<p>I know Google reviews tend to be extremely biased, but when I read this</p>
<pre><code> >Located in an unsafe part of the city with very lax campus security, the school does not provide value for its highly overpriced tuition. Dorm rooms have been robbed and students have been mugged thanks to the easy walkway bridge crossing the Genessee River into a rather rough neighborhood. Parking is a nightmare for students and this is worsed by the city which looks for any vicious manner to ticket students who park on nearby city streets. This is because the city has a rather contentious relationship with the university. For such a world-class faculty with excellent facilities, the campus seems to be located in Bizarro-World (...).
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<p>It at least piques my interest if someone went to the trouble of writing it. I know Rochester itself has a reputation, but could I get any input from current or parents of current students on safety of the campus itself? Is there any truth to the muggings or dorm safety issues, or is URoch as safe as anywhere else? Any input related to safety itself/campus life with respect to this is appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>UR is located in an urban area and like all urban campuses it has its issues. Safety on campus is pretty good so long as one exercises common sense: lock your dorm room door, don’t leave your personal belonging unattended in classrooms or other public places, lock up your bike, don’t hold outside dorm doors open for people you don’t know, report suspicious behavior or individuals who don’t seem to belong on campus, be aware of your surroundings when walking alone at night. </p>
<p>D2 managed to live 4 years on campus without ever getting robbed or mugged. (Not even when she trekked across campus alone at 3 am.) I can only remember a single instance when anyone she knew was robbed. (cell phone & calculator taken from an unattended backpack in the library.) </p>
<p>There are bad parts to Rochester, but the worst areas are not immediately adjacent to campus. Riverview apartments are across the footbridge in the 9th Ward Neighborhood. The 9th Ward is a lower SES neighborhood. Parts of it are not so nice, but the rough areas are several blocks north of Riverview. </p>
<p>Parking is a problem. There aren’t enough on-campus parking spaces for dorm students who bring cars to campus. However, unless you’re a commuter you really don’t need to have a car. Campus shuttles and city buses will get you to most of the places you need to go. And UR has an agreement with one taxi service to give discounted fares to students. The city will ticket anyone (not just students) parked illegally or at an expired meter because the roads immediately surrounding the campus have heavy traffic, or conversely are narrow residential streets where parking is for residents not students. (Rochester is old city and many homes don’t have driveways or garages so residents have to park on the street.) Add this to the fact the Strong Medical Center (across the street from River campus) is one the largest employers in the city and parking really does a supply & demand issue. </p>
<p>My guy is a sophomore there. He doesn’t have a car, so parking isn’t an issue for him, but I agree it could be for those with cars if they don’t abide by the policies. Every time we’ve visited him we’ve gotten a parking pass (for free) and never had an issue.</p>
<p>He’s never had anything stolen, but does mention bikes will be stolen if not locked correctly. He’s never worried about security on campus (even with late night study sessions across campus) - or in parts of town he frequents (via bus or walking).</p>
<p>My kid, a girl, has never had issues. Bikes get stolen. </p>
<p>I get the police reports for the area. I also live in an area with a large number of universities and colleges. It is one of the nicest places you can live and there’s more crime around those schools than UR. Not totally sure why. It may be simply more people here. </p>
<p>Whoever posted that review on google must have an axe to grind. D lived in Riverview senior year and always felt safe. In any city there are neighborhoods you should avoid. UR campus is basically a triangle whose 3 sides are the river, Mt Hope Cemetery and the medical center.</p>
<p>As I think about this, so much perception is relative. To expand on what I said before, I live between BU and BC. In the last year, there have been armed robberies of students, sometimes in the day - a rash led to a group of teens being arrested. No one would think the area is unsafe. The robberies I just mentioned took place in an area where house prices are $1.5M and up (and up). But Rochester is not Boston and the area across the river is obviously poorer and minority, which means “crime” though most of the 19th Ward is actually just a neighborhood with no particular crime problems. (The bad sections of the city are near downtown on the other side of the river and then northwest of downtown far away from school, not near school.) There is perhaps more crime in parts of Henrietta than in most of the 19th but you - and me - don’t think that because Henrietta is a suburb and doesn’t fit the mental model. </p>
<p>In the 4 years my kid has been at UR, there have been 2 deaths. One was a fight between 2 students who had issues with each other after a party. Had nothing to do with safety. The other was a recent overdose that was related to that kid’s life issues. </p>
<p>C’mon now, don’t believe everything you read on the internet! My D had a great four years at the ROC with no safety issues, went immediatly to a good grad school and later work at the ROC with no safety or crime issues.
U of R is now the largest employer in Rochester - where is contentious town/gown comment coming from? </p>
<p>Universities tend to be the largest employers in any town. Example: Cambridge MA, the largest employer is Harvard, 2nd largest is MIT, 3rd largest is the city, 4th is Novartis. Bigger place? Boston: the largest employers are Mass General Hospital, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and BU. Largest employer in New Haven is Yale, etc., etc., etc.</p>
<p>It certainly sounds like someone had an axe to grind! D graduated in 2010 and never had any personal issues with crime. Yes,she did have a friend who lived off-campus deep in the 19th Ward whose apartment was broken into and yes she did have a friend who was mugged while riding a bike off-campus at 3 AM but these are isolated incidents. Yes on campus parking is limited and yes cars get ticketed bu this is hardly unique to U of R, it would be common at most colleges. She did have a car senior year although she did not drive to campus during the day, only at night when she had late night rehearsals and yes I am sure she did get a few tickets both on and off campus. She did get a parking ticket in Ithaca when her friend attending Cornell said it is okay to park here in Collegetown while we run in to get coffee for 10 minutes…does that make Cornell a bad place to go to school? Older d got her share of tickets at Brandeis and while living off-campus in Somerville for a 5th year post-bac program. She even got a ticket when she </p>