[Rockford]

The Once and Future Rockford Illinois

the 47 ft. 30 ton "Symbol" of Rocvkford (that's the sculpture's name)

Rockford Int'l Airport (one of America's fastest growing, and in the top 25 cargo airports in the country)

Rockford Art Museum

waiting for some tlc

Rockford's got lotsa sprawl, some better than others

Midway Village (an historic village)
firehouse

hospital

Swedish-American Hospital

the Starlight Theater

Coronado Theater

Anderson Japanese Gardens, rated as the nation's best Japanese Garden

there's lotsa lotsa forst preserves

and extensive bike paths, here's the Peace Park

the 10,000 seat MetroCentere (fancy spelling, huh?)

Kishwaukee River Bike Bridge

 

[wheelingman]

It looks like a nice little city.

 

[Rural King]

Rockford definately looks like it would be an interesting place to visit. Looks to have a very nice downtown.

 

[Jules]

A nice city, it's a shame it lost it's spot as Illinois' second largest.

 

[Rockford]

It might regain that position someday. It is actually growing pretty rapidly and continues to annex.
Booming Mexican population as well.

 

[wheelingman]

It will continue to grow as Chicago sprawls more towards Rockford.

 

[Azn_chi_boi]

rockford looks nice, the most rockford i saw was on I-90, I-39

 

[Rockford]

Azn,

Next time you should head downtown, where there is a great Laotian restaurant. (6th street i think)

Lao food is yummier than Chinese, IMHO


BTW Azn,

I love your energetic interest in cities, you are a great Chicagoan!

 

[Rockford]

It will continue to grow as Chicago sprawls more towards Rockford.

Rockford is its own thing.

It is the nations largest machine tool center, one of the most important aerospace engineering centers, one of the most important cargo transit centers (air/road/rail), and has strength in many manufacturing industries (automobiles ex.)

Rockford might be the city that actually lost out to Chicago in the past. IMHO, if Chicago had not been where it is, Rockford would have grown into a very sizable city, maybe along the lines of KC, INDY....and certainly as big as Toledo, Dayton etc.

As it was,

its major growth spurt coincided with Chicago's and, of course, it lost out, at times.

Now it stands to gain. But Rockford will never be a Schaumburg. It has a population (metro) of 400,000 and has its own thing going on. Just ask Cheap Trick.

If and when the two metros truly merge, Rockford will probably exceed 700,000 people, hardly a Schaumburg.

 

[ReddAlert]

awesome pics...truly an unknown Midwest jewel to most on here.

 

[RockfordSoxFan]

Hey Rockford, why dont we just keep all the Rockford news in one thread, with all of your posts, and the few you forget about that I find. Lets just start a "Rockford IL" thread, and forget about all these little threads that only get 2,3,6, and 9 hits.

 

[ShaneFromSiouxFalls]

Holy cow, rockford looks like such a fun and interesting place to visit! The Coronado Theater looks amazing, and it looks like there is a lot of stuff to do there.

 

[airmale007]

UGH! Rockford looks terrible in those pics. It looks like any other boring American town with no culture and nothing to do.

Every time tourist pictures depict a bunch of bike trails and trees, it means that the city is so boring that the best way to spend your time is to ride around in a boat like you're in Kentucky. Dude, if I want to enjoy nature I'll go to Wyoming.

Rockford is so far from special and out of the ordinary. Why don't you just move to Chicago, dude?

TUP, most of your stuff I agree with, but here, you are just being small minded. This post is sickening.uke:

 

[Azn_chi_boi]

UGH! Rockford looks terrible in those pics. It looks like any other boring American town with no culture and nothing to do.

Every time tourist pictures depict a bunch of bike trails and trees, it means that the city is so boring that the best way to spend your time is to ride around in a boat like you're in Kentucky. Dude, if I want to enjoy nature I'll go to Wyoming.

Rockford is so far from special and out of the ordinary. Why don't you just move to Chicago, dude?

Same question could be ask back to you. Why dont you move to Chicago? It feels like you contribute more to Chicago and DC.

Rockford feels more like a suburb and natural city... maybe we could give Rockford back to the Winnebagos?

 

[RockfordSoxFan]

PUKE! Lets leave Schaumburg in Schaumburg, and not bring it to Rockford.
Just what we need, more roads, and more development along I-90 instead of downtown. Invest that 1.5 million into downtown/ riverfront please.....


'By SARAH ROBERTS, Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD -- Plans for a commercial and residential development along Interstate 90 are moving forward, but at least one alderman wants the city to rethink proposed financial incentives for the developer.
The project has been described as a combination of residential and light commercial development similar to that in the Schaumburg area.
As part of its 75-acre project, Landmark Development Inc. would pay for the extension of Bell School Road north from Spring Brook Road, where it ends, to East Riverside Boulevard.
Landmark would be reimbursed for the cost of the road construction based on the amount of sales tax its project generates for the city. The development would have to generate a minimum of $30 million in sales tax to qualify for reimbursement and would be eligible for $1.5 million over 10 years.
Landmark officials couldn’t be reached Wednesday for comment on the project.
Ald. John Beck, R-12, supports the project but doesn’t want aldermen to rubber-stamp hefty financial incentives for a plan some of them haven’t even seen.
“I’m really bothered by the fact that we’re going to be making a $1.5 million decision based on something that we just saw and talked about for 10 minutes,” Beck said.
Ald. Frank Beach, R-10, who leads the Codes and Regulations Committee that approved the plan Monday, described the project as a “kind of entrance gateway to Rockford.”
Beck says the land, along the booming I-90 corridor, would naturally develop on its own, and the city needs to reserve public dollars for areas that need help attracting development. Beck has informed Mayor Larry Morrissey of his concerns, and he hopes aldermen will give the plan a more thorough review before making a final decision.
“I’m hopeful that we’re going to have a new way of doing business with the new administration. There’s been way too much of this deal-cutting with development in areas that don’t need the incentives,” Beck said. “The developers end up putting more money in their pocket. It’s an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars.”

 

[Jeff]

Id like to know if there is anything left of that old waterpower district on the west side of the Rock River. From old panoramic illustrations Ive seen it looks like a small version of Lowell, and it would be a real hidden treasure if some of those old mills survived...

 

[gaviidae]

UGH! Rockford looks terrible in those pics. It looks like any other boring American town with no culture and nothing to do.

Every time tourist pictures depict a bunch of bike trails and trees, it means that the city is so boring that the best way to spend your time is to ride around in a boat like you're in Kentucky. Dude, if I want to enjoy nature I'll go to Wyoming.

Rockford is so far from special and out of the ordinary. Why don't you just move to Chicago, dude?

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

 

[RockfordSoxFan]

Jeff, I am not quite sure what exactly you are talking about. There are old 1900's all brick wharehouses, and factories stretching south down South Main Street from downtown along the west side of the Rock River. All have been abandoned for quite a long time, 10+ years. Some of these buildings are several blocks long, and 5-6 floors. Huge potential, for redevelopment, retail, and residential. If anything is gonna happen with this area it will be in the next few years. This district is not too far from the proposed Metra station, maybe 4-5 blocks. Once the trains start rolling in, watch this neighborhood boom. My hope is that they will also dress up the riverfront in this area, it needs it bad. Its below the dam, and has been neglected, all the parks, and paths are north of the dam, and on the east side of the river.

 

[Jeff]

Jeff, I am not quite sure what exactly you are talking about. There are old 1900's all brick wharehouses, and factories stretching south down South Main Street from downtown along the west side of the Rock River. All have been abandoned for quite a long time, 10+ years. Some of these buildings are several blocks long, and 5-6 floors. Huge potential, for redevelopment, retail, and residential. If anything is gonna happen with this area it will be in the next few years. This district is not too far from the proposed Metra station, maybe 4-5 blocks. Once the trains start rolling in, watch this neighborhood boom. My hope is that they will also dress up the riverfront in this area, it needs it bad. Its below the dam, and has been neglected, all the parks, and paths are north of the dam, and on the east side of the river.

My source is "Historical Illinois from the Air", pp122-124, which is on "The Emergence of Rockford". The pano dates from 1891, and the article mentions "Race Street"....online maps show this is an area between Main Street and the river, north of Morgan Street/College Ave & south of Cedar Street...

If a substantial number of these old mills remain (as you seem to be saying) Rockford has a great opportunity for adaptive reuse and historical preservation, as surviving old waterpowere areas are quite rare outside of New England & the East Coast...

 

[Jeff]

Jeff, I am not quite sure what exactly you are talking about. There are old 1900's all brick wharehouses, and factories stretching south down South Main Street from downtown along the west side of the Rock River. All have been abandoned for quite a long time, 10+ years. Some of these buildings are several blocks long, and 5-6 floors. Huge potential, for redevelopment, retail, and residential. If anything is gonna happen with this area it will be in the next few years. This district is not too far from the proposed Metra station, maybe 4-5 blocks. Once the trains start rolling in, watch this neighborhood boom. My hope is that they will also dress up the riverfront in this area, it needs it bad. Its below the dam, and has been neglected, all the parks, and paths are north of the dam, and on the east side of the river.

My source is "Historical Illinois from the Air", pp122-124, which is on "The Emergence of Rockford". The pano dates from 1891, and the article mentions "Race Street"....online maps show this is an area along Main Street and the river, north of Morgan Street/College Ave & south of Cedar Street...

If a substantial number of these old mills remain (as you seem to be saying) Rockford has a great opportunity for adaptive reuse and historical preservation, as surviving old waterpowere areas are quite rare outside of New England & the East Coast...