“I moved to Rochester in 2004 for a job at RIT, and I have been here ever since. Previously I had lived mostly in the Midwest and Great Plains, although I was born in Seattle. One thing I liked about Rochester immediately upon moving here is that the housing market was so affordable. I was able to buy a nice house built in 1923 that I would never have been able to afford in previous places I lived.

“What keeps me here, besides my job and the friends I’ve made and my volunteer work at Lollypop Farm, is the vibrant arts and cultural scene as well as the range of good restaurants, grocery stores, and breweries around here. One of my very favorite places is the Tap & Mallet, which has a great menu and a fantastic tap selection. I really enjoy the South Wedge (where the Tap & Mallet is located) in general, as a commercial business district. I live across the river from there in the 19th Ward, and in nice weather I am able to walk over.

“The weather might not be for everyone, but I come from the land of hot, humid summers and frigid winters, so the weather here does not bother me. Yes, it snows, but the city knows how to cope with the snowfall. The only thing I would wish for, weather-wise, is for both spring and fall to be just a few weeks longer. This is also a really good climate to garden in—the mitigating effect of Lake Ontario actually makes this a warmer-weather growing zone than one would expect.”

—Kira Barnes, 19th Ward