i live in Rochester, and once you've been here long enough (a week), it becomes extremely boring. Yes, you can argue that there are the museums and planetariums...but they become tired, and uninteresting. And yes, we have lake Ontarion and the Finger Lakes...but Lake Ontario smells like raw sewage, and the Finger Lakes is but a lonely rural area with water, farms, and cheap restaurants. When you really come down to it, the seasons suck, summers too humid, winters too cold, fall is alright, and spring has too much rain. All there is to do is go shopping at one of the malls, eat and go to the movies. I want SAN DIEGO!!!!!!!!!!!

Kim...
I agree, Rochester is a sad city upstate yearning for NYC attention, and San Diego's beautiful weather.

Sorry you feel that way about your area, Kim! Would it help to know that a down-stater thinks very fondly of Rochester, the lake and the whole Finger Lakes region? I spent a few days in Rochester on business a couple years ago and liked it, I thought was a very pleasant, livable town, and I LOVE the finger lakes. I don't think they're drab at all. Maybe the grass is always greener, huh? ;-)

OK, show of hands please: How many think that Kim is the definition of "high-maintenance woman"?

Rochester is the capital of Hot Wings and Bratwurst. It is also home of Genessee beer. What else can you hope for in life?

Last time I looked, Kim, there were no border guards between Rochester and San Diego. I bet a few of your neighbors would even chip in to finance your relocation.
Having been born and raised in New York, and attended school upstate, and lived for 14 years in Southern CA, I can unequivocally say that SC can't hold a candle to the Finger Lakes region for beauty.

Oh, so ALL of Southern California can't compare to the Finger Lakes?!? Hey listen--even driving down the "5" from Laguna to San Diego is FAR MORE beautiful than those UGLY, RUSTIC Finger Lakes!! Get Real!!!

Kim, with your whiny attitude I seriously doubt you will be happy anywhere even in paradise. What you need to change is yourself and your lousy, poor me attitude. Until you do you are going to be a miserable person...

yeah,yeah, yeah, troll, troll, troll. Kim had a few moments, was in a bad mood, and wanted to stir things up on the Fodors board and get a little attention. Duh! Duh! Duh!

Kim ... If you want SanDiego than why don't you just go there?

It's really not a reasonable comparison to compare a city with some of the best weather in the country to Rochester. Having great weather year round is always nice, but it's not everything. When it comes down to whether you like where you live, it depends on a multitude of factors ... family, friends, job, cost of living, local culture and attitudes, educational opportunities, weather, recreational and entertainment options, traffic and commute times, etc. While Rochester can't compare with SanDiego (for weather) and other big cities for cultural and entertainment options, let's be real and not compare apples to oranges. Rochester is a mid-size city and on those terms is a nice place to live ... there are plenty of options for entertainment, recreation in both the summer and winter, commute times that average 20 minutes and an incredibly reasonable cost of living. While we don't have the shear number of restaurants that larger cities have there are many good, non-chain restaurants. (Although we have our share of chain restaurant, but don't most cities?) People generally like living here ... quality of life is not just about living in a scenic area or a big city with lots of restaurants and museums. Often people believe that living in a location that's perceived as ideal (i.e., San Diego) will make them happy in their lives. I think that more depends on your attitude ... it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Tom,
Of course you can find isolated beautiful spots anywhere, but yeah, the Finger Lakes region as a whole is far more beautiful than SC as a whole. Much of SC is desert or high desert. Only some of the coastal areas can compare in beauty with the Finger Lakes, and most of the coastal areas of SC ar ruined by wall-to-wall cities.

Les, SC ?=? Southern Calif. or South Carolina?

Kim, the people who say you have a crappy attitude, crap for brains, and are trying to compare two non-comparables are right.

What do you expect us to say? "Yes, Rochester sucks?" Stupid. "No, Rochester rocks?" Apparently not for you. Tough noogies.

I'd be willing to bet you are under-30, don't have a lot of money, aren't extraordinarily well-educated (although you might just have gone to a highly social and athletic univ.), with so little imagination and so few friends that "all there is" for you to do is "go shopping at one of the malls, eat and go to the movies."

All you've done is advertised your discontentment and narrow outlook. Obviously, you'd be a MUCH BETTER PERSON if you were in San Diego, where you'd have a great attitude and wouldn't have to actually think about how to amuse yourself.

Honest comment: Rochester's winters are very hard (so are a lot of other cities that aren't in the south) and it's a city that "works best" for people raising a family. But compared to some places in the south with lovely winters but nothing but tobacco or cotton and barbeque, it's got a lot more to offer. You just expect a year-round circus.

Wah wah wah wah wah.

Sounds like Kim is as interesting as dishwater. Kim honey, I don't think you will be happy wherever you go because you are not a positive person, probably don't have many friends (who could stand being around your whiny, self-absorbed self?) and can't find anything to amuse yourself. IMO, you are another spoiled brat who not only can't entertain herself but probably doesn't like herself much....

Susan B.,
The locale under discussion was Southern California; but based on my limited travels through South Carolina, I would say thet it, too, like the Finger Lakes, is far more beautiful than Southern California.

Yes Kim Rochester sucks. Now are you happy??? Go back to watching Sponge Bob now and leave the grown-ups alone.

Anyone who trolls an internet site is one brick short of a full load. Do us all a favor Kimmy and look in the yellow pages under "Mental Health Professionals." They even have people who will work on a sliding scale if you can't afford to pay. You need help honey to see why you crave attention so bad.

What I really want to know is why so many people pronounce it as "Rockchester". Ever notice that?

San Diego sucks shit

I vote fodor's delete this thread as it is not productive at all.

Heeellllooo Fodors?

shades of why I hate San Francisco!