Nutshell

Are you new to Rochester? Read this fact sheet to get up to speed the fast paced world of upstate New York.

As you've probably heard Rochester has pretty severe winters. It's unpleasent if you dislike snow; but a great place if you love cold frosty mornings.

There are a couple of canonical things to see in Rochester but by all means not the entirty of what the city as to offer. If you're in Rochester for the first time this is what you should check out

• Waterfalls — Rochester has three fairly large waterfalls in the middle of the city. If you can only see one check out the High Falls.
  

• George Eastman House — The mansion of George Eastman turned into a museum. Lots of neat photography exhibits.
  

• Susan B. Anthony House — The home of Susan B. Anthony.
  

• Nick Tahou's — For a greasy upstate meal.

Most notably Rochester is home to Kodak. Other companies like Xerox and Bausch & Lomb also make a large impression. George Eastman, the founder of Kodak, was a life time resident of Upstate New York and with his wealth brought a lot of life to Rochester. This is evident from things like the Eastman School of Music and the Dryden Theatre.

Rochester has one distinct authentic cuisine found no where else in the world. That is the Garbage Plate. The plate (as locals call it) first originated at the still heavily trafficked Nick Tahou's. Another delicacy here are Chicken Wings. Buffalo Chicken Wings originated in Buffalo (at the Anchor Bar), but Rochesterarians are not quick to admit it. Here people purposefully leave out the Buffalo and refer to the sweet little sticks of meat as simply wings.

Being realistic there are two colleges in Rochester: the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology. RIT is a much larger school located several miles from the city - it's mostly a four year school with several isolated graduate departments. UR a much smaller school, located a mile from the city. UR is generally accepted as a research institution.