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I thought Rochester was so wonderful because

It was the home of Kodak, which I loved because I was really into photography (built my own darkroom, did all kinds of science-related photography), and also because Kodak had such a wonderful, positive, beautiful presence in American culture while I was growing up. Their commercials on TV were beautiful and encouraging. They also ran a series of very clever and informative advertisements in Scientific American, which was my favorite magazine as a child and into my teenage years. Also the gigantic picture of the young Cybill Shepherd that was displayed in Grand Central Station was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She was literally so beautiful you couldn't take your eyes off her, which was of course why they paid millions of dollars to display her picture there as part of an advertisement that occupied the entire east wall of the main room.
It was the home of Xerox, which I also admired as a company and as a part of our culture, although I wouldn't have expressed it in those words at the time (I would have said simply "Xerox is cool"). Their headquarters building was to die for. Polaroid had the same place in my system of esteem, but Polaroid was Boston, which was too far away to seem real to me.
It was the home of the Eastman School of Music, which I thought was very cool, because it was the home of Frederick Remington, Howard Hanson, and Chuck Mangione, all of whom I loved as a boy and a teenager.

I was born and grew up in Rochester. Graduated from highschool in '65. My brother, sister-in-law, and my cousin worked at Kodak. My other cousin worked at Xerox. As a grade school kid, I remember listening to the Rochester Philharmonic on the radio in our classroom when they had their broadcasts. We also toured the Eastman House a few times on school trips.

Frederick Remington was actually born in Canton, NY, and lived for a time in Ogdensburg, NY. When my kids were little, we took them to the Remington Museum in Ogdensburg. As a kid growing up, the best part of Rochester, and the Rochester area was our local movie theaters, Sea Breeze amusement park, and Don & Bob's Restaurant. We didn't have a car, so had to walk or take buses to get around. My Dad worked for the NY Central Railroad, and we could ride the train for free. We'd go to the State Fair on the train every year. We'd also take the train early on a Saturday morning to Buffalo, to visit the zoo, get back on the train in Buffalo, and head to Niagara Falls, then take the train back home to Rochester...all in the same day. I can still remember the warm bologna, and tuna fish sandwiches we dragged along with us from home. Had a great childhood in Rochester, but wouldn't want to live there now.