We have a Downtown?
It is kinda sad to say, but I can forget that Rochester has a downtown for months at a time. That is not to say that we don’t have a very nice downtown for a city our size (I usually tell people that Rochester’s downtown is exactly like being in a major metropolitan downtown only it is 3 square blocks in size) it is just that there usually isn’t any reason to go down there other then to eat (unless you are sick). I am not the only person with this opinion, which is why Rochester is working very hard to change this image.
One of the ventures meant to help change this image is “Thursdays on First” which is a weekly downtown market/concert. They have done it for a couple years, but I have never gone to it until tonight. I know that to people that live in a large city small festivals like this are a common if not nightly occurance in the summer, but for a small city like us it was a surprise. The street festival has a good mixture of art booths, produce booths, and food vendors. The food was by far the biggest surprise, I was expecting the same sort of food as Rochesterfest, I was wrong. The vendors that I saw (or ate at) included Jaspers, Newt’s (with the best burgers in Rochester), McGoon’s Taxi Co, Bilotti’s Pizza, and City Market (with Fresh, as in made on the street, cookies), it was kind of like an all-star food court.
Does this mean that I will remember that Rochester has a downtown? Well, there is still winter, and it is easy to forget that fun exists in a Minnesota winter. However, at the very least I know what my plans are on Thursday evening’s for the rest of the summer.
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