I've lived in Rochester for over a decade and have learned a lot about the city but there's still plenty I don't know. I pulled up Wikipedia to see what information it had on the Med-City that I might not have know. Here are 5 things that I learned:

  • The city has more than doubled in population since 1970. The population was 53,766 back then. Now according to Wikipedia, Rochester has close to 115,000 residents.
  • Geese! Everyone knows that we have ton of geese in Rochester but do you know why our city is a popular migration spot? Wikipedia says: Silver Lake was once used as a cooling pond when the coal-burning power plant was operated by Rochester Public Utilities at the lake. When operational, the RPU coal plant's heated water output prevented the lake from generally freezing over during the winter months; attracting large numbers of migrating giant Canada geese.
  • According to Wikipedia: Rochester is the second windiest city in the United States, with wind speeds averaging 12.6 mph. January and April are the windiest months on average, according to The Weather Channel.
  • Everyone knows what Rochester's largest employer is but do you know how many people actually collect a check from Mother Mayo? Wikipedia says as of 2016, the Mayo Clinic employed 34,180 people.
  • The discussion about adding a high speed rail line between the Twin Cities and Rochester has been going on for decades. According to Wikipedia the idea has been the subject of a series of studies since the late 1980s.

How many of those facts did you know?

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