=live}}</ref> the ''Rochester Evening Journal'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85054135/|title=About Rochester evening journal. (Rochester, N.Y.) 19??-1923|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=May 26, 2011|archive-date=October 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021195417/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85054135/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the ''[[Rochester Times-Union|Times-Union]]''.

Rochester is also served by several local television and radio stations, with [[WROC-TV]] as the oldest television station serving the Rochester metro area.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McGuire |first1=Maureen |title=News 8 Archives: The early days of Rochester's first TV station |url=https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/news-8-archives/news-8-archives-the-early-days-of-rochesters-first-tv-station/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Rochesterfirst.com |date=12 June 2019}}</ref> The [[WXXI Public Broadcasting Council]] is a non-profit organization in Rochester which provides public television and community radio programs. WXXI owns or operates several radio stations, the television station [[WXXI-TV]], the alternative weekly publication ''[[City Newspaper|City]]'' Magazine, and the [[Little Theatre (Rochester, New York)|Little Theater]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About WXXI |url=https://www.wxxi.org/about-wxxi/ |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref>

Several movies have been filmed at least in part in Rochester, including ''[[The Amazing Spiderman 2]]'' (2014) and ''[[The Tomorrow Man]]'' (2019).<ref name="imdb.com">{{cite web|url = https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=Rochester%2C+New+York%2C+USA|title = Filming Location Matching "Rochester%2C New York%2C USA" (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)|website = [[IMDb]]|access-date = March 16, 2021|archive-date = December 25, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211225181243/https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=Rochester%2C+New+York%2C+USA|url-status = live}}</ref>

==Infrastructure==
===Transportation===
====Maritime====
[[File:RochesterCanal RochesterNY.jpg|thumb|Packet boats on the [[Genesee River]]]]
There is marine freight service at the [[Charlotte, Rochester, New York|Port of Rochester]] on Lake Ontario, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]]. The Erie Canal intersects the Genesee River on the south side of the city.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of passenger ferries operated on Lake Ontario between the Port of Rochester and Canada. Service ended in 1950 when the ''Ontario I'' and ''Ontario II'' ended their route between Rochester and [[Cobourg]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chaisson |first1=Bill |title=Fast ferry, past and future |url=https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/fast-ferry-past-and-future-2128356 |website=CITY Magazine |access-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208194209/https://www.roccitymag.com/news-opinion/fast-ferry-past-and-future-2128356 |archive-date=8 December 2023 |date=24 December 2003}}</ref> A new ferry, the [[HSC Virgen de Coromoto|Spirit of Ontario I]], operated between Rochester and Toronto from June 17, 2004, to December 12, 2005. The ferry suffered from numerous issues, including two separate pier collisions that damaged it. The initial operator, [[Canadian American Transportation Systems]] (CATS), went bankrupt by the end of the 2004 season. The city of Rochester then purchased the ferry and signed a contract with [[Bay Ferries Great Lakes]] to resume operations in 2005. The resumption of service was delayed until summer, causing the ferry to continue to operate at a loss. In 2006, the operation was shut down and the ferry was sold.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fast Ferry failure: Timeline of Rochester's doomed vessel |url=https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/digital-exclusives/fast-ferry-failure-timeline-of-rochesters-doomed-vessel/ |website=Rochester First |access-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224155814/https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/digital-exclusives/fast-ferry-failure-timeline-of-rochesters-doomed-vessel/ |archive-date=24 December 2019 |date=23 December 2019}}</ref>

====Air====
{{Main|Greater Rochester International Airport}}
[[File:Greater Rochester International Airport May 2007 Aerial View.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the [[Greater Rochester International Airport]]]]

Rochester is served by the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport (GRIA). Scheduled air service is provided by [[American Airlines|American]], [[Allegiant Airlines|Allegiant]], [[Delta Air Lines|Delta]], [[Frontier Airlines|Frontier]], [[JetBlue Airways|JetBlue]], [[Southwest Airlines|Southwest]], [[Spirit Airlines|Spirit]], and [[United Airlines|United]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Airlines Serving ROC |url=https://rocairport.com/airlines |access-date=October 9, 2022 |website=ROC Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport}}</ref>

[[FedEx]] founder [[Frederick W. Smith|Fred Smith]] has stated in several articles that [[Xerox]]'s development of the copier, and its need to quickly get parts to customers, was one of the economic issues that led him to pioneer the overnight delivery business in 1971.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-09-19/online-extra-fred-smith-on-the-birth-of-fedex|title=Fred Smith on the birth of FedEx|date=September 20, 2004|work=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=October 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026235204/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2004-09-19/online-extra-fred-smith-on-the-birth-of-fedex|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://memphismagazine.com/api/content/78c56f2c-5f90-11e9-96e2-12f1225286c6/|title=Federal Express: The Million-Dollar Dream Machine|last=Neill|first=Kenneth|date=April 17, 2019|website=Memphis magazine|language=en-us|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418141542/https://memphismagazine.com/features/fred-smith-dream-machine/|archive-date=April 18, 2019|access-date=March 5, 2020}}</ref> Because Xerox manufactured its copiers in Rochester,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Xerox Corp. to Build $15 Million Complex Near Rochester, N.Y.|last=Staff Reporter|first=Wall Street Journal|date=September 16, 1970|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|id={{ProQuest|133473007}}}}</ref> the city was one of the original 25 cities FedEx served on its first night of operations on April 17, 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://about.van.fedex.com/fedex-opco-history|title=History of FedEx Operating Companies|website=[[FedEx]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723114640/http://about.van.fedex.com/fedex-opco-history|archive-date=July 23, 2012|access-date=March 5, 2020}}</ref>

In 2016, Governor [[Andrew Cuomo]] announced a $63.4&nbsp;million project to renovate the GRIA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/09/21/gov-andrew-cuomo-making-stop-at-greater-rochester-international-airport/90773268/|title=Airport getting $39.8M for upgrades|last=Clausen|first=Todd|date=September 21, 2020|website=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|language=en|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=September 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927173325/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/09/21/gov-andrew-cuomo-making-stop-at-greater-rochester-international-airport/90773268/|url-status=live}}</ref> The renovations include a large canopy extending over both main entrances, solar panels, a rainwater collection system, and modern communication and security enhancements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/04/23/rochester-airport-canopy-upgrade-tech-play-clock-nations/525793002/|title=Airport canopy installation to begin; later, an Etch A Sketch and Pong|last=Sharp|first=Brian|date=April 23, 2018|website=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|language=en|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410142142/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/04/23/rochester-airport-canopy-upgrade-tech-play-clock-nations/525793002/|url-status=live}}</ref>  All construction was completed by October 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rbj.net/2018/10/31/rochester-airport-completes-79-4-million-renovation-project/|title=Rochester airport completes $79.4 million renovation project|last=Spicer|first=Velvet|date=October 31, 2018|website=Rochester Business Journal|language=en-US|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806182842/https://rbj.net/2018/10/31/rochester-airport-completes-79-4-million-renovation-project/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Rails and mass transit====
{{See also|Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station|Rochester Subway}}
[[File:Rochester platform 2019.jpg|thumb|Platform at the [[Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station]]]]
Local bus service in Rochester and its 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 the immediate Rochester area and runs smaller transportation systems in outlying counties, such as WATS (Wayne Area Transportation System). All RTS routes are based out of the RTS Transit Center on Mortimer Street. Rochester has intercity and transcontinental bus service via [[Greyhound Lines|Greyhound]] and [[Trailways Transportation System|Trailways]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rochester, New York - Bus Station and Stops |url=https://trailways.com/bus-station/rochester-ny/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=Trailways |language=en}}</ref>

Rail service to Rochester is provided by the Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station, served by [[Amtrak]]'s ''[[Empire Service]]'' between New York City and Niagara Falls, the ''[[Maple Leaf (train)|Maple Leaf]]'' between New York City and Toronto, and the ''[[Lake Shore Limited]]'' between New York City/Boston and Chicago. Prior to 1965, Rochester had a smaller station reminiscent of New York City's "[[Grand Central Terminal]]". It was among [[Claude Fayette Bragdon]]'s best works in Rochester.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} The current station is modeled after Bragdon's work and named in honor of former longtime congresswoman [[Louise Slaughter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://13wham.com/news/local/rochesters-train-station-named-in-honor-of-late-congresswoman-louise-slaughter|title=Rochester's train station named in honor of late Congresswoman Louise Slaughter|date=March 25, 2019|website=[[WHAM-TV]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806175557/https://13wham.com/news/local/rochesters-train-station-named-in-honor-of-late-congresswoman-louise-slaughter|url-status=live}}</ref>

Rochester used to be a major stop on several railroad lines. The [[New York Central Railroad]] provided service to Chicago and Buffalo to the west and Albany and New York City to the east and southeast. The [[Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway]] (absorbed by the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]) served Buffalo and Pittsburgh until 1955. A rail route to Salamanca in southern New York State afforded connections in [[Salamanca, New York|Salamanca]] to southwestern and southeastern New York State.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.r2parks.net/BR&P.html |title=Buffalo Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway |website=www.r2parks.net |access-date=December 25, 2021 |archive-date=February 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214052053/http://www.r2parks.net/BR%26P.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2024}} The last long-distance train was the ''Northern Express''/''Southern Express,'' operated by the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] on the [[Genesee Valley Canal Railroad]], that went to [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]] via Canandaigua, Elmira and Williamsport; service ended in 1971.<ref>{{cite report|author=Christopher T. Baer |title=NAMED TRAINS OF THE PRR INCLUDING THROUGH SERVICES |date=September 8, 2009 |url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR%20NAMED%20TRAINS.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603231920/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR%20NAMED%20TRAINS.pdf|archive-date=June 3, 2011}}</ref> Also serving Rochester were the [[Erie Railroad]] and [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[File:Rochester NY Broad Street Bridge Subway 2001.jpg|thumb|The Broad Street Aqueduct was used as a [[Rochester Subway|subway tunnel]] in the mid-20th century.]]
From 1927 to 1956, Rochester had a [[light rail]] underground transit system called the [[Rochester subway]], which was first operated by [[New York State Railways]] and later by the [[Rochester Transit Corporation]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Middleton|first=William D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=foSEPTUE7NMC&pg=PA90|title=Metropolitan Railways: Rapid Transit in America|date=2003|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-34179-2|language=en|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=August 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819065449/https://books.google.com/books?id=foSEPTUE7NMC&pg=PA90|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="subway" /> Rochester was the smallest city in the world to have such a system.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Frank|url=https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/376-pipe-dreams-or-the-rochester-ghost-subway|title=The Ghost Subway of Rochester, New York|date=July 23, 2010|work=[[Big Think]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|language=en|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806170203/https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/376-pipe-dreams-or-the-rochester-ghost-subway|url-status=live}}</ref> After the subway was shut down in 1956, the eastern half of the subway past Court Street became the [[Eastern Expressway]], and the western end of the open cut was filled in 1976. The tunnel was last used for freight service by [[Gannett Company]] to bring paper to the printing presses for the [[Democrat and Chronicle]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Freile |first1=Victoria E. |title=Take a peek inside the stunning, abandoned Rochester subway tunnels |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/in-depth/lifestyle/2021/07/12/rochester-subway-beckons-people-underground-65-years-after-last-train/7540544002/ |access-date=23 January 2024 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=12 July 2021}}</ref> In the years since, the tunnel has become a hub for [[graffiti]] artists. Several proposals have been made to completely fill the remaining tunnel, redevelop the underground space, or convert the bridge to a pedestrian crossing. Portions have been filled in at the western end and the eastern end for new above-ground development.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/10/03/inside-erie-canal-aqueduct/73163610/|title=Visitors go below to see unused tunnel|last=McDermott|first=Meaghan M.|date=October 3, 2015|website=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|language=en|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807004816/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/10/03/inside-erie-canal-aqueduct/73163610/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/06/29/city-eyes-parking-rochesters-old-subway-tunnel/745517002/|title=City eyes parking in Rochester's old subway tunnel|last=Sharp|first=Brian|date=June 29, 2018|website=[[Democrat and Chronicle]]|language=en|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=October 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020231054/https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/06/29/city-eyes-parking-rochesters-old-subway-tunnel/745517002/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Broad Street Bridge (Rochester, New York)|Broad Street aqueduct]], which contains part of the tunnel, was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1976.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318808|title=New York SP Erie Canal: Second Genesee Aqueduct|publisher=Department of the Interior. National Park Service.|year=1976|series=[[National Register of Historic Places]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806213642/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318808|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Major highways and roads====
[[File:RocNight Rochester at Night, October 1st 2016 (30057483855).jpg|right|thumb|[[Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge]] on [[Interstate 490 (New York)|Interstate 490]]]]
Three exits off the [[New York State Thruway]] ([[Interstate 90 in New York|I-90]]) serve Rochester. Rochester's expressway system, conceived in the 1950s, was designed as two concentric circles with feeder expressways from the west, south and east. The system allows for quick travel within the metropolitan area and a lack of the traffic gridlock typically found in cities of comparable size; in part this is because the system was designed to accommodate rapid travel between the suburbs and downtown,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Harrison|first=David|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/highways-give-way-to-homes-as-cities-rebuild-11575208801|title=Highways Give Way to Homes as Cities Rebuild|date=December 1, 2019|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325131347/https://www.wsj.com/articles/highways-give-way-to-homes-as-cities-rebuild-11575208801|url-status=live}}</ref> and also because it was built when the city's population was over 330,000, whereas today it is a full third less.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schneider|first=Keith|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/business/old-highway-paves-road-for-recovery-in-rochester.html|title=Taking Out a Highway That Hemmed Rochester In|date=November 1, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 5, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803022607/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/business/old-highway-paves-road-for-recovery-in-rochester.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[New York State Route 47|Outer Loop]] circles just outside the city limits while the former [[Inner Loop (Rochester)|Inner Loop]] once circled around the immediate downtown area within the city (the easternmost sector was closed in 2015). From the west are [[Lake Ontario State Parkway]], [[New York State Route 531|NY 531]] and [[Interstate 490 (New York)|I-490]]; [[Interstate 390|I-390]] feeds from the south; and [[New York State Route 104|NY 104]], [[New York State Route 441|NY 441]], and [[Interstate 490 (New York)|I-490]] approach from the east.

In the early 1970s, the Genesee Expressway Task Force, City leaders, and the New York State Department of Transportation studied the feasibility of connecting the outer and inner Loops with a new southern expressway. The proposed route extended north from the I-390 and I-590 interchange in Brighton, cutting through Rochester's Swillburg neighborhood. In 1972, consultants Berger Lehman Associates recommended a new 'Busway', an expressway with dedicated bus lanes, similar to Bus Rapid Transit.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pritchard| first=Keith|title=Fate of 'Busway' Rests With Drivers|newspaper=Rochester Democrat and Chronicle|date=December 24, 1972}}</ref> The expressway extension was never built. In 2016, the City of Rochester launched the [[Pace Car Program]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://reconnectrochester.org/2016/11/city-rochester-pace-car-program |title=City of Rochester's Pace Car Program Asks Drivers to Be Part of the Solution - Reconnect Rochester works to promote transportation choices that enable a more vibrant and equitable community in the Rochester, NY region |website=Reconnectrochester.org |date=November 16, 2016 |access-date=February 24, 2017 |archive-date=February 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223130149/http://reconnectrochester.org/2016/11/city-rochester-pace-car-program/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:I-390.svg|25px]] [[Interstate 390|I-390]] (Genesee Expressway)
*I-390 runs south–north, crossing [[Interstate 90 in New York|I-90]] (exit 46) and routing north through Rochester's western suburbs. Its northern end is at [[Interstate 490 (New York)|I-490]], however, it continues north as [[New York State Route 390|NY 390]] until it merges into the [[Lake Ontario State Parkway]]. South of I-90, I-390 runs to [[Avoca, New York|Avoca]], where it meets with [[U.S. Route 15 in New York|US 15]] and the Southern Tier Expressway, [[Interstate 86 (Pennsylvania-New York)|I-86]].
[[File:I-490.svg|25px]] [[Interstate 490 (New York)|I-490]] (Western/Eastern Expressway)
*I-490 runs west–east through Rochester, starting at [[Le Roy, New York|Le Roy]] and ending in [[Victor, New York|Victor]]. It interchanges with the two other Interstates in Rochester: I-390 at the western city limit and [[Interstate 590|I-590]] at the eastern limit, as well as connecting at both ends with the Thruway, [[Interstate 90 in New York|I-90]] (exits 47 and 45). In July 2007, a new bridge over the [[Genesee River]] was completed and named the [[Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge]].
[[File:I-590.svg|25px]] [[Interstate 590|I-590]]
*I-590 runs south–north through Rochester's eastern suburbs. Its southern end is at I-390, while the northern terminus is at [[Interstate 490 (New York)|I-490]]; the highway continues north to the shore of Lake Ontario as [[New York State Route 590|NY 590]].
*In decreasing usage is the term "[[Can of Worms (interchange)|Can of Worms]]", referring to the previously dangerous at-grade intersection of [[Interstate 490 (New York)|I-490]] and expressway [[New York State Route 590|NY 590]] on the eastern edge of the Rochester city limits, bordering the suburb of [[Brighton, Monroe County, New York|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.

[[File:NY-104.svg|25px]] [[New York State Route 104|NY 104]] (Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway, West Ridge Road)
*NY 104 – Just east of the NY 590 interchange, NY 104 becomes the Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway and crosses the [[Irondequoit Bay Bridge]]. On the other side of the Bay Bridge, in the town of Webster, NY 104 has exits before returning to an at-grade highway at Basket Road.
[[File:NY-390.svg|25px]] [[New York State Route 390|NY 390]]
*NY 390 is an extension of Interstate 390 from the I-390/I-490 interchange in Gates. The northern terminus is at the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Greece, less than a mile from the Lake Ontario shoreline.
[[File:NY-590.svg|25px]] [[New York State Route 590|NY 590]]
*NY 590 is a limited-access extension of Interstate 590 that runs from an interchange between Interstate 490 and I-590 on the Brighton/Rochester border. The northern terminus is at Culver Road in Irondequoit, near Sea Breeze (the western shore of Irondequoit Bay at Lake Ontario).
[[File:Rochester Inner Loop.svg|25px]] [[Inner Loop (Rochester)|Inner Loop]]
*The Inner Loop Runs from I-490 to Main Street on the north end and from 490 to Monroe Avenue at the south end. Formerly a loop, the eastern end was demolished and replaced with a surface road between 2014 and 2017. Unsigned reference NY 940T begins and ends at I-490, and the rest of the Loop is part of I-490 between exits 13 and 15, including the [[Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge]]. This expressway is commonly used to define the borders of Downtown Rochester.

[[File:Lake Ontario State Parkway.svg|25px]] [[Lake Ontario State Parkway]]
*Lake Ontario State Parkway travels from [[Lakeside Beach State Park]] in Carlton, Orleans County. The eastern end is at Lake Avenue in the city of Rochester in Monroe County.

===Public safety===
Fire protection and [[Emergency medical services|EMS]] services are provided by the Rochester Fire Department. The department employs 509 personnel<ref name="firebudget">{{cite web |title=Fire: FY 2023-24 Budget |url=https://stories.opengov.com/rochesterny/published/cB6S3uXtd |website=City of Rochester, NY |access-date=27 December 2023|date=29 July 2023}}</ref> and operates thirteen engines, six trucks, and heavy rescue from fifteen [[fire station]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=ROCHESTER FIRE DEPARTMENT |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/rfd/ |website=City of Rochester, NY |access-date=27 December 2023}}</ref> In FY 2021–22, the department responded to 38,876 incidents.<ref name="firebudget" /> The current fire chief is Stefano Napolitano.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bianchi |first1=Kayla |title=New Rochester Fire Chief steps into new position on Monday |url=https://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/mayor-appoints-new-rochester-fire-chief/ |website=Rochester First |access-date=27 December 2023 |date=9 August 2023}}</ref>

Law enforcement services are provided by the [[Rochester Police Department]]. The current chief of police is David Smith.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Putnam |first1=Emily |title=Meet RPD's new Chief, David Smith |url=https://www.whec.com/archive/meet-rpdrsquos-new-chief-david-smith/ |website=WHEC News 10 |access-date=27 December 2023 |date=13 July 2022}}</ref> Independent oversight of the department is provided by the Police Accountability Board, established in 2019 to investigate and discipline officers for misconduct. In 2023, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the board could not enforce disciplinary actions on any officers in the department, as it would violate the contract between the city and police union.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Canne |first1=Kayla |title=Police Accountability Board can't discipline officers, court says. What's next for PAB? |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2023/11/20/rochester-police-accountability-board-loses-disciplinary-power-over-rpd/71654420007/ |access-date=27 December 2023 |work=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |date=20 November 2023}}</ref>

In 2019, Rochester had 1,540 reported violent crimes. That same year, Rochester had 7,142 property crime incidents. These included 33 [[murder]]s, 429 robberies, 976 [[aggravated assault]]s, 1,269 [[Burglary|burglaries]], 5,222 [[larceny]] thefts, 102 forcible [[rape]]s, 651 [[auto theft]]s, and 83 acts of [[arson]].<ref name="crime">{{cite web |title=Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by City, 2019 |url=https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/tables/table-8/table-8-state-cuts/newyork.xls |publisher=[[Uniform Crime Reports]] |access-date=10 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831164054/https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-2019/tables/table-8/table-8-state-cuts/newyork.xls |archive-date=31 August 2022}}</ref>

On November 12, 2021, Rochester Mayor [[Lovely Warren]] declared a [[state of emergency]] due to a rising violent crime rate in the city, which produced 81 homicides by December 31, the highest number of any year on record. Additional law enforcement assistance was requested from, and granted by, the state government.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.rochesterfirst.com/crime/mayor-warren-declares-state-of-emergency-to-combat-violence-in-rochester/|title= Mayor Warren declares state of emergency due to ongoing violence in Rochester|access-date= November 14, 2021|work= Rochester First.com|date= November 12, 2021|archive-date= November 14, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211114191342/https://www.rochesterfirst.com/crime/mayor-warren-declares-state-of-emergency-to-combat-violence-in-rochester/amp/|url-status= live}}</ref> On July 21, 2022, Rochester Mayor [[Malik Evans]] declared another state of emergency due to ongoing gun violence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 21, 2022 |title=PROCLAMATION OF A LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/uploadedFiles/Departments/Law/_Documents/Gun%20Violence%20Emergency%20Order%2012-13-21.pdf |access-date=August 14, 2022 |website=City Of Rochester}}</ref>

Rochester experienced a decline in its violent crime rate in both 2023 and 2024. In 2024, there were 37 reported homicide incidents (there were 45 victims), a 26 percent drop compared with 2023. There was also a sharp decline in automotive vehicle thefts in 2024—2,068 reported incidents, down from the record 3,943 in 2023. Overall, property crime incidents were down 33 percent in 2024 compared to 2023.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schermerhorn|first1=Jacob |title=On crime, Rochester turned the tide in 2024|url=https://rochesterbeacon.com/2025/01/09/on-crime-rochester-turned-the-tide-in-2024/|access-date=7 April 2025 |work=Rochester Beacon|date=9 January 2025}}</ref>

===Healthcare===
Most healthcare services in the Rochester area are provided by [[University of Rochester Medical Center]] (URMC) and [[Rochester Regional Health]] (RRH). Major hospitals in the Rochester area include:
*[[Highland Hospital (Rochester, New York)|Highland Hospital]], a URMC facility with 261 beds. Highland is a level 1 perinatal center and a primary stroke center.<ref>{{cite web |title=NYS Health Profile: Highland Hospital |url=https://profiles.health.ny.gov/hospital/view/102992 |website=NYS Health Profiles |publisher=[[New York State Department of Health]] |access-date=17 January 2024}}</ref> 
*[[Rochester General Hospital]], a RRH facility with 528 beds. Rochester General is a comprehensive stroke center and level 2 perinatal center.<ref>{{cite web |title=NYS Health Profile: Rochester General Hospital |url=https://profiles.health.ny.gov/hospital/view/102971 |website=NYS Health Profiles |publisher=[[New York State Department of Health]] |access-date=17 January 2024}}</ref> 
*[[Rochester Psychiatric Center]], a psychiatric hospital operated by the [[New York State Office of Mental Health|New York State Department of Mental Hygiene]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rochester Psychiatric Center (RPC) |url=https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/facilities/ropc/ |website=Office of Mental health |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref> The hospital's campus contains the abandoned [[Terrence Building]].
*[[Strong Memorial Hospital]], a URMC facility with 886 beds. Strong is home to the [[Golisano Children's Hospital (Rochester, NY)|Golisano Children's Hospital]] for pediatric care, and is an AIDS center, burn center, comprehensive stroke center, level I trauma center for both pediatric and adult care, and regional perinatal center.<ref>{{cite web |title=NYS Health Profile: Strong Memorial Hospital |url=https://profiles.health.ny.gov/hospital/view/103061 |website=NYS Health Profiles |publisher=[[New York State Department of Health]] |access-date=17 January 2024}}</ref> 
*[[Unity Hospital]], a RRH facility with 311 beds. Unity is a regional perinatal center and primary stroke center.<ref>{{cite web |title=NYS Health Profile: Unity Hospital |url=https://profiles.health.ny.gov/hospital/view/103030 |website=NYS Health Profiles |publisher=[[New York State Department of Health]] |access-date=17 January 2024}}</ref>

In 2023, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that Rochester was becoming a desirable community for [[transgender]] individuals due to its network of gender-affirming care providers, such as Trillium Health.<ref>{{cite news |last1=DeSocio |first1=Mike |title=Trans people are finding safe haven in an unexpected place: upstate New York |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/18/trans-americans-upstate-new-york-rochester |access-date=17 January 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=18 December 2023}}</ref>

==Notable people==<!--consensus reached to standardize this heading per WP:WikiProject Cities/US Guideline -->
:''See [[List of people from Rochester, New York]]''
Notable individuals who were born in or lived in Rochester include American social reformer and women's rights activist [[Susan B. Anthony]], African-American social reformer and abolitionist [[Frederick Douglass]], and [[Kodak]] founder [[George Eastman]].

==Sister cities==
Rochester has twelve [[Sister city|sister cities]], as designated by [[Sister Cities International]]. They are all dedicated by a branched concrete walkway over the Genesee River, dubbed the Sister Cities Bridge (known as the Frank and Janet Lamb Bridge since October 2006):<ref>{{cite press release|title=Sister Cities Bridge Renamed "Frank and Janet Lamb Sister Cities Bridge" |publisher=City of Rochester, New York |date=October 11, 2006 |url=https://www.cityofrochester.gov/mayor/NewsReleases/index.cfm?release=2257 |access-date=June 10, 2007 |quote=Mayor Robert J. Duffy conducted a ceremony today on the Sister Cities Bridge, officially renaming it the Frank and Janet Lamb Sister Cities Bridge. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111110800/https://www.cityofrochester.gov/mayor/NewsReleases/index.cfm?Release=2257 |archive-date=January 11, 2007 }}</ref>

Rochester's sister cities are:<ref>{{cite web|title=Rochester's Sister Cities|url=https://www.visitrochester.com/plan-your-trip/faqs/rochester-sister-cities/|publisher=Visit Rochester|access-date=April 25, 2022}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Rennes]], France (1958)
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Würzburg]], Germany (1964)
*{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Caltanissetta]], Italy (1965)
*{{flagicon|ISR}} [[Rehovot]], Israel (1972)
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Kraków]], Poland (1973)
*{{flagicon|MLI}} [[Bamako]], Mali (1975)
*{{flagicon|IRL}} [[Waterford]], Ireland (1983)
*{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Veliky Novgorod]], Russia (1990)
*{{flagicon|JPN}} [[Hamamatsu]], Japan (1996)
*{{flagicon|DOM}} [[Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic|Puerto Plata]], Dominican Republic (1997)
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Xianyang]], China (2007)
*{{flagicon|LTU}} [[Alytus]], Lithuania (2009)
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[USS Rochester|USS ''Rochester'']], 3 ships
* [[Rochester, Kent]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Paul E. |title=A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815–1837 |date=2004 |publisher=Hill and Wang}}
* Keene, Michael (2011). ''Folklore and Legends of Rochester: The Mystery of Hoodoo Corner and Other Tales.'' The History Press.
* {{cite book |last1=Kelsey |first1=John |title=The Lives and Reminiscences of the Pioneers of Rochester and Western New York |date=1854 |publisher=J. Kelsey |location=Rochester |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zi4VAAAAYAAJ}}
* McKelvey, Blake (1993). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=GJD6xfqgzxAC Rochester on the Genesee: The Growth of a City].'' Syracuse University Press.

==External links==
{{Portal bar|United States|New York (state)}}
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikivoyage|Rochester (New York)}}
* {{Official website|https://www.cityofrochester.gov }}
* [https://www.visitrochester.com/ Greater Rochester Visitors Association]

{{City of Rochester, NY}}
{{Monroe County, New York}}
{{New York county seats}}
{{New York}}
{{Northeast US}}
{{Great Lakes Megalopolis}}
{{All-American City Award Hall of Fame|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rochester, New York| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Monroe County, New York]]
[[Category:Cities in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Cities in Rochester metropolitan area, New York]]
[[Category:County seats in New York (state)]]
[[Category:New York (state) populated places on the Genesee River]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1810s]]
[[Category:Populated places on Lake Ontario in the United States]]
[[Category:Ukrainian communities in the United States]]
[[Category:History of Christianity in the United States]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1803]]