Rockford, Illinois has a reputation for being a great place to live and visit. It offers a wide range of activities and attractions that makes it an ideal destination for all types of travelers. The city is home to several parks, museums, theaters, and art galleries that are perfect for exploring. Outdoor recreation at Rockford's many parks includes fishing, swimming, camping, hiking, biking and more. Additionally, the city is known for its unique shopping options including antique stores and vintage boutiques. In terms of dining options there are numerous restaurants from casual pubs to upscale eateries. Overall, Rockford has something for everyone making it an excellent choice as a tourist or business destination. People generally rate their experiences in Rockford very positively with most claiming that they enjoyed their stay very much.
based on 54 ReviewsGet to know Rockford with the latest comments and reviews from people who live in or have visited Rockford
We like Rockford - 10/25/2010
We've lived in Rockford for just over 10 years now. Yes, the town has problems; every place has problems. but Rockford has an incredible amount to offer, particularly for a town that most people consider "dead". Most other "dead" towns should have so much! Theater, music, art, colleges, restaurants (both local and chain), extracurricular stuff for kids, pubs and taverns, solid theology churches, wacky theology churches, great parks, and a huge number of people working to fight the "dead: reputation we have. Yes, we've chosen to home school our children, and there's lots of support for that as well. We've been able to buy a great house in a transitional neighborhood that we wouldn't have been able to touch in most other markets, with more of a yard than most contemporary houses. We're glad we're
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This is a horrible place to live - 9/30/2010
Do not live here unless you need a handout. there are food pantries, free clothing,cheap; housing. a packed food stamp office. There are no real jobs here. The schools are terrible. the gangs are horrible. the police are lazy. There is fast food all over town. so you may get fat from smelling all the Taco Bell, Mc Donalds. there are a lot of fat people here. Most of the homes here flood. the taxes are high. There are a lot of thugs here. 3 teenage girls on Fridays and Saturdays key cars at the Cherry Vally Mall in the Macy's parking lot. Teenage thug girls walk up and down 23ave and shout at people "What are you looking at." just to start an altercation. It is a power struggle with these thugs they try to bully people.. I may let my dog lose so he can chase them. The Gem suburban trailor court has trash living there. the parents do not watch the kids.
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Rockford IL - 7/5/2010
As a previous poster stated, Rockford Park District is great, but with winter conditions lasting 5-6 months a year, and lots of rain, wind and humidity the rest of the year, it's not easy to plan on outside activities. For every good weather day we get, we pay for it with 3 days of bad. And Burpee Museum and Discovery Center are nice, but do you want to spend every weekend there? Unless you are into religion or the bar scene, there's not much to do without lots of cash. The crime rate here is sky high, comparable to Chicago, which has 2.6 million more people than Rockford. As for being close to Chicago, count on a 90 minute drive. And don't forget unemployment, recently at 18%. On the plus side, real estate is cheap, probably because no one wants to live here.
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Culture - 3/21/2010
You may be very surprised to find that Rockford, Illinois has plenty of cultural things to do and see. The Discovery Center Museum, Burpee Museum of Natural History, Midway Village Museum, and Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum are among the most prominent of sites to visit. There is also an abundance of theaters in the Rockford area, including, the New American Theater, the recently restored to its original state theater, the Coronado, and the outdoor Starlight Theater at Rock Valley Community College. There is plenty to do and see while visiting Rockford,
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Things to do near and not so far! - 2/7/2010
Rockford offers a varied palette of entertainment and recreation.
A phenomenal park district with extensive parks, golf course and a fabulous waterpark. We also enjoy an extensive forest preserve system. There are many miles of bike/walking paths as well.
Entertainment opportunities range from community theatre, museums, art galleries, traditional and not-so-traditional bars, annual snow sculpture competition, several youth and adult sports competitions. Our local sports teams include professional baseball, soccer and the wildly popular Blackhawks farm team the Rockford Ice Hogs.
There is lots to do right here but you're 90 minutes from Chicago and an untold number of opportunties.
Not only is there lot's to do but our four seasons are wonderful to enjoy. We don't have hurricans, mudslides, wildfires, or earthquakes. We have beautiful Springs as the areas come alive with flora and fauna. Summers that are hot but not too much
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housing - 1/31/2010
House prices are really reasonable, but our real estate taxes are VERY high - over 3% of the home
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Rockford is not a good place to live - 10/23/2009
Police brutality; High crime rate; the highest unemploment in the wholoe state
Drugs and gangs are everwhere. And loads of discrimation! And of course the new million dollar prison, and they've been talking about building another one. What does that tell
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stay out of Rockford,IL. - 10/23/2009
Rockford is truely a living breathing nightmare. Recently, a young bi-racial man was gunned down inside of a chuch slash daycare. He'd had a dispute with his girlfriend; police were called;the young man ran across the street to avoid the police. He was shot in the back by two white officers. The same officers that had priors of shooting other victims. There were children and adult witness that saw the terrible incident. This is not the only racially sparked evil that has lingered throughout this town. Unemployment in this town is the highest in the whole state. Drugs, crime and police brutality laces this den of
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the parks - 10/18/2009
Rockford has many parks in the city and surrounding area. They are well cared for and really quite beautiful. I know a couple have swimming in them at a lake, some have many shelters, and some have different programs through the year. It seems there is always something going on at Rockford
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What to do? - 10/3/2009
I used to think there wasn't much to do around the Rockford area. I still feel that way in a lot of respects, however there are a lot of towns around the area that are not that far away and have much more to do like Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago. Still there are plenty of local sports teams that are reasonablly priced to watch and they are fairly succesful which is
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