Driving Around Downtown Rockford, Illinois in 4k Video
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Filmed on Monday, May 29 2023, I drive around the downtown area of Rockford, IL to see what's happening. Not much!
Rockford is the largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago Metro Area.
Rockford traces its roots to 1834, as the combined settlements of Midway were founded on both banks of the Rock River. On the west bank, Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake founded Kentville; the east bank was settled by Daniel Shaw Haight.
With the location of the Rock River equidistant between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, the combined settlement derived the name "Midway".
In 1836, Winnebago County was created, with Midway named as its county seat, as it was "halfway between Galena and Chicago on a line of four-horse coaches."
In 1837, the village of Midway was renamed Rockford, highlighting a rocky river ford across the Rock River in the village.
One of its contemporary attractions, the Coronado Theatre, opened in 1927. Noted for its atmospheric styling, the Coronado rivaled its counterparts in Chicago and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
In the September 1949 issue of Life magazine, postwar Rockford was described as "nearly typical of the U.S. as any city can be."
From 1955 to 1965, several events would take place that would shape the development of Rockford into the 21st century. In 1956, construction was approved for a four-lane U.S 20 bypass; along with shifting truck traffic away from the downtown routing of the highway, the bypass established much of the southern border of the city (which remains to this day).
In 1958, Interstate 90 was completed in Illinois, becoming the Northwest Tollway; in a decision that would change Rockford forever, the interstate highway was not routed through the city, but near the Winnebago-Boone county line.
From the late 1950s, downtown Rockford began to decline as the primary shopping district of the city.
In 1956, North Towne Mall opened on the far northwest side of the city, with Colonial Village opening on the far east side in 1962, both of which were partially enclosed (some stores had exterior entrances). In 1973, Cherryvale Mall was opened as the first fully enclosed shopping mall in the city; nearly 6 miles from the city center, the mall was located at the intersection of the US-20 bypass and the Northwest Tollway.
While growth at the eastern end of Rockford undersaw favorable conditions for growth, established neighborhoods began to suffer irrevocable decline.
In the 1970s, efforts commenced to revitalize downtown Rockford, once the primary shopping district. In a highly criticized decision, the city reconfigured several blocks of downtown into a pedestrian mall, closing off the Main Street/West State Street intersection to traffic.
During the 2000s, a movement began to reverse urban blight of downtown Rockford, which had begun in the 1960s.
Following an 18-month multi-million dollar renovation and expansion, the Coronado Theatre was reopened in 2001. In 2008, the MetroCentre downtown arena completed a $20 million renovation, and was renamed the BMO Harris Bank Center in 2011.
In 2009, the downtown pedestrian mall was removed as part of a street refurbishment project, restoring Main Street to two-lane traffic for the first time in nearly 45 years.
While predominately a manufacturing community since World War II, Rockford has struggled to diversify its industrial base. Shifting from agricultural machinery and furniture, manufacturing in the city remains dominated by fasteners, automotive suppliers, and the aerospace industry.
As of the 2020 census, there were 148,655 people residing in the city, down from 152,871 in 2010.
The racial makeup of the city was 65.1% White, 20.5% African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 7.5% from other races, and 3.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.8% of the population.
The median income for a household in the city was $55,667, and the per capita income for the city was $19,781.
14.0% of the population and 10.5% of families were below the poverty line. 19.6% of those under the age of 18 and 8.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. #driving #travel #drivingtour
Born in Rockford in 1951. Mom born there in 1916. What a great place to be a kid and grow up during the 50s and 60s. A most vibrant downtown, especially during the holiday season. Fond memories of regular shopping excursions with Mom that included Dr appts, bill paying, school supply buying, sporting goods, hobby stores, record stores (45s), clothes, KarmelKorn, and on and on as well as movies with friends at the Times, Coronado, Midway, and State theaters.
I grew up here in Rockford use to live near this area during there drive around Way back when this use to be a very beautiful neighborhood now you don’t want to go out at night
Me too
And it’s cool seeing the old Metrocenter. I remember when the Rolling Stones played there, but you could only get tickets through a newspaper contest. my stepsister won two tickets but my dad made her sell them so they could get the money. My friend Vicki and I tried sneaking into the theater but we didn’t want to wait that long. It’s funny that the Go-Go opened for them. I remember reading Belinda Carlisle‘s book and she talked about the first, big show they ever did was in Rockford at the metro Center. And thank you again for your videos. It’s so cool strolling down memory lane. I’ve lived in California for the past 30 years. So it’s nice to see what Rockford looks like today.
Great memories, huh?!
I saw Van Halen right around 1980 at the Metro Center.
Cheers, from Alaska!
Rockford, my hometown.
Home ❤ . In Colorado now; but I do miss it.. sometimes… not in the winter though, 😂
Nicely done, thanks.
You're welcome
In the '80s, I lived in Rockford. Downtown was then a veritable eyesore and ghost town. Although the downtown has since improved, I hope that current city leaders and planners intend to increase density and fill in the ubiquitous parking lots. On a Monday afternoon, the city center should teem with people and activity. Watching from the Netherlands where city centers thrive, I would suggest that representatives from Rockford come to the Netherlands to learn how to replicate the "Dutch magic."
Great vid. From one explorer to another. You captured a lot of the visual story with Rockford, and acknowledged there is more not seen
Thank you sir!
Born and raised at Harrison and Alpine. This will always be home...
@@docilemania I use to live on Colorado Ave
Can you do a video from 7th and state down to 7th and broadway ?? And this was a good video and good job 👍 I really enjoyed the video ❤️❤️
If I ever find myself in Rockford again, sure! Unfortunately it's 3 hours from my house.
@@exploreusacities well thankyou for coming thru Rockford nice video 👍❤️
Rockford has changed quite a bit as far as living there goes...well that can be said for all places....but to spend a day there driving around it,s still nice.😉
This video is a little unfair to Rockford, as it's a very large and wide place. I drove around downtown, which has been abandoned for decades.
@@exploreusacities Not really. The facts are the facts.
Give Rockford a break it just needs some love it’s not a bad town but everyone has there own opinion
Rockford is a nice town ❤
@@kennybartlett6887 I used to participate in bowling tournaments in Rockford all the time when I was a kid. Is Rockford still a big bowling town?
Rockford is nice and the surrounding area as well ❤❤
not the property taxes
It’s so crazy to see the times theater in the Midway still have the marquis. I remember there was a fire at the Midway and they were playing Caddyshack and for almost 20 years Caddyshack stayed on that Marquee. They re-opened it and I saw educating Rita there. And then I think it closed again. I used to see lots of movies at the Times theater I remember seeing, the beast within, and the best little whorehouse in Texas there.
Saw Pollyanna at the Midway in 1960 with my grandmother.
Hello from Milwaukee!
My once proud city of manufacturing furniture, screws, time keeping watches, and the companies that made machines that make machines is gone...... ie Ingersoll ......you guys should of hired me in 1988......get out ppl....gl......
Was this recorded during the pandemic? Or are the roads always that empty?
I would assume downtown is mostly dead
It's probably Sunday morning, it's not dead at all stop with the overdramatic bullshit 🤣
Yep, ppl know not to walk outside anymore.
@@56cadddaaam that’s crazy
Home of the band, Cheap Trick!
I modeled for a band members daughter, she did advertising.. ❤
Born in 68 In Rockford....Great hard working city in the 70s..........I at worked at Elco 4 many yrs....gladly left in 95.....went back in 2019 ......and my home town is a dump........so sad to see........so much potential.....so much lack of leadership................your living the Titanic.....gl.....
Thank you for leaving Mark , funny you didn’t mention why you left tho . Keep running from your problems ,trumpers always do 🤣✌️🐑
He filmed this early...Born and raised there
around here we call it rock bottom
that's mean! 😆
need for speed most wanted city
Beautiful!
I think you need to redo this one in the dead of winter when the trees and lawns are all bare. Pretty hard to peddle urban blight on a pretty spring day, isn't it? You're looking nice, Rockford.
Your username made this comment so much better, as I read it in the voice of Ron Swanson. It is probably something he would say too.
My cousins use to live in Beloit and close to Rockford did you know there was a zoo in Rockford
do they have a panda? did you know all pandas on Earth belong to the Chinese government? how crazy is that
Not a single soul on them sidewalks.
It looks dead. Are there any cute or fun areas? Love the cute historical homes but the rest looks kinda lame. Maybe it’ll gentrify a bit and people will start moving there.
Yes, it's a big city - I basically only filmed the abandoned part
It's not abandoned at all, and you wouldn't want to drive around there after midnight if you're not supposed to be there. I grew up on Willard and School St. in the 70s, it's crime ridden, but it's not abandoned.
Years of liberal leadership hasn’t helped this otherwise beautiful city with plenty of potential.
Its a dying dump.
Tell me how you really feel