Rockford IL good or bad (Chicago, Loves Park: crimes, home, job market)

[midwest1]

Rockford is fine. And Chicago is slowly swallowing it. So it is getting better and more diverse day by day.

I really don;t know what is the obsession with bashing it so. It recently elected a young visionary mayor, it's airport is beginning to really take off , and I have had great Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Swedish, and even gourmet food there (Giovanni's). The riverfront is very nice, the surrounding parks (Rock Cut, forest preserves along the Kishwaikee) are beautiful, the cost of living is quite reasonable, and I have found the people to be pretty darn nice, down to Earth Midwesterners with a streak of blue collar, take care of things themselves kind of attitude.

What the area needs more than anything is to get the train connection to Chicago back up and I think many of the haters will be pleasantly surprised by what will develop in what is fast becoming part of an expanded Chicagoland.

[Momof4monkeys]

The problem is most of us don't want crazy development. The town is fallen apart enough. We need to fix what's broken before more Chicago sprawl starts. And the cost of living is outrageous unless you consider Rockford part of Chicago. It's impossible to find something not taken by gangs for your average blue-collar family.

[Fazsha]

I'm an enthusiastic supporter of Rockford. It is as affordable as any city in the country, is large enough to attract a diversity of restaurants and some entertainment, is close to a big city with a major national airline hub, and yet you can live in the countryside in a setting not unlike "Field of Dreams". Yes, it's not paradise, but if it was you'd be paying Madison-type house prices. Let's be real, do you want to spend every last dime on a mortgage? I recently bought a foreclosed house on a decent tree lined street in Rockford for $38K. I can put $60K in improvements in the place and have a totally modern kitchen and bathroom with recessed lighting for less than $100K. Try that in towns closer to Chicago. You'd be in a terrible neighborhood.

[midwest1]

thank you Fazsha!!

I actually am from Chicago and am thinking of moving to Rockford. The cost of living which you mention is reason enough. I also like the lack of attitude (snobbishness) in Rockford.

Very wise purchase you made.

[hainzi_s]

Originally Posted by FormerStocktonian

Just a question. Why would you move to Rockford, send your children to private schools where you pay tuition and still pay taxes for the public schools. Please look elsewhere. Rockford is not really that great of place to live. Trust me, I live here, not by choice. I live here because of my partner and his family. I have to commute to Downers Grove in order to make a living. There are no jobs here that will pay what the companies in Chicagoland pay. Yes, the housing is cheaper, but there is a reason for that. like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Rockford is just a place to live, not really a place to go out and enjoy life. I apologies to any Rockford residence that have a love for the town, but that is how I feel.

Taxis won't even go into the downtown area in the middle of the night to pick you up from a nite club. The police totally suck and do not care. I know from first hand experience. I had a situation where I had to call the police and they said that they had no available patrol within the hour. Now, what if you and your family were in extreme danger and the Rockford PD told you that? Luckily, the situation calmed down and the person ran away. You don't hear most of the crime reports about Rockford because they are still trying to attract people to this town.

Yes, downtown Rockford is nice to take a stroll, unless you want to be surrounded by bums and panhandlers. Even walking to the library, you at least encounter 4 people that need "gas" money. I have experienced this first hand where I am just simply returning a book and have a couple of people come up to me asking for money. GET A JOB!!

Yes, the East side of Rockford, near I-90 is decent, but that is the only place where you would want to do your shopping. God forbid you would ever have to go downtown to city hall for any needs.

Let me tell you, I do all my shopping near my work in Downers Grove to avoid all these panhandlers, even fill up on my tank before I ever would in Rockford.

On the other hand, Loves Park and Machesney Park are still quite decent to live and raise a family.

Hello,
I was just wondering what it is like for you to commute from Downers Grove, IL to Rockford. Anyone commuting from the western suburbs to Rockford? I currently live in Warrenville, IL and was wondering whether it would be better to live in or near Rockford (my future job is in downtown Rockford) or stay around Warrenville and just commute. Any ideas??

[tiffany37]

I grew up in Rockford, Illinois. It has it's bad areas like anywhere else. There are some decent places to live like Roscoe, Rockton, and S. Beloit. Stay away from the west side of Rockford. Good luck

[Drover]

Originally Posted by hainzi_s

Hello,
I was just wondering what it is like for you to commute from Downers Grove, IL to Rockford. Anyone commuting from the western suburbs to Rockford? I currently live in Warrenville, IL and was wondering whether it would be better to live in or near Rockford (my future job is in downtown Rockford) or stay around Warrenville and just commute. Any ideas??

That's probably not going to be a joyous commute. There is some Rockford-to-suburb commuting (or vice-versa) going on, but it's usually to/from places that are further west than Warrenville and closer to I-90, such as Elgin, Dundee, and maybe Hoffman Estates. From Warrenville you're looking at an ugly commute of about 90 miles each way, either up 355 to 90 or 88 out to 39. I guess the good news is that if you do the 88 to 39 route, most of it should be wide-open. If you're amenable to moving but want to stay close to the Chicago area, moving some place like Hampshire or Sycamore could easily cut 30 minutes off your commute.

[Rocky ILL]

I can't believe this thread. I see everybody from Rockford hates it here. Especially in the black community. Rockford Blacks always talk about leaving. But 4 1 black family that leaves Rockford, 3 black families from Chicago moves here.
The weather is definitely not the best. The cold snowy winter juss beat this town up. Potholes everywhere. The size of 4 and 8 pots in hole. They might of fixed alot of the holes on the eastside but not the southeast side(kishwaukee,11th st) and westside.
Nowadays when it rains, it floods a lot everywhere. Then the sun comes out and makes it all humid and muggy feelin.
Rockford is small and boring. Nightlife ain't much unless U out on east state street. Black people really don't have any clubs and nightlife or really nothin here, that's why they be so bored and mad. But the liquor stores got the nerve to stay open til 2am every single night.
It's an OK place to raise kids but not the best. Kids really ain't got much to do unless they got good role models around them to steer them the right way. They got museums,magic waters, and sports activities for kids.
But Rockford's youth really get tested when they get in middle school. Rockford is full of drugs and gang members. The People and Folk mobs of chicago been in Rockford since the 70's-80's. Black gangs like the GDs,Vice Lords,Black Stones,etc.. and Latino gangs like the Latin Kings, Latin Counts, Maniac Latin Disciples,etc....all been here 4 the longest and recruit in those schools. When i was a freshman at Jefferson HS back in 94', gang fights and gang beefs broke out at that school regularly. Last year(07') whenever I looked at local news or read the newspaper, Jefferson was still havin gang fueds almost every week.
The white kids here join gangs too. Either Satin Disciple or Insane Unknown.
other than that, the schools ain't so bad if your child goes to class. But they will be pressured by these bad ass youth around here.
Kids skip school a lot here too. Think they got truancy laws now.
the crime is bad but not all that bad. People don't really juss bother U for no reason round here. The crime rate is worst in the state cause of all the burglaries,thefts, and stolen cars. The murder rate is not that high like some other small cities. 20 murders a year is bad but sometimes rockford don't even see that many. juss keep your car doors locked and house windows closed.
Lots of drug activity but most of it seem to be hidden.Not in the open like it used to.
Lot of homeless panhandlers but Rockford seem 2 like it that way.They let about 5,000 poor Chicagoans move here once their projects got tore down.
And don't know why they did that cause ain't too many jobs or opporunities here. Lots of old factories been standin empty for years. Lot of lay-offs wit the current ones still operating too.
Luckily housing is cheap here tho. And alot of other stuff is cheaper here than big cities.
Seem like the people who run rockford not in vision or don't know what 2 do with this town.

[Rocky ILL]

Few good things about rockford tho.
Cheap living.
Lotta parks
Intergrated unlike chicago & milwaukee
not a lot of murders
in the middle of the map

Rockford pizza is nasty to me tho. they're all juss alike. Pino's,villa di roma, sam's, john', vinny's,etc...
They all cut there pizza in small squares and it all taste the same. They all use the same pizza box or white cover wit the map of italy on it.

[worried4kids]

I just finished student teaching in Rockford, and I was pleasantly surprised. My son has autism, and I had to get him out of Belvidere schools and have him in a private placement. Rockford schools are not THAT bad. Things are changing, and that's the district I applied to first. Rockton, Roscoe, and the others some have mentioned are supposed to be good too. The level of academics at the Kindergarten level at Gregory School in Rockford was out of this world! They were even named a spotlight school. You do have to watch the areas, and taxes can get high, but overall, you could do much worse.