Wow, I can't believe Royal Oak scored so low! I would consider the downtown very lively. Something seems off about this rating scale! How does Clawson out score Rochester and Royal Oak?? Although convenient isn't the first word to pop to my head about Rochester, seeing how it is miles in both directions from major highways, it is not a bad compliment in terms of attracting visitors.

I live here because I have a young child, and Rochester is a great place for little kids. But, yes, Rochester needs a lot more of this "vibe" you write about! I'm from the "Paris of the South" (Asheville, NC), and I moved here from the Baltimore/ DC area. I have also lived in Chapel Hill, NC. All 3 of those places are vibrant, exciting high-vibe places. When friends and family from those places visit, they are shocked at how "low-vibe" Rochester is, as I was shocked when I first moved here 2 years ago. Rochester seems to cater to the older crowd, too, which is nice for older people, but if we continue to leave out young adults, we'll remain boring. Rochester has potential, though. We need much more diversity. I'd like to see more high-vibe businesses in town, we need more art here all the time (not just a few times a year at festivals), we need to make the city truly bike-friendly, and play up our trails and outdoor spaces even more.

Ever since I moved her in 2000, everything has closed by 9pm (other than bars). There certainly isn't a nightlife. However, just about everything is so conveniently located, there really isn't much need for "mapquesting" it if you are at all familiar with the area. I also wasn't aware that anyone used mapquest anymore given the emergence of portable GPS and GPS on smart phones.

Clawson is no more "catering" to young people than Rochester-we don't have a theatre, big name merchants and unfortunate, Rochester does not embrace hand-made, home-made, organics that other communities do. Space is a concern. As far as "catering" to older people, being older, I can tell you that is not true. We need to re-think. You have to work with what you have. We should be"catering" and thinking of the community as a whole for the introduction of new bldgs, new merchants, new business. We are fortunate to have a beautiful, clean, and healthy city. To add more and more events every weekend when we have pretty full dance card already is merely taking a city and turning it into a entertainment "venue". Most persons want a city that is a mix of everything and not just "entertainment" driven. We would like at least one grocery store -we use to have two. We would like a theatre, a small splash park, public art, edgy shopping of one of a kind, hand made, home made, a small area for weekend flea markets or a year round market catering to the seasons-we would like a good American cuisine restaurant, more green spaces, boulevards, focal gathering place But it takes tax dollars and it takes risk. Talk is cheap, the first step is create jobs- Jobs that have growth potential. We need business that stays open later to keep people downtown. We need more diversity in shopping experience. We need to support our downtown and our City first before others will.

These numbers are so weird and random I have to believe they were determined by a dart board.

The numbers do seem very random. Does anyone know where the Edinshire neighborhood is that is referenced in Rochester? Never heard of it.

I also don't see the sense in these numbers. I live in Troy and would never give it the 7 it has. I have raised 2 kids here and their biggest complaint was there was nothing for young people and I had to agree. I currently still have to go to Rochester to the movies and find myself going there for many other things. I find Rochester is hopping every weekend all summer long while Troy is just here. Rochester has the Farmer's Market - Troy has nothing. I am confused by this whole rating system because I certainly don't feel it is a direct reflection of what the cities are. Very misleading.

Unfortunate, too many people pay attention to numbers-just like the "numbers" that a real estate company puts out ranking cities--and I agree with all-however, the minute people look at the numbers (real or not) it effects a city- marketing and PR. It is just like a some of the other so called "awards" that are given out....much of it is nothing more than PR. Troy does not have a Main Street as such, but they have Somerset, choices for other good shopping, an area of well built multi-storied buildings, diverse business, a good choice of some great restaurants, choice of lodging etc.., each city or town has it's own character and uniqueness--we just need to expand on it and that brings the recognition and market. I am not impressed with these numbers-but it will be a topic in Rochester for sure, if nothing more as to "pooh pooh " them as inconsequential.

Thanks for this article Alan- it's very interesting to see these "interpretations" of our communities. I think our neighbors in Royal Oak may not be very happy with their Vibe results. In my humble opinion (!)- this Vibe site seems to be off mark with their assestment of our communities.

So if Rochester and Rochester Hills don't have "vibe", what should be added?

I have little interest in seeing Rochester's downtown turn into a string of bars. And RH doesn't really have a downtown, although it would be nice to have a walking downtown or two in RH instead of shops that you just drive to. The Village is nice to walk around, but most of the shops are a bit too high-end or teen-aimed for my taste.

Anyone can lie with numbers RH mayor always does! The OU survey is one prime example of bad data. Glad the conversation is happening. Business does not want young people in their stores in Rochester. When I was there many store had signs "no teens." What a poor message? Let's deal with the real issues and understand the difference between RH and Rochester .... OR bring them together as one to save costs! Vote for better government Nov 8th

We can talk all we want about vibe or lack thereof, but this project is ridiculous and clearly just a conglomeration of random statistics. Repeating my comment from above (in response to JR's question), Rochester's score comes from a SINGLE neighborhood, Edinshire, which is actually located in Rochester Hills and nowhere near downtown Rochester! And tranquil, beautiful Oakland Township outscores Rochester AND Rochester Hills for "vibe"?!?! Give me a break.