Layers

Mercifully, the current election cycle is coming to a close (hopefully).  Through the pain and the chaos, the only safe conclusion is that the world is complicated.  And in an odd way, Americans must be drawn to this complexity.

Bringing it back to Rochester (as this blog always does), complexity is one of our surprising, yet defining features.  Despite being one-tenth the size of the Chicago metropolitan area and one-twentieth the size of the New York City metropolitan area, Rochester has depth, and with it the ability to match the entanglement of larger competitors.

In keeping with the election theme, here are just a handful of (some ridiculous) preconceived groups targeted by political pundits, none of which are unique to Rochester, but all of which have a solid representation within a 30-mile radius of downtown:

• The coastal elite types
• The middle America working-class types
• Muslim refugees
• Non-Muslim refugees
• Regular Muslims (like the ones who are doctors, teachers, and lawyers)
• Legal immigrants
• Illegal immigrants
• People who look like immigrants but were born in the U.S.
• The urban types
• The middle-of-nowhere types
• The Coexist bumper sticker on a Toyota Prius types
• The Confederate flag on a massive pickup truck types
• The church types
• The atheist types
• Mexicans
• Non-Mexicans
• Hispanics who aren't Mexican
• Mexicans who aren't Hispanic (that may not be a thing)
• Non-Hispanic Spanish Speakers
• Women
• Men