Max, I live in Rochester, and while it will not be confused with NYC, LA, or Chicago, to call it gloomy is off. There is actually quite a bit to do, especially nightlife if you are a young person. While the weeknights are not great, their is a lot happening on the weekends. It all depends when you were here and who you were with.
As far as the jobs go, I cannot argue with you. While the Kodaks and Xerox's are not hiring like they used to, there are a lot of smaller hi tech firms around, just not enough to keep up with the rest of the country.