This discussion was created from comments split from: University of Rochester - safety of town.
<p>Hi,
everyone, my daughter got into u of Rochester and really like it. I thought it’s a perfect fit for her with the program and activities that she is looking for. However, I saw that u of Rochester is not a safe school from amercia-safe-school.com, can anyone please let me know if you have attended this college or know anyone who is currently attending to let us know if this university is actually not safe to live on campus? Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Dandelionmom7 - you will probably be better off posting your question in the University of Rochester forum. That said, my husband and I attended the U of R in the 80’s and have lived in Rochester since then. We go back to campus to visit every year. </p>
<p>It is perfectly safe to live on campus at the U of R. Yes, there are parts of Rochester that are not safe, as with any city, but your daughter would actually have to drive to those areas. And, like most colleges, there are blue lights, and public safety officers that will walk you back to your dorm if you are alone at night and feel like you need an escort.</p>
<p>My kids all went to school in upstate NY, one to a college 30 minutes south of Rochester. Rochester is not very exciting but has an airport train station, bus station, most mainstream major retail stores. One of the good things about not being in a really cool city is that kids tend to stay on campus a lot where activities are free or cheap. Their friends in Boston and New York could easily spend $100 on a normal Saturday night.</p>
<p>My d graduated in 2010 and the campus is perfectly safe and quite lovely and impressive. There is an area that adjoins the campus that is a problem area as are other parts of the city. As in any urban environment you need to develop and use street smarts such as not walking alone at 3 AM, being aware of your surroundings, going out in groups, using the blue light and public safety officers if you need to. My d lived off-campus her senior year and as a theatre major spent many late nights on campus. She had a car senior year just because it was safer for her to drive back to her apartment than taking a long walk home.</p>
<p>I live in Roc. Don’t ever hear of any safety issues at UofR. I went to grad school there, but eeeeek it was 20 yrs ago so that’s not helpful. </p>
<p>My son is there now. I think there is an area off campus that isn’t safe, but he just doesn’t go there. He loves it there and has never complained about any safety issues. </p>
<p>U of Rochester has a bad neighborhood to its northwest but is separated from it by a big river. However, there is a footbridge and bridge for cars over the river. The U of R is also adjacent to Genesee Valley Park, a large cemetery, and a hiking trail along the Erie Canal which are safe only during daylight hours. There is a lot of exciting construction southeast of campus with plans for a Barnes and Noble, restaurants, shopping, and housing. It is a very safe campus if you use good judgment.</p>
<p>My guy is a sophomore there now too and hasn’t complained about safety issues. I know he’s walked to/from Eastman at least once and tends to walk to other places fairly often (there are buses, and he does use them too, but the exercise is good). I doubt he’s doing this at night, but there are many cities where I’d be wary walking at night.</p>
<p>Google “19th Ward, Rochester, NY”. Then look at the map in relation to UofR. Also, if your student will look to live off campus at some point, that’s probably when the radar needs to go up the most. Like everyone else has said, typical street smarts are good to have. Most kids probably never encounter any sort of issue. </p>