as neuronix said, i spent 4 years there.
just a note - i live in manhattan now, and this somewhat skews my retrospective of rochester, though i'll do my best.
the medschool is adjacent to the ugrad, and both are approx 5-10 min from the center of the city. there is transportation to the city via the eastman [school of music] shuttle, though i would highly recommend a car. the city itself has all the standard forms of entertainment that most major cities have - except on a smaller scale. it posits itself as a 'cultural' city - and mostly suceeds considering its size. if i had to compare to other schools and their cities - there is quite a bit more to do than around duke, but less than around pittsburgh if that gives you any idea.
people did seem to make trips to toronto every now and again - takes about 3 hours to get there. the nyc trip is rather impractical on a regular basis - 6-7 hours.
i'm sure this has been impressed upon you - but the winters are a bit on the rediculous side. if you have any semblence of seasonal effective disorder - be warned. for a place so 'blessed' with snow - there is a dearth of good places for downhill skiing. conversely the summers are gorgeous, and there are lots of outdoorsy things to do.
like most academic centers, it brings people of reasonably diverse backgrounds to the immediate area around the school.
let's put it like this: i liked the college and my educational/social experience there. the surroundings felt a little lacking [magnified because i didn't have access to a car for the first 2 years]. i was eager to move to a bigger city after 4 years.
