There’s No Place Like Home...Especially When Home is Rochester, New York

If you or anyone you know has ever left Rochester in search of bigger and brighter cities with better opportunities, it’s more than likely that once they’ve left here they can’t wait to be back. Or at least you didn’t realize what you had here until you lost it. Such is the case for Rosie Taravella who left upstate New York in the 1980s for Los Angeles to begin a career as an actress and writer. While Ms. Taravella enjoyed much success in her subsequent 25 years in L.A., she realized that she was missing out on a more accommodating lifestyle back here in Rochester. Here, in her own words, she tells us why this area is second to none in arts, culture, lifestyle, natural beauty and cost of living.

It was time to create an opportunity in a great city where homes are affordable, natural beauty abounds, cultural assets are plentiful and one can get anywhere in 15 minutes. Naturally, I chose Rochester.
I don’t feel like I sacrificed anything by moving back to Rochester. My 16-mile commute was taking an hour one-way, and the mortgage on my 650 square foot Pasadena bungalow was over $2,100 (excluding taxes). Ginny Hronek, a Nothnagle real estate agent helped me find a beautiful home in Perinton. My colonial split gives me three times the space I had in California at one-third the price. I love being just 15 minutes away from my downtown office, while enjoying a spacious country setting and the peace and quiet it offers me.
It is such a pleasure to be home. Rochester has more arts per capita than any other mid-sized city. We recently surpassed Nashville, Tennessee in generating some $198 million in economic activity from our arts organizations, as reported by the "Americans for the Arts" which surveyed 156 communities in 50 states and the District of Columbia.
I thought I would be leaving world class arts and culture behind in Los Angeles, but it’s here in Rochester. The only difference being that it’s more affordable and easier to get to.
Becoming the Executive Director to the Rochester/ High Falls International Film Festival is a great place for me to have landed because I get to sing the praises of Rochester to many of the tourists who come to the city to partake in the Festival activity. That includes filmmakers, several of who comment on how they’ve never been to the area before, and what a great place it would be for them to shoot a film, vacation or even live.