<p>Coming for a visit. Will take the tour and do the info session but will also have an afternoon and evening free (Sunday). Other than just walking campus, any hints on what to see or do - particular emphasis on restaurants, coffee shops, hangouts near campus (no bars, yet!). From what I've seen looks like most are a few miles away in town. Just trying to get a feel for the place - or as much as you can in 24 hours.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>deaddog,</p>
<p>I guess I’ll give you the first recommendations (others, feel free to add your suggestions).</p>
<p>On Sunday or Monday you will absolutely want to drive east down Park Ave and then west down East Ave to Gibbs Street and the Eastman School of Music. Check out Google Maps to see the route. Along the way you will pass a multitude of restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, museums, and local attractions. </p>
<p>My favorite restaurants in that area are Jines (for breakfast), Magnolia’s / SPoT Coffee (for lunch), and Cafe Cibon for dinner. The Park Ave / East Ave section of Rochester is awesome. </p>
<p>You will also want to take a stroll through Highland Park (just east of the U of R campus) and a drive through Genesee Valley Park (literally just south of campus). Once again, check out Google Maps to see how close these great parks are to campus. Both of these parks were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park in NYC and Mont Royal in Montreal. </p>
<p>I’m sure those activities will keep you super busy!</p>
<p>The area between school and downtown is mostly South Wedge. It connects to an area called Swillburg. They are both fairly nice areas with restaurants, coffee bars, etc. North, on the other side of the freeway, is Park Ave, East Ave and University Ave. Very pretty. George Eastman lived on East - the house is there, worth seeing, is where films are restored and archived. Old mansion district. Lots of restaurants and stores along Park. Probably too early but there is a street with hundreds of azaleas down the middle of a boulevard. The art museum is in this neighborhood. 1st class museum. </p>
<p>The Roc is small: ten minutes will take you almost anywhere within the city. I suggest looking up rocwiki.org.</p>
<p>Kids mostly walk to the places on Elmwood near Strong. They take the bus (or bike or a car) to go to Eastman. That’s no more than 10 minutes.</p>
<p>Kids take the shuttle to the shopping areas in Henrietta, which is south about 10 minutes. Lots of strip centers and a mall. Every chain store. Like the rest of America. Be aware there are 2 Henrietta Roads: East and West. They run next to each other. Annoying. </p>
<p>Because of its location, UR is somewhat isolated but is in a city. It isn’t an urban school; you don’t walk out your door into traffic. Campus life revolves around campus. It’s inexpensive to live off campus so there is some social life there, notably just across the river. </p>
<p>If you cross to the city side of campus, you are buffered not only by the cemetery but a huge - beautiful - park (Higland Park). If you go north along any of those roads, you go into Brighton. I’m talking immediately, not 10 minutes away. Very nice area; it’s a separate town, not a district. If you take Elmwood, for example, out past Strong Memorial you come quickly to Brighton’s center and their top-rated high school. Nice, old suburban neighborhood with lots of local businesses. Turn right on Monroe and you quickly come to suburban sprawl and the Wegman’s flagship in Pittsford. (This is about the only area you find a traffic delay.) But come back in on Monroe and in a blink of an eye you’re back in the city and near school. (As a note, you go past another big park. This one has a big hill and reservoir. They kept German POW’s there in WWII. I love history.)</p>
<p>Downtown is your basic American downtown: scruffy and struggling, some beautiful buildings and areas but stripped of shopping because that’s not the way it is anymore here. There are some nice restaurants in downtown and some hip things but it’s overall somewhat depressing. If you head north, you can see High Falls, which is why Rochester exists. You can walk on a bridge to look at the falls. They powered mills; Rochester was Flour City because of the water power and water transit. If you were in on Saturday, I’d suggest going to the public market. It’s really cool. </p>
<p>So for example, if I’m in the Roc, I can be on Park, head north to Atlantic and east through a small industrial area past Stick Lips BBQ - very good, much less famous than Dinosaur BBQ downtown (Dino has better sides) - to the North Winton neighborhood to stop at Balsam Bagels (just plain great bagels) in 5 to 10 minutes. Head south on Winton, through the busy shopping area, pass through Brighton, turn right on Clinton and be at Boulder Coffee (at Alexander) in S. Wedge in less than 10 minutes. I usually then get back to campus by taking Alexander to the river, turn left, turn right on Ford, go over the bridge and loop around the rotary, come back over the bridge, turn right on Wilson and I’m at school in just a few minutes.</p>
<p>Thanks - this is really helpful and much appreciated. Sounds like the only places within an easy walk are on Elmwood near Strong - is that correct? Sorta looking to see where a freshman can walk on a Saturday afternoon to screw around, grab a coffee, do a little window shopping</p>
<p>Freshman will likely only go out with friends off campus. If they want to stroll around and window shop, they should take the shuttle to Eastman, Wegman’s, the mall, etc. My kid now goes off campus more, partly because friends have cars - and you can sign up for zip car. A number of kids at UR are relatively local and they often have access to cars.</p>
<p>UR is a very active place. Kids get involved in lots of stuff. It’s a big enough school that there are many choices and small enough that you know people. This seems to encourage more doing - that, plus they work to admit kids who do things. A bigger school seems harder to cross lines, but my kid and her friends are in very diverse groups in school. This means your non-study time is spent doing things. The exception is more a trip to get stuff and to hang out as a group: a trip by car or shuttle to walmart, Wegman’s, etc.</p>