As one of the organizers for RocWiki, the thing that struck me most when I read the RocWiki article was terrible hemorrhaging of talent from Rochester. All of those crazy and ambitious people that started RocWiki.org (Ry Dahl, Tobin Fricke, Rob Polyn, myself) are going elsewhere. Ry and Tobin left last year; Rob and I are leaving within a month. Of the five to six or so regular "under 30" contributors I know, three (including administrator Adam Dewitz) are leaving Rochester this summer too.
This is some pretty sad math for Rochester. As a 20-something leaving, I hope our projects, organizations, and businesses help this city retain its 20-something talent of future generations. I love this city. We all do. But the opportunities simply aren't here. From all of us who have to leave to follow our dreams, I'd like to say "Good luck, Rochester. We love 'ya, but it just didn't work out."
Jon "FarMcKon" McKamey, South Plymouth Avenue, Rochester(McKamey is a software developer who has worked for Imaginant Inc in Pittsford. He and his wife are moving to Philadelphia, where she will work for the Academy of Natural Science, and, McKamey says he hopes he'll found a start-up company.)
Comments for "REGION: Another young adult heads out" (1)
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Rottenchestser said on Jun. 02, 2007 at 5:00pm
As one of the non-20-something contributors to RocWiki, I was sorry to see Rob, Jon and Adam Dewitz go. But I’m not going to let my regret at seeing them leave bleed into regret about Rochester. Rochester could always be a better place, but there may be valid reasons that 20-somethings leave, and there may be nothing we can do about it. When I was a 20-something youth, like those three guys, I was following my dream. I led me to spend a few years in Chicago and in a small town in the mountain West. Both of those places were great locales to experience life, and to have adventures. But when I wanted to settle down and raise a family, I chose the Rochester area. No place can be everything to everybody. Rochester is a great place to start out, to go to college (I believe that all of the contributors mentioned, save perhaps Jon, were students at RIT or U of R). and to raise a family. For that time between the ages of, say, 25 and 35, when people are trying to find out where they belong and what’s important to them, Rochester might not be the place where that exploring is best accomplished. The sense of safety and security that makes Rochester a great place to grow up and experien
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