Info on Rochester NY Station

Here's the station thru microsoft's live.com site. I've been in that area numerous times at nite and un-Godly hours of the morning and never felt unsafe.


http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ne=2989211

Rhinecliff wrote:The Rochester, NY station is located on the fringe of one of the most crime-infested areas of America. It is not a safe place hang out. Any doubts should be resolved by contacting the local police for their insight.

I think it comes down to each individual's comfort level, where they live, and what sort of environment they find familiar. On this and other forums, I've noticed that people who tend to be most ill-at-ease about stepping from a train in an unfamiliar city, especially after dark, tend to live in the suburbs or in small towns.

On the flip side, people (such as yours truly) who have always lived in the middle of huge, dark cities tend to be far less leery of urban areas. It's a matter of what you're accustomed to, which is why many non-city dwellers seem to find even fairly benign (if deserted) downtown areas foreign and vaguely threatening.

That doesn't mean I don't use caution (and when in extreme doubt, I always take a taxi from the station). But I've often received dire warnings on this and other forums about venturing into new areas ("steer clear of the east side of Buffalo!" "watch out in Memphis!" "don't set foot in East L.A.!" "never walk around on the outskirts of the Chicago Loop late at night!"). Frankly, I found the areas quite tame compared to my own home town and some of the neighborhoods I've lived in -- although I admit I'd think twice before taking a casual stroll through Camden, NJ or Gary, IN.

I guess the moral is to go with your intuition. Use your brain. Stick to the main thoroughfares and avoid smaller side streets. And if the mere thought of walking along under-populated city byways after dark gives you the willies, always ride instead of walk.

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I spent a lot of time in downtown Rochester when I lived in Brockport and Hamlin and worked in Hilton. I never had any problems.

I was in a severe car accident a few years back and was transported to ECMC as a precaution. My family was scattered around the city on a few hospitals, and I needed to get to my daughter at Children's hospital, and there were no cabs at ECMC, and it was a snowstorm. My car was totalled. I walked from ECMC into the East side to find a cab, and witnessed someone who had just been released from the ER banging his head on a street sign's pole. Loudly. I never made eye contact, eventaully saw a cab and flagged it down.

Don't make eye contact, and just keep walking. I'm sure you won't have a problem. I've done that before...always worked for me.

Dave Becker

AgentSkelly wrote:I have to disagree, that part of Rochester isn't Tanglewood, NJ.

Tanglewood? Mr Skelly

A review of the Gazetter in my Atlas reveals no such incorporated municipality in New Jersey.

Tanglewood near Lenox MA is where a performing arts festival is held each summer; the Boston Symphony is in residence there for much of the season.

While of course, there is no such a thing as a perfect outdoor concert, they usually are priced at about 60% of the "real deal', However, they have their annoyances. I can recall at Ravinia about five years ago, Itzhak Perlman was performing the Brahms Violin Concerto when several birds decided he needed a little "help' with the cadenza. He simply stopped playiong - and I don't blame him in the least.

But so much for my off topic commentary other than to say you can travel from the Loop to Ravinia on the METRA/UP North Line and until A-Day, you could get to Tanglewood on the New Haven's Berkshire Line.

EastCleveland wrote: I think it comes down to each individual's comfort level, where they live, and what sort of environment they find familiar. On this and other forums, I've noticed that people who tend to be most ill-at-ease about stepping from a train in an unfamiliar city, especially after dark, tend to live in the suburbs or in small towns.

On the flip side, people (such as yours truly) who have always lived in the middle of huge, dark cities tend to be far less leery of urban areas. It's a matter of what you're accustomed to, which is why many non-city dwellers seem to find even fairly benign (if deserted) downtown areas foreign and vaguely threatening.

That doesn't mean I don't use caution (and when in extreme doubt, I always take a taxi from the station). But I've often received dire warnings on this and other forums about venturing into new areas ("steer clear of the east side of Buffalo!" "watch out in Memphis!" "don't set foot in East L.A.!" "never walk around on the outskirts of the Chicago Loop late at night!"). Frankly, I found the areas quite tame compared to my own home town and some of the neighborhoods I've lived in -- although I admit I'd think twice before taking a casual stroll through Camden, NJ or Gary, IN.

I guess the moral is to go with your intuition. Use your brain. Stick to the main thoroughfares and avoid smaller side streets. And if the mere thought of walking along under-populated city byways after dark gives you the willies, always ride instead of walk.

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Sorry to quote this entire post, but it reflects my personal point of view. I didn't mean to start a heated discussion about the relative safety of the immediate area of the Rochester Amtrak station.

I grew up in a city. I am much more comfortable with walking around them than most people I know, although I wouldn't call myself an exceptional risk taker, either.

Among the suburbanites I knew who knew that I not only attended a college in New York City (Fordham Lincoln Center) but walked to and from there from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, along Ninth / Columbus Avenue between 41st and 60th Street, the most frequent question I was asked was, "You go to school in New York? You're not dead yet?"

I have much more comment on that and the underlying attitude it represents, but it's not appropriate for this forum and so I will self-moderate.

Suffice to say, "Your mileage may vary." My immediate family knows, for example, that my idea of "roughing it in the wild" is staying in a hotel that doesn't have room service.

About a year ago, I stepped from a very late Empire Service train at midnight and walked from the station to a downtown hotel. Although the streets were shadowy and completely deserted, they didn't feel especially dangerous, just desolate. However, I wouldn't recommend such a stroll to everyone, especially if you're carrying luggage, or if you're easily spooked.

I agree with Mr. Cleveland's assessment as I've also done the walk from a downtown hotel to the station.

umtrr-author: I meant Englewood, NJ

MODERATOR'S NOTE:

This will be moved to the Stations, Terminals, and Yards forum, as the information is tangential at best to Amtrak

AgentSkelly wrote:umtrr-author: I meant Englewood, NJ

Understood, but I wasn't the person who questioned Tanglewood...

umtrr-author wrote:

AgentSkelly wrote:umtrr-author: I meant Englewood, NJ

Understood, but I wasn't the person who questioned Tanglewood...

My Fault

I work not too far from there - it's not that bad. Like anywhere else, keep your wits about you and your eyes open.

Doesn't hurt to carry a cell phone and a 9mm either... never know who's path you'll cross.

rochesters not that bad. only one or two people murdered a night.

Rhinecliff wrote:Let there be no mistake about it: The Rochester, NY station is located on the fringe of one of the most crime-infested areas of America. It is not a safe place hang out. Any doubts should be resolved by contacting the local police for their insight.

Like someone from Rhinecliff should talk about crime being across the river from Kingston...LOL

This thread is not meant to debate the relative safety of New York State neighborhoods. Restrict your comments to the Rochester station only.

-otto-

I live in Rochester and am a regular Amtrak user. A real plus is that passengers may use the parking area just adjacent to the station - left my car there recently Friday pm thru Sunday pm with no problems. Rochester's downtown area is several blocks to the south of the station, which was effectively cut off from the commercial district by construction of the Inner Loop expressway in the early 1960s. This leaves the station in a sort of "no man's land" between the highway and the CSX mainline tracks. It's really too bad that Rochester doesn't have an attractive, conveniently located intermodal transportation terminal like the one to the east in Syracuse.

David