Rochester

At John Hardy's BBQ, customers greet long-time store manager Mike Ronnigen by name. "We've been around since 1972. Probably 50% of our clients don't even need to look at the menu; they already know it by heart," says Ronnigen, adding, "They're like family." The roadside restaurant, along with a sampling of motels, diners and consignment shops, borders Apple Hill, a suburban Rochester neighborhood less than 3 miles south of Downtown. With the exception of Broadway Avenue retail, the area is primarily residential, a network of curved, winter-weathered roads lined with single-family homes dating back to the 1980s and earlier. Pine and oak trees tower above it all. The neighborhood is coveted for its proximity to the Mayo Clinic, which employs more than 40,000 doctors, med students and maintenance staffers in Rochester alone. Hospital patients in town for long-term treatments also become defacto locals, standing in line beside Apple Hill residents to order brisket at John Hardy's and attending annual events like the Olmsted County Fair in the summer. Although a few single-family homes in Apple Hill were built during the 1950s, with some cottages dating back as early as the 1910s, most can be traced to the '80s and early '90s. Split-levels and ranch-style houses are common, and the majority come with attached two-car garages. Prices range from around $230,000 to $450,000. Lot sizes are generous, averaging around a quarter-acre, and detached garages are more common alongside the neighborhood's oldest properties. Neighbors like to keep backyard swingsets and patios with grills ready to go for cookout season. John Hardy's is a Broadway Avenue go-to and a quick walk away for some Apple Hill locals. "When their family and friends come to visit, people always bring them around here," says Ronnigen, speaking to the barbecue joint's notoriety in Rochester. He also highlights the restaurant's special sauce, which is shipped all over the world. "They might come here for Mayo, but their first stop is John Hardy's because they love the sauce so much," he says, adding, "There's nothing like it." Favorite menu items include shredded pork and sides like baked beans. Also along Broadway Avenue, Perkins Restaurant & Bakery for breakfast at 5:30 a.m., and residents can sell—or shop for—gently worn clothes at Danielle's Consignment Boutique. Farther south, there's a Walmart Supercenter for groceries alongside other big box stores like Kohl's, Five Below and Menards. Apple Hill is also less than 2 miles—about 5 minutes—from Trader Joe's on 16th Street. Good Sheperd Park borders Good Sheperd Lutheran Church in the neighborhood's northwest quadrant. There's a playground surrounded by picnic areas, and Apple Hill locals can also venture outside the neighborhood to play tennis or basketball at Elmcroft Park. John Withers Sports Complex, which has expansive soccer fields and a paved trail system connecting Southern Rochester to Soldiers Field Golf Course and beyond, hosts a night of live music in the summer. It's part of the city's free FORWARD Park Series, and families pack coolers for picnicking on the grass. Apple Hill students can start out at Franklin Elementary in prekindergarten, which has a B-minus on Niche, before moving on to the C-plus-rated Willow Creek Middle School in sixth grade. Niche gives Mayo High School an A-minus, making it the best-rated high school in the Rochester Public School District. There are two P-TECH Pathways at Mayo, and students can pursue careers in information technology through a partnership with IBM or careers in nursing through a partnership with the Mayo Clinic. Both Willow Creek Middle and Mayo High have comprehensive Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) services, and those in grades 11 and 12 can also seek community mentorship opportunities, earning honors credit along the way. There's an outdoor farmers market near the Olmsted County Fairgrounds on Saturday mornings. On select weekends during Rochester's long winter season—November through March—growers and artisans move inside, selling everything from fresh radishes to locally sourced honey. In Rochester, the end of July means fried dough and carnival rides at the Olmsted County Fair. Events include demolition derbies and live musical performances, and farmers bring their prized cattle for barn shows. There's also a regular calendar of events, many of which are sponsored by the Mayo Clinic, in Downtown Rochester: Thursdays Downtown (Formerly Thursdays on 1st), Social-ICE and the Riverside Music Series. Peace Plaza, University Square and the Mayo Clinic's Methodist Campus, which represent the center of Downtown Rochester, are just under 3 miles from Apple Hill up Broadway Avenue. The commute typically takes 10 minutes, and most Mayo Clinic employees generally opt for their own cars over Rochester Public Transit. According to Amy Lantz of Amy's Fire Realty, who’s spent over 30 years working in Minnesota real estate, there are also several park-and-ride lots throughout the city for those who prefer to avoid Downtown garages and street parking. Drivers can leave their cars at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds near the Ear of Corn Water Tower. Rochester's small international airport is about 7 miles from Apple Hill, and larger cities like Minneapolis and Saint Paul are both about 90 miles northwest along U.S. Highway 52.

Compared to subdivisions in Rochester, Minnesota, homes in Baihly Meadows—and the trees planted in front of them —are still relatively new. Roots haven't yet created cracks in the sidewalk, and kids can walk to the playground in Baihly Meadows Park, stage snowball fights in ½-acre backyards and Trick-or-Treat down streets with little through traffic on Halloween. The Mayo Clinic's Saint Mary's Campus, founded in the late 19th Century when the city's population was still in the low 5,000s, sits just over 2 miles from the neighborhood up Frontage Road. It's close enough for commuters to bike to work in the morning along Rochester's network of paved trails, and shopping centers with big box retailers like TJ Maxx are a 10-minute walk—½ mile—east past Baihly Meadows' landscaped lawns. In Baihly Meadows, traditional styles characteristic of the late 1980s and '90s are dominant. Front stoops are accented by pillars and archways, and most homes have two-car—or even three-car—attached garages to protect from winter snow storms. Sale prices start in the low $400,000s and can sometimes surpass $600,000 for properties with recent upgrades. Basketball hoops stand in wide driveways, and front yards are carefully landscaped with trimmed shrubs. Neighborhood kids can attend Bamber Valley Elementary School, which earns a B from Niche, starting in prekindergarten. In sixth grade, they move on to Willow Creek Middle, which has a C-plus, before finishing out their public school education at the A-minus-rated Mayo High. Upperclassmen can also seek research opportunities at the Mayo Clinic and receive honors credit for independent studies. Those interested in information technology can also partner with IBM (International Business Machines) through the school's P-TECH program. For those living along streets like Baihly Hills Drive and Fox Valley Drive, it takes about 10 minutes to walk the ½ mile to Natural Grocers, a local chain known for its organic produce and health foods. Nearby, the combined TJ Maxx & HomeGoods sells everything from Christmas decorations to discounted clothes, and Star Ocean Buffet offers a wide variety of seafood next to casual wooden booths and an indoor koi pond. There's also a Trader Joe's nearby, and the Apache Mall has more than 100 retailers and restaurants, including Hollister, SEPHORA and American Eagle. Along with Baihly Meadows Park, the neighborhood is also bordered by Younge Park, which has a larger playground and onsite tennis courts. Withers Sports Complex to the south includes an outdoor ice rink. In the winter, skaters tighten their laces in the warming house before pick-up hockey games. Paved pathways connect the sports complex's soccer fields to the garden plots in Zumbro South Park. "We have an extensive parks and trail system that's very popular," says Kelly Evans, Office Coordinator at the city's Parks & Recreation Department, commenting on Rochester's 85-plus-mile paved network. "We have trails that connect throughout the entire city that's used all the time. There are walkers, bikers and runners. Anything you can think of," she says. Nearby, golfers can choose between memberships at the Rochester Golf & Country Club or reserving tee times at Soldiers Field Golf Course, found next to a recently-updated swimming pool and water park. About a mile-and-a-half from Baihly Meadows, the History Center of Olmsted County has over 20,000 artifacts. "There's always lots of stuff about the history of the Mayo Clinic. That's a big part of the city, of course. People think it's Rochester, New York, but it's really us," says Education Director Valerie Wassmer. The exhibit hall is also home to over 100 "creepy dolls" donated by Olmsted County locals, and Wassmer says visitors can vote on "the creepiest doll of all" in October. In August, the Mechanical History Round Table puts together the "Days of Yesteryear" festival outside the Ralph Stoppel Farmstead. There are live broom-making and tractor demonstrations. Also on the grounds, stop by the one-room Hadley Valley Schoolhouse and a log cabin built by William Dee in the 1860s. Downtown Rochester has an active calendar of events sponsored by the Mayo Clinic. There's Thursdays Downton, an outdoor artisan market in the summer, and Peace Plaza is illuminated with twinkle lights during Social-ICE in the winter. Parking is scarce in Downtown Rochester, and many hospital employees rely on the public bus system to commute. Stops line 16th Street near the Apache Mall, and, according to Coldwell Banker agent and long-time Rochester resident Hanan Absah, shuttles between hospital campuses are free for employees. There's also a network of skyways and subways around University Square, and walking between buildings in the wintertime means never stepping foot outside. U.S. Highway 63 leads to the Rochester International Airport, less than 10 miles away, and planes fly daily to Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago. From Baihly Meadows, it can take about an hour and a half to drive the 90 miles along Highway 52 into the Twin Cities.

Highway 52 car dealerships, fast food chains and furniture stores border Cimarron, a Northwest Rochester neighborhood about 5 miles outside the city center. Most single-family homes here date back to the 1980s and ‘90s, and local haunts like St. James Coffee are a bike ride—or even a walk—away off 18th Avenue to the east. “Rochester requires sidewalks in all neighborhoods, so there’s walkability and accessibility to restaurants, bars and shopping from Cimarron,” says Christopher Hus, a local Realtor with RE/MAX Results. Neighbors gather outside small-town churches like Resurrection Lutheran and Pax Christi on Sunday mornings, and densely packed homes look out onto playgrounds and athletic fields in nearby parks. In other words, Cimarron is a careful blend of quiet cul-de-sacs, swingsets and commercial properties. Perhaps most importantly, it’s all a quick commute from the Mayo Clinic, which employs more than 40,000 people in Rochester. Hus, along with fellow RE/MAX Results Realtor Dane White, says that almost everything in town is centered around the clinic, from summertime concert series to winter ice festivals. Since Cimarron came to be approximately 40 years ago, the city’s population has more than doubled, a fact which can be attributed to Mayo. In Cimarron, Hus says, “You’ll find smaller houses with detached garages,” along with “starter-home prices,” especially when compared with properties in Rochester’s eastern quadrant. There’s a mix of four-bed, two-bath ranch-style houses and bi-levels, what White calls “the Rochester special,” and prices range from around $280,000 to $340,000. Lot sizes are compact, less than one-fifth acre, and streets are numbered. In the fall, mature maple and oak trees shed their leaves, turning once-green lawns various shades of red and orange. Brightly-colored climbing structures and slides stand tall in Cimarron Park, sandwiched between 48th Street and 49 ½ Street at the center of the neighborhood. A block away, Kings Run Park has a small community garden, a playground and paved trails that are popular with joggers and dog owners. Just outside the neighborhood, Roy Watson Youth Sports Complex hosts soccer and baseball tournaments. “We live below 32 degrees for the majority of the winter here,” says White. “But if you can get past the cold, the summers here are fantastic.” Swimmers can bring folding chairs and towels to the beach at Foster-Arend Park. There’s also an inflatable water park and sand volleyball by the lake. Students in Cimarron are districted for Rochester Public Schools like Gage Elementary, which Niche grades a B-minus, John Adams Middle, which earns a C-plus and John Marshall High, which has a B. John Marshall Juniors and Seniors interested in medical careers can pursue research-based mentorships at the Mayo Clinic. High schoolers can also seek dual enrollment opportunities at nearby institutions like the University of Minnesota and Rochester Community and Technical College. Ressurection School, a private option for kids in prekindergarten through eighth grade, is located in the neighborhood just down the street from single-family homes. According to White, Cimarron’s proximity to shopping destinations like Walmart Supercenter and Target make it a convenient home base, and there’s also a variety of chain restaurants like Applebee’s, Five Guys and Taco Bell off Highway 52. Hus recommends stopping by Newt’s, a local chain famous for its brews and burgers with creative toppings like guacamole, fried eggs and even peanut butter. Walls are decorated with black-and-white photos and mounted buck heads, and there’s usually classic rock playing in the background. Locals can pick up specialty goods at Saigon Far East Oriental Market on 18th Avenue or drive to Hy-Vee for larger grocery runs. Cimarron residents can travel just outside the neighborhood to experience annual concerts and festivals, many of which are sponsored by the Mayo Clinic closer to Downtown. There’s Rochesterfest, typically scheduled in late June, a week-long event complete with live music, sherbert-eating contests and a large-scale treasure hunt. It ends with a parade on Saturday. “Different small businesses and some of the real estate brokerages in Rochester walk,” says the Enclave Team’s Marcia Gehrt, adding, “It’s a long parade route, kind of a fun sampling of everything that goes on in the city.” There are live performances in Peace Plaza throughout the summer, free concerts by Silver Lake and an event called Social-ICE in the winter, which is popular for its themed drinks and ice sculptures. Although Downtown Rochester is accessible via the city’s public bus system, which stops near Cimarron Park and along Frontage Road, it’s more common for residents to commute via car. Hus says traffic is rarely a concern— “Probably 85% of the nation wouldn’t consider it an issue”--- and the 5-mile trip down Highway 52 typically takes between 10 and 15 minutes. Once Downtown, pedestrian subways and skyways make it possible to walk between hotels, hospital buildings and shopping centers without stepping foot outside, a feature that’s especially convenient on days when wind chill leads to sub-zero temperatures. Rochester’s international airport is a few miles south of Downtown attractions like Peace Plaza, and planes fly nonstop to larger airports like Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago O’Hare.

Late in February, usually around the time when snow banks line Rochester's city streets and going outside requires multiple layers, Peace Plaza is illuminated for the Social-ICE festival. There's a glowing "ice curtain" popular for photo ops and themed drinks at city bars. Downtown events like this are at least in part sponsored by the Mayo Clinic. Founded in the late 19th century, the hospital and research center has continued to expand throughout Southeast Minnesota and beyond, employing more than 40,000 in Rochester alone. Century 21's Andrew Atwood says that, in his experience, most of the people he meets with have ties to Mayo. "As a Real Estate Agent, it's a 50-50 shot that at least one of your two clients works [in the hospital]." Skywalks connect campuses and just below, coffee and bagel shops serve up early breakfasts to doctors and students in scrubs. Although the city's central downtown is mainly made up of business centers and hotels, those hoping to live close to the action will find condominium communities and even the occasional single-family home dating back to the early 20th century, back when the Mayo Clinic was still in its infancy. Mayo Park is sandwiched between the Zumbro River and Rochester's Civic Center, which also serves as Eagle Brook Church's home base. On summer Sundays, downtown residents walk to the park with their lawn chairs and blankets in tow to listen to live bands, part of the city's free Riverside Music Series. A pedestrian bridge connects Mayo Park to Mayo Memorial Park across the water, where visitors will find paved walking trails and sculptures like "A Perfect Canoe," part of a larger public art initiative in the city. A few blocks north, Central Park became a community gathering space in the late 19th century. Today, visitors lay down yoga mats near the fountain for "Fresh Air Fitness" classes between May and September, and the onsite Heritage House museum offers lessons on Rochester history. Established in 1969, Downtown Rochester's Center Plaza Condos sit just above Hotel Indigo and Crave Restaurant. Prospective buyers will find one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from around $200,000 to $550,000, and views look out onto the Zumbro River and city lights. Single-family homes within Downtown Rochester's borders are limited, concentrated in the northwest corner of the neighborhood near 3rd and 4th Streets. American Four Squares, modest cottages and bungalows built roughly between 1900 and 1920 hover between $200,000 and $400,000 depending on size and condition; some are split into multiple units. Lot sizes are relatively compact, and driveway space is often shared between homeowners. Along with Crave, which serves Tuna Poke and Lobster Mac & Cheese below Center Plaza Condos, other popular downtown restaurants include Chester's, known for its outdoor patio and weekend jazz nights, and Benedict's, where the so-called "Elvis" pancakes come topped with peanut butter, banana and bacon. ThaiPop, ranked among the best Thai restaurants in Minnesota, has a leafy interior and a long list of signature cocktails. Shop organic at the People's Food Co-op on 1st Avenue, or do a pantry refresh at International Spices & Grocery on Center Street. The Galleria at University Square includes stores like Talbots and Chico's, and Peace Plaza is home to boutique chocolate shops, art galleries and clothiers. It's illuminated by a towering Christmas Tree during the holiday season, and Santa makes his debut appearance during the "Here Comes Santa Claus" festival in November. The fire department rescues him from City Hall's roof, and he's delivered safely for meet-and-greets onto the plaza below. Once home to Vaudeville acts in the 1920s, the Historic Chateau Theatre now welcomes stage musicals, poetry nights and touring bands in Downtown Rochester. Exhibits at the Rochester Art Center feature a diverse array of contemporary multi-media artists, and guides from the center lead free public art walking tours in Peace Plaza. Atwood also recommends stopping by Thursdays Downtown, a weekly arts and entertainment festival in the plaza. At the end of July, Rochesterians can walk, bike or bus down Broadway to the Olmsted Country Fair, an old-fashioned carnival complete with horticulture exhibits and fried dough covered in powdered sugar. Nearby, shop for fresh produce at the Rochester Farmers Market, open Saturday mornings throughout the summer. Kids with Downtown Rochester addresses are districted for public schools like Riverside Central Elementary and Willow Creek Middle School, both of which earn C-plus grades on the educational review site, Niche. Mayo High School, referred to colloquially as "Mayo," receives an A-minus. Some students pursue mentorships within the larger Rochester community, and P-TECH Nursing and Information Technology pathways partner students with the Mayo Clinic and IBM. Within Rochester's public school system, students speak a combined total of 80 languages, and multilingual learning services are offered throughout grade levels. Downtown Rochester is also home to the University of Minnesota's Rochester Campus, which is known for specializing in healthcare. "Downtown everything is run by Mayo," says Atwood, adding, "There's so much interconnectivity. It seems that every building can access another building via subway or skyway." In other words, pedestrians don't have to worry about facing sub-zero weather in the winter. According to the Realtor, there's also a shuttle service that operates between Mayo Clinic's St. Mary's campus and downtown buildings, and "80% of the riders" on Rochester Public Transit are Mayo Clinic Employees. "It's a nice drive into the Twin Cities, about an hour and a half away," notes Hanan Absah of Coldwell Banker. Cars can take U.S. Highway 52, and Minneapolis and Saint Paul are also accessible via plane through Rochester's small international airport.

On summer nights, families head to Mayo Field to watch the Honkers play ball. The stadium borders Silver Lake in Rochester's Eastside neighborhood, and Minnesotans can rent kayaks and electric paddleboats to take out onto the water. Fishermen bate their hooks in search of bass, and it's not uncommon to see couples on tandem bicycles. Eastside's landscape is dotted with pre-World War II — and even some pre-World War I — homes and churches, and cars still stop for crossing trains. There's also Oakwood Cemetery's tall stone gates, which guard nearly 30 acres of landscaped plots by the water. Quarry Hill Park and Nature Center lie to the east, a popular spot for school field trips and summer camps. Visible in the distance is Mayo Clinic's Downtown Campus; the hospital employs upwards of 40,000 people in Rochester alone, making it the city's leading employer. "Everything is run by Mayo," summarizes Realtor Andrew Atwood, of Century 21, and hospital coworkers greet each other at bus stops, public school drop-offs and downtown restaurants. As is the case for much of Rochester, Eastside homes are on the older side, dating back to the 1910s, '20s, and '30s. Prospective buyers will find American Foursquares and modest bungalows on relatively compact lots. Prices start around $175,000 for investment properties and can reach up to $350,000 for historic homes with modern amenities. Front stoops are decorated with pumpkins in the fall, and some homeowners post basketball hoops over their garages. The neighborhood's tallest trees were planted over a century ago, when Mayo was still confined to St. Mary's Campus, and residents are responsible for shoveling their own front sidewalks when it snows. East Park, with its soccer fields and baseball diamond, sits across Center Street from the outdoor basketball courts, volleyball nets and disc golf course in Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Nearby, Quarry Hill Nature Center hosts school field trips and summer day camps where kids hunt for butterflies, kayak and try their hand at nature photography. The park — which spans nearly 330 acres— has approximately 8 miles worth of hiking trails, and limestone rocks are imprinted with fossilized trilobites from millions of years ago, when Rochester was under the water. Eastside is also home to the Boys & Girls Club of Rochester, which has programs for kids in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Amy Thompson, Membership and Data Coordinator, says some of the kids even grow up to work at the club. It's "A good representation of Rochester as a whole," she shares, adding that programs focus on healthy lifestyles, everything from social and emotional learning to physical activity. Students living in Rochester's Eastside neighborhood can attend elementary school at Riverside Central, which earns a C-plus grade from the educational review site, Niche. In sixth grade, they attend Kellogg Middle, which receives a B, before moving on to the B-plus-rated Century High. Two pathways — nursing and information technology — are available for high schoolers through Rochester's P-TECH program, and students can partner with large-scale employers like the Mayo Clinic and IBM to explore post-grad career options. Century also offers a range of electives, everything from Philosophical Thinking to Ukulele. Baseball teams travel from cities like Duluth and Bismark to challenge the Rochester Honkers in Mayo Field and there are firework shows on select summer nights. Head to Peace Plaza for "Thursdays Downtown" throughout June, July and August to sample street food and listen to live music, or spend a day riding the Ferris Wheel at the Olmsted County Fair in July. Autumn means picking apples and exploring the corn maze at Sekapp Orchard, which has been a Rochester staple for over half a century. There are contemporary exhibits inside the Rochester Art Center, which also hosts film screenings, lecture series and day camps for kids. According to Nathaniel Nelson, a co-owner at Pop's Art Theater on 6th Avenue, the city has a vibrant film, music and live theater scene. Buy tickets to watch a locally-produced musical at Rochester Civic Theatre, audition for a role at Rochester Rep, or attend a poetry reading at the Historic Chateau Theatre. Eastside is mostly residential, but downtown shopping plazas are about a mile — or a 20-minute walk — away across the river. University Square is home to stores like Talbot's and Chico's, and Chester's Kitchen & Bar serves up dishes like grilled meatloaf, lobster mac & cheese and shrimp scampi to diners beneath tall industrial ceilings. Also downtown, ThaiPop has been voted "The Best Asian Restaurant" by Rochester Magazine, and Hollandberry Pannekoeken serves Dutch-style pancakes. Popular flavors include apple and pecan. For groceries, Eastsiders can stop by Cub Foods, found to the south along U.S. Highway 14. There's also a Hy-Vee Grocery Store in Barlow Plaza. Rochester public buses, mainly occupied by Mayo Clinic staffers on their way to the hospital's Downtown and Saint Mary's campuses, stop along Center Street. The mile-long ride to University Plaza takes less than 10 minutes via public transit, and some will even opt to travel on foot or by bike. Public bus routes also run along 4th Street past the Olmsted Medical Center, and the Federal Medical Center, a government-run hospital that services male inmates, can be found next to MLK Park. U.S. Highway 63 leads south to the Rochester International Airport, where direct flight options are limited to Minneapolis and Chicago. Most prefer to drive to the Twin Cities via U.S. Highway 52, a trip that typically takes around an hour and a half, depending on traffic.