Monroe Avenue

Monroe Avenue. Photo by _yoshi_

Location

Monroe Ave, Rochester, NY 14607

Website

Monroe Ave Merchants Association

Like other radial avenues, Monroe Avenue gets emphasis as a major commercial corridor in the City's Rochester 2010: The Renaissance urban plan. It runs southeast from downtown at Chestnut Street crossing through suburban Brighton, strip malls and plazas and enters Pittsford.

Monroe Avenue is designated as NY State Route 31 and together with East Avenue/State Route 96, forms one of the two historic roadways between Pittsford and the original settlement at Rochesterville, now downtown Rochester. Like the county it traverses, the Avenue was named for U.S. President James Monroe.

Monroe Avenue's development as a commercial corridor mirrors the establishment and expansion of public transportation, first with horse-drawn streetcars as far as Alexander Street, then extended to Goodman. With electrification of the streetcars in the 1890s, the line was extended to the Erie Canal (present I-490 bridge) and finally to Highland Avenue. In the early 1940s, the streetcars were replaced with the #7 Bus, although the Rochester Subway continued to stop at the Monroe Avenue Station until its demise in 1956.

Some view Monroe Ave as the spirit & soul of Rochester. As fares Monroe Ave, so fares Rochester!

On mentioning Monroe Ave, most people mean the commercial strip between Highway 490 and city center known as Monroe Village (see picture above). One of the most pedestrian-friendly and hip sections in Rochester, here Monroe Ave is packed with bars, restaurants, and shops. Here you might even mistake Rochester for a big city. The Monroe Avenue Merchant's Association has a website at: MonroeAvenue.com.

As with all big cities, parts of Monroe Avenue have some urban grit. One of the neighborhood's most recognizable landmarks is the historic 1928 Monroe Theatre. Until the summer of 2008, this housed the porn emporium Show World and was covered in lime green, orange, and black paint. In September and October 2008 the rear portion of the old theater was demolished and the facade was cleaned and repaired in preparation for conversion to retail space.

Food and Beverages: Aladdin's Natural Eatery, Arby's, Astoria, Bruegger's, Dac Hoa, Dogtown Hots, Gitsis Texas Hots, Hunan Wok, Mark's Texas Hots, McDonald's, Pittsford Seafood, Plum House, Rookie's Express Pizza and Pasta, Sol Burrito, SEA Restaurant, Starbucks, Subway


Retail: Archimage, Aspenleiter Vacuum, Before Your Quiet Eye, Blockbuster Video, Brownbag Bookshop, Concrete Sole, eLab Smokers Boutique, ICON Piercing Studio, Kinko's, Lucky Lotus Tattoo, Lumiere photo, Mercury Posters, New York Stylee, Pittsford Seafood Market, Poster Art, RDrugs (independent pharmacy in the former Genesee Hospital, Rent A Center, Rick's Recycled Books, Skye High, Wilson Hardware


Bars: Acme Bar & Pizza, Avenue Pub * Bug Jar, The * Damian's Pub * Enright's Thirst Parlor * JD Oxfords * Lola's Bistro & Bar * O'Callaghan's Pub * The Angry Duck * The Sports Page * The Standard Lounge


Community: Community Darkroom (aka Genesee Center for the Arts and Education) * Monroe YMCA * Monroe Branch Public Library * Center For Youth * Absolute Yoga & Wellness * Anti-War Crisis Center

• Monroe Village

• Monroe Village Farmers' Market
  

• Upper Monroe Ave
  

• Brighton
  

• Twelve Corners
  

• Pittsford Plaza
  

• Monroe Ave Weather Webcams
  

• A Day in the Life of Monroe Avenue (Democrat & Chronicle article directory)

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2007-07-17 10:10:28   If "As fares Monroe Ave, so fares Rochester" then Rochester must be full of hookers and drug dealers after dark. —BadFish