I have been visiting my grandmother in Rochester, New York a few times every year for my entire life. As I have moved all around the country, this has become a real home-base for me. When I was little, my perspective of these visits was limited to a few select locations: mainly, the house, the street that its on, and the museum. As a kid, I felt that my grandma’s house was truly in the city, because I lived in a very rural area in the Catskill mountains. I knew that my grandma lived somewhat on the outskirts of the city, because I was able to see some of the actual city from car rides. This time, I walked around the area quite a bit, and even had a few opportunities to drive around. I came to find that my grandma’s house is almost on the very edge of the city limits, and is very removed from dense urban downtown areas and big buildings. I also discovered a large river passing right through the city, and found that there was very little nature compared to what I had expected.

This expanded my understanding of my sense of place in Rochester because it allowed me to see everything around my grandmothers house that have influenced who she is as a person as well as what locations within the city my family visits. For example, my grandmother is very involved in programs providing shelter for homeless people- a population in Rochester that I had never been around until this past visit. Rochester is an interesting city because when my grandmother and mother lived there before I existed, it was home to Kodak, which was the major employer in the city. However, after Kodak’s downfall in 2007, massive buildings were left empty, and real estate values plummeted. Because of this, I have always associated Rochester as being a somewhat empty and calm city, full of old architecture and historical sites commemorating civil rights leaders.

My most recent experiences in Rochester during Thanksgiving break has caused these details to feel less significant and true in my head, because I was able to see busy parts of the city with modern architecture, skyscrapers, and thick traffic that I hadn’t ever seen in the past. I also drove out of the city on two occasions, which enhanced my sense of place because I saw the rural environment around the city which allowed me to gain a stronger understanding of what the city must have been like before it became so big. Big old red barns and crumbling stone foundations contrasted the victorian houses that I was used to, but reminded me of how old the city and surrounding developments are. Finally, a walk through a forest full of leafless trees and songbirds brought back memories from my childhood that I think have influenced my sense of place in Rochester somewhat unconsciously.

Though I have no reason to suspect that Rochester has actually changed very much throughout my life, I still found that my sense of place there had changed dramatically in some ways since I was a kid, while remaining the same in others. At the same time, every time that my sense of place in Rochester has been expanded, it has allowed me to appreciate the city more, and has helped me understand who my grandmother is.