Editing Rochester, Michigan (section)

==Culture==
{{Further|Tourism in metropolitan Detroit}}

The city has held the annual "Rochester Hometown Christmas Parade" since 1951. Held on the first Sunday in December, it features over 100 units. It claims to be Michigan's largest Christmas parade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wxyz.com/content/community/parade/default.aspx |access-date=March 7, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207041259/http://www.wxyz.com/content/community/parade/default.aspx |title=The Rochester Hometown Christmas Parade  |archive-date=December 7, 2009 }}</ref>

In 2006, the city had its first "Big Bright Light Show" for the Christmas season. The downtown businesses were covered in 500,000 individual lights. An expansion of the program after its initial inception expanded that coverage to a reported one million lights. It was also aired by [[WXYZ-TV]].

===Architecture===
[[File:Rochester Michigan Rollin Sprague Building.JPG|thumb|[[Rollin Sprague Building]], built in 1849.]]
{{Further|Architecture of metropolitan Detroit}}

Established in 1817, Rochester was one of Oakland County's first settlements. Twenty-two buildings on Main Street are more than 50 years old, and several are on the State Register of Historic Places.
* [[Rollin Sprague Building]] – The oldest commercial building in the downtown is the Rollin Sprague building, built in 1849 of coursed cobblestone. Since 1930 it has housed "The Home Bakery".
* Opera House – The Opera House Building opened on November 8, 1890, as the social and cultural center of town. It featured movies, lectures, dances, commencements and other events until 1933. Ironically, an opera was never performed in the Opera House. Refurbished in 1987, it currently houses the Lytle Pharmacy.
* [[Rochester Grain Elevator]] – Located at the corner of University Drive and Water Street is the Rochester Grain Elevator (originally named Griggs Grain Elevator), in the form of a red barn, and built in 1880. Until the 1970s, farmers brought their grain to the elevator to be shipped to Detroit. After that time, its primary use has been as a supply store. An external restoration in the summer of 2009 worked toward returning the building to its former appearance.

[[File:Rochester Michigan Royal Park Hotel.JPG|thumb|The [[Royal Park Hotel Rochester Detroit|Royal Park Hotel]] opened in September 2004.]]

*[[Royal Park Hotel (Rochester, Michigan)|Royal Park Hotel]] – In September 2004, the Royal Park Hotel, a four-diamond luxury boutique hotel, designed by Victor Saroki opened in downtown Rochester. It cost $43 million to build. Several celebrities have stayed there, including Paul McCartney, Hugh Hefner, and former president George W. Bush (while seeking re-election).
* [[Western Knitting Mills]] – The Western Knitting Mills, a large brick building on Water Street, was built in 1896. At one time, its annual output of 100,000 dozen pairs of gloves made it one of the largest glove producers in the world. Today the mill is fully restored, and home to The Rochester Mills brewery restaurant, as well as several other businesses.
*RCS Administration Center is the former Rochester High School, at one point in its past serving kindergarten through graduating senior students. Built in 1889 but renovated at different times in its history, it opened as Rochester School (Avon #5), replacing an earlier school on that same site that had burned down in 1888. The property has been used for school purposes since 1847. Since the mid-1970s, the building has housed the Rochester Community Schools Board of Education offices and occasional related events, and is certainly one of the largest and noteworthy structures in the city.

===Parks and recreation===
{{Further|Huron-Clinton Metroparks}}
[[File:Rochester Michigan Paint Creek Trail.JPG|thumb|The Paint Creek Trail of {{convert|8.5|mi|km|0}} connects the Rochester area to the Lake Orion, Michigan area.]]
[[File:Rochester Michigan Rotary Park.JPG|thumb|Rotary Gateway Park in Rochester, Michigan.]]

* Paint Creek and Clinton River Trails – City is at the cross section of two major "Rails-to-Trails" projects: the Paint Creek Trail and Clinton River trail. These trails are used for recreational activities, like biking and walking. They connect to several major parks, including Bloomer Park, Rochester Municipal Park, Stoney Creek Metropark and the Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve. The majority of the area used for the trails and pathways include former railroad and interurban rail lines, long since converted to non-vehicular recreational use.
* Paint Creek Center for the Arts – Paint Creek Center for the Arts is a regional non-profit art center dedicated to promoting the arts and artistic excellence through a full range of cultural programming including studio art classes for children and adults, exhibitions of emerging and established Michigan artists, outreach programs, community involvement and the annual Art & Apples Festival.
* Rochester Avon Recreation Authority – The Rochester Avon Recreation Authority (RARA) has been a recreation provider to Rochester, Rochester Hills, and Oakland Township since 1946. It provides recreation programs from 12 months to adults in a variety of areas, such as dance, sports classes, sport leagues, pre-school classes, special events, fitness, skiing, etc.
*Rochester Municipal Park – Formerly called Avon Park, is the largest park area in the city, comprising a large portion of the downtown area. Linked with the Paint Creek trail system (and including a significant portion of the creek itself), it offers a quiet, naturalized setting, easily enjoyed from its own trail system, as well as two playground areas, lighted tennis courts, an outdoor music-stage amphitheater, the Rochester Community House, and the Kiwanis Pavilion. The 'duck pond' has been used in past winters for skating. The public park is home to free annual events such as the Art & Apples Festival, the Heritage Festival, and the summer concert series (Music In The Park).