Rochester

  • Thread starter Thread starter utunumsint
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
U

utunumsint

Guest
Hi,

I’m thinking about relocating to Rocherster New York, and I was hoping someone could give me some details on the Catholic Church down there. Is it vibrant? Conservative, Liberal, Traditional, Charismatic, Thomistic, etc… How would you describe it? Is it welcoming?

Are there churches you could recommend?

God bless,
Ut
 
What in the world would compell you to live in Rochester, NY?:confused: If you’re talking the city, its crime-ridden, dirty and poor. It’s in the middle of one of the worst snow belts, it has fewer days of sunshine than most of the US, its by a giant, stinky overpoulted lake…

Anyway besides that…there are some good Catholic venues, but its much like the rest of the North Eastern states. Few and far between.

If you’re talking the local area and some of the smaller towns, they can be VERY nice, but some have deeply embedded protestant populations that are downright cruel to Catholics.
 
utunumsint said:
Hi,

I’m thinking about relocating to Rocherster New York, and I was hoping someone could give me some details on the Catholic Church down there. Is it vibrant? Conservative, Liberal, Traditional, Charismatic, Thomistic, etc… How would you describe it? Is it welcoming?

Are there churches you could recommend?

God bless,
Ut
Click to expand...
VERY Liberal in some regards, but there are some communities that are more traditional:
dorcatholic.blogspot.com
cleansingfiredor.blogspot.com

(I am in no way affiliated with aforementioned blogs, and take these with a grain of salt)
 
purplesunshine said:
What in the world would compell you to live in Rochester, NY?:confused: If you’re talking the city, its crime-ridden, dirty and poor. It’s in the middle of one of the worst snow belts, it has fewer days of sunshine than most of the US, its by a giant, stinky overpoulted lake…

Anyway besides that…there are some good Catholic venues, but its much like the rest of the North Eastern states. Few and far between.

If you’re talking the local area and some of the smaller towns, they can be VERY nice, but some have deeply embedded protestant populations that are downright cruel to Catholics.
Click to expand...
Well I’m not going to be offended by this, but that is a pretty scathing characterization. I live in a suburb of the city, but even still I can think of worse places to live.

Anyway, I’ve been a Gates resident my whole life (26 yrs) and I’ve found the general pulse of Catholicism to be pretty liberal and less than faithful to Rome. There are pockets of good, faithful Catholics just like anywhere else that has this issue. I left the parish I had been attenting since I was a toddler just last year due to liturgical abuses, and my current parish is great (very faithful, very pro-life).

I thought I read that it’s against the COC to post names of specific parishes, but if you’re interested please send me a message and I’ll tell you what I can about the area you’re looking at.
 
mpernot said:
I thought I read that it’s against the COC to post names of specific parishes, but if you’re interested please send me a message and I’ll tell you what I can about the area you’re looking at.
Click to expand...
You bring up a good point. Feel free to PM me as well.
 
I went to college in western, NY, and nearly accepted a job in Rocester. The city itself isn’t great. My school had a big teaching & social work dept and every other week or so we’d hear about a former student (now teacher) being knifed or shot at or what have you. Like many American cities the politicians are ruining it. They spent millions on a ferry to Canada only to find out that it was not sea worthy and a ton of other problems.

The two “Catholic” colleges St. John Fisher and Naz are less than Catholic.

In some surrounding towns Catholics are mocked and degraded out of the local HS by the protestants (again, I know this for a fact, I’ve had friends on both the bullied and bully side)

The person asked for opinions.

I wouldn’t live there unless I was forced to under great duress.
 
purplesunshine said:
I went to college in western, NY, and nearly accepted a job in Rocester. The city itself isn’t great. My school had a big teaching & social work dept and every other week or so we’d hear about a former student (now teacher) being knifed or shot at or what have you. Like many American cities the politicians are ruining it. They spent millions on a ferry to Canada only to find out that it was not sea worthy and a ton of other problems.

The two “Catholic” colleges St. John Fisher and Naz are less than Catholic.

In some surrounding towns Catholics are mocked and degraded out of the local HS by the protestants (again, I know this for a fact, I’ve had friends on both the bullied and bully side)

The person asked for opinions.

I wouldn’t live there unless I was forced to under great duress.
Click to expand...
That is true about the fast ferry; bad idea and worse execution. The one nice thing that it served to do was to improve the waterfront. I certainly don’t think it makes living here any worse for the average person.

For the colleges you mentioned, I would also put their assocation with the Catholic faith in quotes (just what I’ve heard, I haven’t attended either). Though in general I tend to agree with what Archbishop Fulton Sheen said about Catholic school.

Rochester’s crime can be bad inside the heart of the city itself, so I agree with that if that’s what you are referring to. There is plenty going on in the suburbs and other areas around the greater-Rochester area that is not dirty, crime-infested, poor, or smelly. Those adjectives tend to describe the inside of all major cities I think. I’ve spent most of my time in the Gates-Chili area (Gates border the city; it is 5 minutes from where I grew up), and I consider myself to have had a pretty safe, clean upbringing not wanting for any necessities. Pretty subjective, but I think people generally know when they’re in an unsafe situation.

As far as the Protestant bias, is this in the inner city as well? I’ve never seen any of this.

I’m not at all saying you’re wrong and I’m not attempting to “sell” Rochester, but I wondered why your characterization would be so harsh and it seems our experiences don’t match. Maybe it has to do with a Rochester-city only vs Rochester-area expectation for the OP’s question?
 
Not trying to pick a fight, but…
purplesunshine said:
I went to college in western, NY, and nearly accepted a job in Rocester. The city itself isn’t great. My school had a big teaching & social work dept and every other week or so we’d hear about a former student (now teacher) being knifed or shot at or what have you.
Click to expand...
Aren’t there neighborhoods in most “large” American cities like this? This problem isn’t limited to Rochester, but any other city. There are nice neighborhoods and there are bad neighborhoods.

Again, common sense previals, don’t go into bad neighborhoods.
purplesunshine said:
Like many American cities the politicians are ruining it. They spent millions on a ferry to Canada only to find out that it was not sea worthy and a ton of other problems.
Click to expand...
Rochester isn’t the only place where this sort of problem goes on. It occurs everywhere - and at the Federal and State levels as well.

Like a lot of public projects/support - Good ideas. Poorly implemented. The boat to nowhere had it’s merit but it ended up needing a lot of repairs (may have been unforseen) and probably was too big.
purplesunshine said:
The two “Catholic” colleges St. John Fisher and Naz are less than Catholic.
Click to expand...
This isn’t a problem occuring only at these two schools. It is occuring worldwide - colleges and universities that have had religious ties are becomming more and more secular.
purplesunshine said:
In some surrounding towns Catholics are mocked and degraded out of the local HS by the protestants (again, I know this for a fact, I’ve had friends on both the bullied and bully side)
Click to expand...
I’ve never seen this happen on a scale you describe.
purplesunshine said:
The person asked for opinions.

I wouldn’t live there unless I was forced to under great duress.
Click to expand...
There are a lot worse places one can live. Rochester has it’s faults but it isn’t exactly Beirut, as you seem to make it out to be. I’ve been to far, far, worse places in my life.

To the OP:
What exactly will bring you to these parts?

Also, you can have a look here:
rocwiki.org

Here are some more “balanced” views of the good and bad of Rochester:
rocwiki.org/Optimism
rocwiki.org/Pessimism

The snow here isn’t as bad as Buffalo or Syracuse or Watertown, and we’re about an hour from Finger Lakes Wine Country.
 
mpernot said:
That is true about the fast ferry; bad idea and worse execution. The one nice thing that it served to do was to improve the waterfront. I certainly don’t think it makes living here any worse for the average person.

For the colleges you mentioned, I would also put their assocation with the Catholic faith in quotes (just what I’ve heard, I haven’t attended either). Though in general I tend to agree with what Archbishop Fulton Sheen said about Catholic school.

Rochester’s crime can be bad inside the heart of the city itself, so I agree with that if that’s what you are referring to. There is plenty going on in the suburbs and other areas around the greater-Rochester area that is not dirty, crime-infested, poor, or smelly. Those adjectives tend to describe the inside of all major cities I think. I’ve spent most of my time in the Gates-Chili area (Gates border the city; it is 5 minutes from where I grew up), and I consider myself to have had a pretty safe, clean upbringing not wanting for any necessities. Pretty subjective, but I think people generally know when they’re in an unsafe situation.

As far as the Protestant bias, is this in the inner city as well? I’ve never seen any of this.

I’m not at all saying you’re wrong and I’m not attempting to “sell” Rochester, but I wondered why your characterization would be so harsh and it seems our experiences don’t match. Maybe it has to do with a Rochester-city only vs Rochester-area expectation for the OP’s question?
Click to expand...
Heh, our posts are pretty similar - Great minds think alike?

And speaking of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, he was Bishop of Rochester for a time.
 
purplesunshine said:
The two “Catholic” colleges St. John Fisher and Naz are less than Catholic.
Click to expand...
Unless I am mistaken (which happens frequently!) I believe that the University of Rochester is not actually even considered Catholic any longer - and with very good reason.

I happened to be there not long ago accompanying my husband to a meeting, and there were Planned Parenthood flyers posted in the student center. One of the “sisters” affiliated with the school also invited whoever wished to, to receive the Eucharist at Mass.

The surrounding area was charming, however.
 
mpernot said:
Rochester’s crime can be bad inside the heart of the city itself, so I agree with that if that’s what you are referring to. There is plenty going on in the suburbs and other areas around the greater-Rochester area that is not dirty, crime-infested, poor, or smelly. Those adjectives tend to describe the inside of all major cities I think. I’ve spent most of my time in the Gates-Chili area (Gates border the city; it is 5 minutes from where I grew up), and I consider myself to have had a pretty safe, clean upbringing not wanting for any necessities. Pretty subjective, but I think people generally know when they’re in an unsafe situation.
Click to expand...
Well, Buffalo and Syracuse have their bad parts, too, but it seemed we recieved many more stories about Rochester violence while there were porportinatly more former students in Buffalo and Syracuse…I won’t even go into Ohio:rolleyes:
As far as the Protestant bias, is this in the inner city as well? I’ve never seen any of this.
Click to expand...
My friends grew up in some small towns 10-25 mins from the city. South & south-east. I won’t mention the towns by name in the spirit of the rules.
I’m not at all saying you’re wrong and I’m not attempting to “sell” Rochester, but I wondered why your characterization would be so harsh and it seems our experiences don’t match. Maybe it has to do with a Rochester-city only vs Rochester-area expectation for the OP’s question?
Click to expand...
I suppose I came off a bit too harsh. But there are many great small NY towns to live in, and nice cities, too. Although I’d avoid Upstate NY/all of the great lakes region if you are in any way affected by seasonal sensitivities. They are literally more cloudy and rainy than any part of the united states (except coastal Washington/Oregon).
 
Feel free to PM me as well.

I’ve been in Rochester (both city and suburb) for 43 years and can share my opinions and offer assistance.

I refuse to participate in any conversation re: bashing of Rochester or any other town for that matter. As with any place there is the good and the bad.

I’ve been offered reloc for work to other more “popular” towns and turned down great paying opportunities since I didn’t feel those “popular” places could hold a candle to Rochester. Again, it was just my opinion - it is in no way “fact”.

If you decide to come here - welcome!
 
Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I have a possible job relocation to Rochester, so its great to hear the different opinions about the place. I currently live way up north where we regularly get a ton of snow anyway, so that’s not an issue for me.

The area in question would be (in general terms) near the Unity Hospital area close to the 111. The things I would be looking at are cost of housing, safety of the area, what places are good, what places are not good. I have three kids and a wife to support, so family friendly. And I suppose having good orthodox churches is primary on my list of concerns, since we don’t know anyone there, and we would have to depend a great deal of making social contacts through church and work.

Hopefully this does not violate forum rules, but I would love to hear some positive comments about the area, and maybe in general terms, the places to avoid… 🙂

God bless, and thank you all.
Ut

P.S. I’ll look through all the links people have already posted.
 
Hopefully someone can give you specifics as to what church to attend/avoid. The Diocese has had many difficulities including “ordaining” women and so on. Entire communities have left the chuch up there and/or been excommunicated.
 
One of my very good friends is from Rochester. She still misses it very much after almost a decade.

But…she says the churches there are very liberal. 😦
 
Rochester and the suburbs are great places to raise a family. There are great schools, plenty of family friendly activities (Strong Museum comes to mind). The lake is not as horrible as portrayed. There is a great park there, free concerts in the summer and the best frozen custard in the world. As for the violence, like any city, there are problem areas, what are you going to do? Stuff happens everywhere. I live in Greece which has been named one of America’s safest towns. Regarding parishes, you will find some very liberal parishes, some very orthodox and most probably right in the middle. The first two blogs someone linked will give you much info.
Good Luck.
 
sunny0009 said:
Rochester and the suburbs are great places to raise a family. There are great schools, plenty of family friendly activities (Strong Museum comes to mind). The lake is not as horrible as portrayed. There is a great park there, free concerts in the summer and the best frozen custard in the world. As for the violence, like any city, there are problem areas, what are you going to do? Stuff happens everywhere. I live in Greece which has been named one of America’s safest towns. Regarding parishes, you will find some very liberal parishes, some very orthodox and most probably right in the middle. The first two blogs someone linked will give you much info.
Good Luck.
Click to expand...
👍
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top