City Wishlist

Add to this page things you would like to see for our city

• Turn the Inner Loop into a sprawling urban park at street level creating a destination in downtown Rochester that can reconnect the center city with the surrounding area. It would not be expensive to bury it, and would have little impact on congestion as it already serves very few drivers. If bordered by complete streets serving all forms of transport, it would create a vibrant boulevard around the city. (The "fill" project is now underway.)
  

• How about allowing people to wade in the wading pool @ Manhattan Square... Boston does it (so apparently there is no huge health or safety concern) and I thought that was the idea when it was being built... (actually fountains were watered years ago and my 6 year old sister sliced her foot open on a broken glass beer bottle)
  

• Maybe put in a goddamn Sonic There is a goddamn Sonic Drive-In in Irondequoit with three more on the way
  

• Rochester No Car Day - Dedicate the day of May 29th, 2009 to walking and biking instead of using motor vehicles.
  

• Host a midnight walk once a month in different areas of the city to promote revitalization, and to counter the feeling that the city is dangerous after dark. The more people out walking at night, the more pride we will take in our neighborhoods, and the safer the streets will become!
  

• For people to stop giving money to panhandlers. There are missions that give away free food and clothes every single day. The only reason panhandlers want your money is to buy things that charity will not pay for, so the next time you give some pocket change to a guy for a "sandwich", understand that you are DIRECTLY contributing to our city's plight!
  

• A bookstore that sells new books and is not in a strip mall.
  

• Keep the Eastman Dispensary from deteriorating. Renovate it into a library (or a bookstore) with a cozy coffee shop on one wing, and a tourist information center providing all sorts of information, including historical local information.
  

• Drill a hole through the Charlotte pier so algae won't build up and we can actually swim.
  

• A low-cost streetcar plan (or light rail) to facilitate access across the Inner Loop and I-490 freeway. This system would serve downtown and the inner city within one mile of the Inner Loop. City residents would get a number of limited free ridership passes per month. The plan should allow longer distance extensions (if this appears sensible from ridership numbers) and transport infrastructure connections to such places as the airport and the downtown Amtrak station.
  

• For the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority to develop a comprehensive bus line system á la NYC with buses that actually travel crosstown, downtown, and uptown without expensive transfers and that run after the bars close. (Unlikely. Rochester's avenues run hub & spoke.) (Adding concentric rings to the hub-and-spoke layout would help immensely)
  

• Seasonal summer peak bus service to Ontario Beach Park (Charlotte Beach) on Lake Ontario.
  

• Car sharing and car-sharing pods throughout the city. (The Zipcar program at the University of Rochester is available to anyone now.)
  

• The addition of kangaroos and giraffes at the zoo, as well as more wolves to the zoo's exhibit — wolves are pack animals and need a larger community.
  

• More development in the High Falls, Charlotte, and East Main parts of town.
  

• For people to actually go to the High Falls area so that the businesses can stay open and encourage more to open.
  

• BRAND NEW rentable ranch-style apartment homes in the suburb towns (Fairport, Pittsford, etc) that allow small dogs (something like the Villas of Victor but closer to downtown Rochester).
  

• A 24-hour indoor dog park / activity center with a variety of hang out areas and things to do.
  

• A local IKEA (Petition to get an IKEA in Western New York) (…in the works, possibly on old ["Kodak Park") or West Elm (westelm now open in Culver Road Armory).
  

• Fairport should try to have more funky shops like they do in Brockport — not too "touristy," but something to add to the Erie Canal experience...Pittsford is really doing some nice things — the Canal should be highlighted a lot more than it is.
  

• Whole Foods (http://WholeFoodsMarket.com) downtown!
  

• Fewer pseudo "gang bangers" who have confused this little city with somewhere larger cities.
  

• Better radio stations with actual, interesting, and knowledgeable disc jockeys (think WOXY and KEXP).
  

• What about WBER? It's a Rochester institution. — INDEED!
  

• A new attitude with wider and deeper support for innovation and geek culture.
  

• More pedestrians, cyclists, skaters, and Nordic skiers in winter.
  

• On-street bike lanes. (Already some are in place)
  

• A bicycle safety education program and roulette ticketing of no lights cyclists, where randomly half the time they receive a $50 fine plus lights, and half the time free lights and no fine.
  

• Earn-a-bike like http://BikesNotBombs.org or a Center for Appropriate Transport.
  

• A fountain¹ in the Genesee River, located downtown between: the Broad Street Bridge, the Court Street Bridge, Rundel Library, and the Blue Cross Arena.
  

• A permanent agreement to never ever dismantle the Inner Loop and the radial structure of the city, and a plan for a streetcar system that provides numerous entry and exit points to make downtown pleasantly accessible by foot.
  

• Modifying PaeTec Park so that it is a skating rink in the frozen months.
  

• Wi-Fi, everywhere and 24/7 - for example: Monroe County Wi-Fi.
  

• Modestly-priced, widely-available Wi-Fi paid for by the users such that there is an incentive to do upgrades and maintain the system.
  

• Turning the Sibley Building into dorms for MCC students.
  

• More people and less spam at Rochester Craigslist. (But why wait? Help build Tribe locally.)
  

• —Fenced dog parks.
  

• A frickin' Dairy Queen (the closest location is in Buffalo!) There is a frickin' Dairy Queen at 1100 Jefferson Road in Henrietta now!
  

• A Chick-fil-A restaurant somewhere, anywhere in this city! The closest is in Erie, PA!
  

• Get the city government out of business of buying things to try and be like a business. Assemble an unbiased commission dealing only with financial analysis of city projects and investments, by assembling a team of city employees; put the city tax assessors and financial geniuses to work and let them advise you and prepare an unbiased factual feasibility and profit analysis of major purchases and projects (e.g., buying Midtown Plaza for $6 million or pumping a quarter billion dollars into Renaissance Square).
  

• An end to cookie-cutter suburban sprawl and a reinvestment in the environmentally and socially healthier lifestyle known as city living!
  

• More wheelchair-accessible Voting Machines and a Board of Elections that has a conscience
  

• More shops, restaurants, businesses that showcase the Genesee River gorge downtown
  

• A Qdoba restaurant.
  

• A Chipotle restaurant. (Moe's is satisfying the cravings until I get back to Ohio, but Chipotle is far superior to Moes...) There's now one on Mt. Hope Avenue near University of Rochester, Monroe Avenue in Pittsford, Jefferson Road in Henrietta, and Wal-Mart Plaza in Victor
  

• Duck tours! (Boston, Miami, Seattle, and a bunch of other cities have them.
  

• A Long John Silver's, or a Long John Silver's/A&W split restaurant.
  

• A more upscale shopping center (downtown?) with stores that the area couldn't support more than one instance of, such as Anthropologie now at Eastview Mall, Urban Outfitters, Steve Madden, etc.
  

• A La Madeleine café
  

• A Fuddruckers burger place - I know there's one on one of the Thruway rest stops, but that doesn't really count.
  

• An alternative weekly that doesn't suck.
  

• Continued development of the Rochester-Auburn Trail from Pittsford to Highland/590, plus new on-street and in-park bike routes so riders can go from Schoen Place, up through Cobbs Hill and Highland Park (where, technically, bikes are only allowed on the roads - lame), through (or around) Mt. Hope Cemetery, and on to downtown or back to the canal via the Genesee Valley Trail. It would link canal tourism more strongly to the city, and would be great for charity rides.
  

• A kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi restaurant.
  

• A decent Mexican restaurant within 100 miles of Rochester. (Paula's is decent food, but overpriced and with small portions)
  

• Have you tried Chilango's or Monte Alban Mexican Grill? They're both within 10 miles of the city.
  

• Check out John's Tex Mex on South Avenue. Good portions, good food and good prices.
  

• A fondue restaurant The Melting Pot is now located in Marketplace Mall in Henrietta
  

• Pave the section of the Lehigh Valley Trail between RIT and UofR.
  

• Turn part of Park Avenue into a walking street. The city is spending a lot of money trying to start things from new in a few locations in the city. Those places don't have things to attract people, and have to start from scratch, not all bad, but a lot of time and money is required. Park Ave has stores, restaurants, etc already there. The attraction to Park Ave is pretty big now, and could be huge. There are some down sides, parking and driving in the area would be more difficult.
  

• Ask, cajole, and/or inspire Genesee Brewery to make its buildings look nicer. From the West side of High Falls or from the Main Street Bridge all you see is a big yellow skeletal conglomeration. Can't they make it look better? A Hofbrau haus? A pyramid of 12 horses? (Nearly all the buildings have since been repainted, and outside the brew pub restaurant they now put up a lighted pyramid of kegs "tree" for the holidays.)
  

• An In-N-Out restaurant
  

• A direct bus line from U of R to RIT and other area colleges. (Maybe the route could go Brockport, RIT, MCC, UR, Naz, St. John Fisher). I don't want to have to walk two blocks and sit on a bus for an hour when, by car, the route takes less than ten minutes.
  

• Google internet or Verizon FiOS, or at least some real internet competition to TWC. Frontier is a joke.
  

• Doubtful... Frontier and Verizon have non-compete agreements. Plus Frontier is buying up rural services that Verizon wants to dump, so I doubt Verizon would want to do anything against Frontier.
  

• How about a Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt...
  

• A Tropical Smoothie Cafe
  

• More skyscrapers downtown.
  

• Demolish the Windstream Building and replace it with some real urban development. Demolish the new Democrat & Chronicle Building too. What a disgrace!

Controversial, absurd, impossible (but not bad) and/or failed ideas

• A speedy ferry that you can get loaded on while cruisin' cross international waters.
  

• Turning the Inner Loop into a canal- gondolas and water taxis in the summer, skating in the winter.
  

• Dismantling of the Inner Loop, an artificial and antiquated barrier between downtown and the neighborhoods. A formal admission by city government that building the thing in the first place back in the '50s was really the nail in the coffin of downtown, favoring suburban commuters at the expense of the comparatively voiceless urban poor. Also, that the dismantling of the Inner Loop not be considered "absurd" (at least not so long as "a permanent agreement" to keep it in place is considered sane or feasible).
  

• Geodesic dome spanning several acres, serving as a winter garden for the city. (I.e., bigger than the NYC Bronx arboretum.)
  

• High Speed Train along the thruway corridor (Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, NYC/Boston), but passing through downtown Rochester with a nice train station (the thruway should have gone through ROC, but a famous disagreement had it re-routed around the City). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_high-speed_rail.
  

• Light Rail connecting different parts of our area - one example is a plan is at Rochester Rail Transit Committee which is a proposed line to Charlotte beach.
  

• Removal of the putrid stench that emanates from the Genesee River.
  

• Tear down the large behemoth skyscrapers of downtown and replace with lower height, livable community. i.e., stop trying to be like Manhattan, Rochester! You are a great smaller city and do not need tall buildings that lose their use due to downturn in the economics of the large corporations that build, own and/or rent office space in them. Save our downtown!
  

• A county-wide education initiative to teach people a proper understanding of our beautiful city's tough problems (including the role those very suburbs played in its downfall) and to convince them that, honest to God, it is possible to live, work and play in the city without getting mugged or shot.
  

• A combined effort throughout the county, and hopefully through the Greater Rochester Metro Area, to put in place zoning laws that would stop the urban sprawl that is causing financial hardship for local government and keep the suburbs quiet residential neighborhoods and the city an urban area. The population isn't going up here, towns are just stealing citizens from each other.
  

• City politicians who don't embark on a new financial albatross every five years at tax payer expense, like the Fast Ferry, High Falls, the Hyatt Regency, etc.
  

• Crazy idea for Midtown: turn it into housing. Each of the individual stores could become a condo, add a private entrance, cut off public access, add skylights / greenhouses. Tear down McCurdy tower. Good parking abounds, this is not such a crazy idea, but too late now. That great wide balcony is like an Italian Palazzo. You'd have to preserve a throughfare for those connecting from Xerox tower to Seneca Tower.
  

• For Rochesterians to GET OVER the g*ddamn Midtown Plaza monorail and clock of nations. I guess I understand how they can encapsulate a lot of fond childhood memories, but they are both rather pathetic, especially that clock. Like a cheap version of "It's a Small World After All," with all the faded felt and outdated ideas of diversity and multi-culturalism that that entails.
  

• I am under the impression that the Clock of Nations inspired "It's a Small World after All"\, anyone else heard/read or could confirm this?
  

• Can the wall separating the Genesee from Exchange Boulevard and the bike path be torn down or lowered? (though the Midwest floods may make us appreciate that wall) When riding a bike or walking along the path, one cannot even see the river.
  

• Revitalization of the old subway tunnel into some type of a tourist attraction.
  

• A real rapid transit system - bus or rail - connecting different parts of the city and surrounding areas.

Comments:

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2007-03-28 09:57:00   Oh, heavens no. I hate the duck tours. They slow traffic and attract obnoxious, disoriented people - one of Rochester's charms, in my opinion, is its distinct lack of such tacky tourist culture. —DanielMiner

2007-03-28 10:32:27   I was half-joking :) I definitely don't think we have enough space for duck tours. And can you imagine the duck floating on the genessee? "Mommy, why is the water so brown?" It'd be cool if we had some sort of small tour type of thing, though—maybe a trolley. Definitely not a whole fleet of ducks or double-decker buses, just a trolley or two. —RachelBlumenthal

2007-03-28 10:34:43   My mom works for Whole Foods. They are not interested in competing with Wegmans so thats a no-go. I write Trader Joes about 5-6 times a year asking for a WNY Trader Joes. No luck yet. I also think we need an IKEA —KimBee

2007-03-28 19:30:46   I wonder if the Duffy administration even knows that this page exists... sure, many of the ideas are crazy, but it seems like a good forum for citizen feedback —GrahamSaathoff

2007-05-11 13:45:04   There used to be a Long John Silver out W. Henrietta Rd. (still there?) Wegmans will no way never allow a Trader Joe in W. NY. They only allow Tops b/c otherwise they'd get sued for being a monopoly by Feds. —CarolLucky

2007-05-11 15:29:21   I would also love to see an Ikea here, since the closest one is about 3 hours away and in Canada. It says above that this is possibly in the works? Can anyone substantiate this? —AdrienneDahler

2007-05-22 15:22:06   * I'd like to see Fairport develop into a nice tourist area with funky shops — like Brockport — nothing "touristy" but with different and unusual stores...not vacuum cleaner repair shops!! —PamKincheloe

2007-06-16 19:55:35   We don't need to take buildings down, we need something architecturally significant. —McgMatt

2007-06-16 20:15:03   A fountain in the Genessee river is a bad idea. It was considered the most carcinogenic river in the country in 2003, and is still in the top 5. A fountain would let the wind blow that water around in the air for people to breathe in. http://www.dynrec.com/pollution/ —McgMatt

2007-06-21 11:00:13   A fountain could be put on the wall beneath the War Memorial - Blue Cross Arena, upriver from Kodak. This is also a tourist area and could be really great. Or what if something weird like that had been incorporated into the new 490 bridge? My crazy idea about skyscrapers is merely a lament about the sad state of downtown Rochester. The companies in the tall buildings were not able to save Midtown Mall or keep Sibley's downtown. —CarolLucky

2007-06-29 12:16:52   Why is it an absurd idea to dismantle the inner loop? Many cities have rid themselves of ill-conceived freeway projects from the 50's and 60's. San Francisco and Boston are but two. It really does suffocate the downtown area and create a "no-mans land" that people do not like to cross. —DerickBulkley

2007-08-17 21:16:18   I say we get rid of these trendy, new, high priced downtown condos, and the commercialization of Monroe Avenue and give people incentives to buy actual homes in the city. They are affordable and are beautiful with TLC. I live in San Diego now and it is a no man's land of tacky cookie cutter condos and strip malls. I don't wish that on Rochester, ever. Can't wait to come back home kids! 2011! —MayaDriscoll

2007-09-29 08:01:16   Bike paths throughout the city! It's great to ride along the canal, but it would also be nice to be able to ride to work and shops and downtown without risking your life every time while riding on the streets, swerving pedestrians while riding illegally on the sidewalks, or holding up miles of traffic on the streets. C'mon Rochester, be a progressive leader on this one! —KarenHolmes

2007-10-16 16:07:13   I think we should turn the inner loop into bike and pedestrian only. The parts of it that touch the ground could be torn up to be replaced with green space and old growth trees, and the parts that are bridges above 490 would stay as is. —KristinCox

2007-10-16 19:52:46   I second the La Madeleine café post! I LOVE that place!!!! —RocGirl

2007-10-18 20:48:42   Maggie is using the Paetec announcement to keep bring Ren Sqaure back up. Kill the idea already, especially the bus depot.

We really need to start pushing for light rail. Busses get caught up in the same traffic as cars and are loud and bumpy.

It needs to be a county based solution though, you can't expect it to survive souly in the city. It must be a viable option for people from the 'burbs to ride the train in and then use that to get around the city and take it back to the 'burbs. —JohnJoseph

2007-11-02 14:40:34   I like the downtown condos and think they are a good idea. I would rather have those and preserve the last remaining open space in Brighton / Henrietta etc. —CarolLucky

2007-11-08 17:37:01   RIT now also has FlexCar. And I agree with the radio station comment. There is no good alternative/modern radio during the day, when most people listen to the radio. Instead we get syndicated garbage talk from those Reasons I Regret Free Speech, Opie and Anthony. —ZackPanitzke

2007-11-11 16:25:51   I wish for a Chic-Fil-a! I don't like any other fast food, but I always eat Chic-Fil-a when I go south. —SaraChristine

2007-12-02 11:13:41   Re: Fountain in the Genesee River: they tried that 30 years ago or more. The remains are visible during low water in the summertime. It sits between Main Street and the Sister Cities pedestrian bridge. I was told it failed within a year or two of construction because the river carries a lot of silt and the silt gummed up the fountain.

Re: radio stations: Obviously we all like different kinds of music, but WBER is one of my FAVORITE things about Rochester. May it never go away. —JasonHaremza

2007-12-08 08:54:11   I came on this site to let others know of Skips in the Village a division of the Skip's Meat Markets throughout Rochester. This one is a gem.Clean, wide variety, great personneland knowledgeable. Fairports best kept secret. —ShellyGabel

2007-12-09 13:51:41   I think it'd be great if people would stop wishing for chains to show up in Rochester. Yes, I love Chipotle as much as the next person, but I think the city has more pressing local business issues.

It'd also be great if the local media would focus on the opening of actual local businesses and not chains or franchises. Really? We need a huge news story because a new Staples is opening? Or that LL Bean is coming to town? Or that person #435 bought a franchise to open because they couldn't think of a good idea on their own? —MarcVera

2008-06-03 20:53:55   I was born and raised in Rochester. I also work for Whole Foods in Pittsburgh, PA. I think that Whole Foods could easily compete with Wegmans. All they have to do is put a store in the City. How about one near U of R? Guaranteed business from Strong and UR. Plus it would be nice to have a grocery store that gives back to its immediate community like my Whole Foods does. Just a thought. —PeterCayer

2008-06-12 17:27:07   About the inner loop killing downtown your probably right but the South east and west sides were saved by it every area in the North has slowly deteriorated like Lake Ave. N. Clinton Ave. due to the spread of drug sales and the riots in 1964. While the South had some bad times but for the last 20 years has improved just look at real estate price and compare north south I Just wish that our city leaders would see investing in park Ave. Monroe Ave. elmwood, highland,East Ave get older people w/o children into the city as well as their tax $$$ then try slow measured improvements to high falls which unlike park Ave. Monroe Ave. elmwood, highland,East Ave has no neighborhood to draw on for customers if you have to drive look then look for a spot and pay for parking then walk to the place it makes ita less attractive destination. Spigetti warehouse was nice. - Nate Riley —N8Riley

2008-06-18 16:33:08   The Monorail and Clock of Nations are NOT pathetic. They are historic public works of art / fun / pleasure. Diversity and learning about people other than yourself will never go out of style. If it does, this world is in deep trouble. The Clock of Nations was put into place when a majority of households probably didn't have television, much less color television, or foreign films or the Internet. Learn your history before you make spurious announcements. —CarolLucky

2008-06-18 16:39:27   Oh yes that fountain is at the foot of the base of Sister City Bridge. Yes but there are more than a few old mill races still in place that maybe could feed a fountain. Or simply tap into a city water main. —CarolLucky

2008-06-18 16:44:03   Don't understand what is wrong with Park Ave now? It is a walking street already. To truly take cars away would be a nightmare. Besides it is too long - especially in the winter. No one would want to walk from the Toad in Hole down to Abbotts, it would be a long, empty icy gray expanse. not very fun. —CarolLucky

2008-10-24 12:40:28   I heard that Costello & Son is working on a development idea by Clinton Crossings with Brighton Town Govt. Some of the things they want to put in that area include, lofts overlooking the canal, a Whole Foods, and a Ruth Chris! —DanetteFitzgerald

2011-11-23 22:03:40   There IS a fountain in the river, between the 2 legs of the pedestrian brige, between the 2 hotels. It was installed in the mid 1960's, and it worked for maybe 3 months until the pipes were clogged by silt, and has never worked since. Look down some day when the water level is low-it's still there! —Alex-C

2013-06-17 12:38:21   Clean-up, improve, modernize Clinton Ave. at Main Street. The heart of the City has reflex disease. —dew4794

2015-07-13 13:53:57   Maybe the city is reading this wishlist. I see that most of these proposals were written around 2007, and a good amount have come true. Let's keep them coming! —sub619

2018-11-02 10:54:31   Let's pump up visitor numbers with appealing tourist attractions that commemorate local history, legends and lore.

- A frosted glass statue of the White Lady in Durand Lake by the castle would be awesome with the frequent fog on the water.


- The Seneca Dragon, Gaasyendietha. Some sculpture with glowing eyes around the Turning Point Park boardwalk.


- An organized history and walk for Rochester's part in the Underground railroad ( Think Boston's acclaimed "Freedom Trail" )

There's dozens of other instances of local history and legends that would be really cool to promote (And NY State has a "Legends and Lore" marker grant program to help with signage) —JosephPearson