History UsefulNotes / Rochester

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Not the city's fault, but the Eastman Kodak Company's senior managers outright refused to believe that digital cameras would ever overtake Kodak's admittedly world's-greatest film and cameras in terms of cost and practical use. Then cell phone cameras became a thing, and suddenly the market for film dropped by ninety percent in only a few years. The bones of Kodak Park, their centralized and gargantuan industrial center, are larger than some of the city's suburbs, and have dozens of buildings that are nearly or completely empty.

In addition to the above, the city also supported the Western New York Flash in several top-level women's football/soccer leagues during the current century.[[note]]If you're wondering why Rochester would get a top-level women's soccer team when a ''boatload'' of much larger cities didn't, two words: Abby Wambach. The US women's legend is a Rochester-area native, and played for the team for much of the last part of her career.[[/note]] However, the organization sold the rights to its franchise in the National Women's Soccer League to interests in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, which relaunched the team as the North Carolina Courage. This came immediately after the Flash won the 2016 NWSL championship. The organization played in the second-level United Women's Soccer for a couple of years in Buffalo, but has since reverted to a youth-only operation.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Neighborhood pronunciations are ''notoriously'' unconventional, for example Chili is pronounced "Chai-Lai." In addition, the town is named after a person, not a place in Europe as was so common at the time, so it's pronounced RAH-chester. There are also an extraordinary number of places nearby named after Italian and Greek cities, like Syracuse, Utica, Ithaca, Greece, Olympia, Rome, and more; all are to be pronounced with English vowels instead of Greek ones.

* Rochester New York FC, men's soccer (football) – Previously known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos and later as the Rochester Rhinos, the team had played in the second-level league now known as the USL Championship, but went on hiatus after the 2017 season. Adopting its current name in late 2021, RNYFC will resume professional play in 2022 in MLS Next Pro, a third-tier league operated by UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer. Every other team in that league will be a reserve side of an MLS team.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Not the city's fault, but the Eastman Kodak Company's senior managers outright refused to believe that digital cameras would ever overtake Kodak's admittedly world's-greatest film and cameras in terms of cost and practical use. Then cell phone cameras became a thing, and suddenly the market for film dropped by ninety percent in only a few years. The bones of Kodak Park, their centralized and gargantuan industrial center, are larger than some of the city's suburbs, and have dozens of buildings that are nearly or completely empty.

* The Rhinos, men's soccer (football) – Had played in the second-level league now known as the USL Championship, but went on hiatus after the 2017 season. The team plans to resume professional play in 2021 in the third-tier USL League One.

* Andrew "[[WebVideo/BingingWithBabish Babish]]" Rea was born in Mendon raised in Rochester.
* Creator/KristenWiig was born in Canandaigua and spent a period of her childhood in Lancaster, UsefulNotes/{{Pennsylvania}} before coming to Rochester to finish out high school.

* The Rhinos, men's football (soccer), playing in the second-level United Soccer League

* Up for a drink on a Friday night? Park Ave is where you go if you're a more trendy/preppy type who spends too much time in the gym or the tanning bed, East & Alexander is where you go if you're into the club scene, South Wedge is more for hipster types, and Monroe Ave is where you'll find your favorite seedy, skanky dive bar.