<p>Exactly, Don! I was born in Milwaukee and all of these places do have a distinct similarity!Some have done better for themselves than others, largely due to good polititions (is there such a thing?) who isist upon change and make the effort to bring it about (i.e. Cleveland and even Milwaukee), but mostly there are similaraties in building style (you;ll see a lot of houses painted garish colors, just to liven things up!), and even layout-Frederick Law Olmsted designed the parks in many of the region’s cities- but they don’t call it the " Rust Belt" for nothing!Folks even have 2 bikes, a great, fancy one for good weather(that means no snow) and an old, fat-tired model to ride to work/classes in the wintertime! Anyone else grow up/live/work/attend school in a city on one of the Lakes?
shennie- I brought up the snow removal thing because Rochester, like many other cities, is belt tightening on all public services, that being one of them. Plus, there is a Democratic Mayor and a Republican County Executive, and the inability of those 2 to work together has really impacted the area, to the tune of a lost 23 MILLION dollars for a downtown setting for a new bus terminal, educational facility and performing arts center. They has most of the funding in place, spent that huge amount on “planning” and then deadlocked, losing the project (which had been in the works for almost 10 years!) and all of the pledged funds. If one thought that the other would fall crossing the street in the winter, they’d sell the plow trucks for scrap! Sad, but all too true. East Ave is a major street though, so it’s usually kept clear for the bus traffic, but the snow is pushed to the side, making parking difficult, at best, and thus narrowing the traffic corridor. Gibbs is often an afterthought, but since Max of Eastman Place opened for lunch and dinner, and Java Joes expanded their menu, I would think that they might have some clout since the City is always trying to attract, and keep, business. It’s a little less than 2 blocks, so the kids will be fine, it’s the icy winds that blow down that corridor that are of more concern. I live in Rochester proper,about 2 miles from ESM, so this is an area where I can speak with some authority. “Lake Effect” snow is an anomoly, known only in the US Great Lakes region.The winds blow over the lakes, pick up a ton of moisture and deposit it as snow, and plenty of it! When hearing the term, “snow squalls”,and not being from these areas, people don’t know what to expect. What that means is that where the squall bands are, they can dump up to 6 feet of snow, while a town a mile away might get nothing at all. There are a lot of those “broad spectrum”, natural lights, sold here, because, when going 30 days without seeing the sun, Seasonal Affective Disorder can hit anyone! When March rolls around and there is an occasional 50 degree day, students can be found laying on blankets in the parks, sunning themselves on walls and ledges around dorms and even wearing shorts! Don’t expect to buy gloves past February or shorts past mid-September; I’m trying to remember what I did before internet shopping enabled me to replace needed items in the proper season??!!)</p>
<p>I’ve just returned from helping D get settled in for sophomore year and this next is really empty. How long 'till Thanksgiving? Mezzo’smama - I happen to be listening to the dog sleep too. It is much too quiet.</p>
<p>I can totally relate, Cartera. It’s been so wonderful having my rising sophomore home this summer and I already know what the silence after he’s gone sounds like. I’ll have to plan some trips to B’ton. At least the airfares have gone down!</p>
<p>My husband and I are going to battle the silence by leaving home too…we are currently planning a little road trip! Maybe we won’t come home till Thanksgiving either</p>
<p>Opera-mom: I like your thought process. We were just on a family camping vacation that my husband and I used to do in the fall before kids. I was telling the girls that next year, Dad and I were going to go back to the quieter fall time - it would be something to look forward to with one overseas in Grad School and the other in some as yet to be determined college. Funny how the kids aren’t so thrilled with thinking Mom and Dad might have a life outside of theirs…</p>
<p>Could we please quit the snow talk and enjoy the all-too-brief summer that we are currently (and finally) having?! Watertown, NY here, with over 225 inches of snowfall this past season. Sorry MezzoMom, you Rochesterians don’t have anything on us at the far east end of the lake!</p>
<p>Bluepearl-How is your daughter?</p>
<p>musmom2- I conceed to your greater snowdrifts. If you’re up on the Tug Hill Plateu, you get buried in snow even when it isn’t snowing in Watertown! The Golden Snow Shovel Award is all yours!</p>
<p>Ah - you ladies bring back fond (?) memories of my years in Buffalo. Driving home trying to keep the phone poles on the right, mail boxes on the left, because the road was not visible. Searching for trucks under the snowdrifts with broom handles so the snowplow didn’t damage them…that was the life!!!</p>
<p>Thanks, notfromme, her hives are all gone now, thanks to medication and she feels fine. She is all settled into her dorm at IU, although classes don’t start until Monday, and we are officially “empty-nesters”.</p>
<p>Opera-mom…re: flip flops vs. sandals. DD has been in the east bay area in college for the last three years…NO SANDALS. This year it’s Rainbow flip flops about $35 and easily available in CA.</p>
<p>To all of you…have a wonderful time settling your kids into school. It’s a great adventure.</p>
<p>Do folks REALLY take humidifiers to college dorm rooms? That was a new one for me!!</p>
<p>Flip flops everywhere from what I can tell. DD wears them all the time.</p>
<p>thumper - I would imagine only singers take humidifiers. My D doesn’t take one to school but she does use her steamer a lot.</p>
<p>“rainbow” flip-flops…Hmmm</p>
<p>DD did not take a humidifier…but she is by the ocean now isn’t she 
(and unlikely furnace will be used a whole lot)</p>
<p>Not wishing to hijack this thread…but those Rainbow flip flops are REALLY nice. They conform to the shape of your foot. The sole is quite a bit thicker (but not like a platform) than your typical Old Navy flip flop. They are very nice…really. I think the tops are leather. My daughter had a pair and I asked her to buy me a pair for Christmas.</p>
<p>Mezzo’sMom: Not to belabor the point(!!), but actually, I do live just south of Watertown, although (happily), I can’t really call myself a Tug Hiller! You describe our little corner of the world precisely. Wish I were not the one to accept the “Golden Shovel”, but thanks anyway! Hope the ankle is improving fast!</p>
<p>Okay Thumper…looked up Rainbow flip-flops…they are not rainbow patterned as the name suggested…so maybe she might like a pair :)</p>
<p>No not rainbow colors…actually leather…</p>
<p>I do envy you Eastman parents moving your kids in. S is a sophomore this year, and we drove 14 hours cross country together, but he dumped me at the airport in Buffalo and wouldn’t let me come all the way with him.<br>
He wore flip flops all year round unless he had to walk through slush. The rubber pair he took with and wore everywhere (even the shower) wore out. He had leather ones, but didn’t want to get them too wet. We had trouble finding new flip flops in the winter in Rochester! So this year, he went back with 4 pairs.</p>
<p>Dang, those Rainbow flip flops are expensive! I have trouble paying $10 for flip flops. Perhaps because my D owns about a dozen pair.</p>
<p>So what recommendations can you all make for me about winter boots. D goes through a pair a year. I am happy to say she doesn’t like Ugg boots (“Ugh-ly!” she says) because I don’t want to pay for them! She needs something to get her through an Ohio winter. Her freshmen year she wore the ones she’d bought in Germany. Sophomore year, she took my German ones. But she wasn’t thrilled with them (I buy for comfort, not style.) So at Thanksgiving, I bought her a new pair at Kohls, which she managed to wear out. Boots aren’t out yet here in Atlanta, so she left for school this year without any.</p>
<p>Suggestions, please? I need boots that are warm, good for sledding, and not too ugly. And not too expensive.</p>