63 Comments Add your own

• 1. Bricks & Clicks &raqu&hellip  |  January 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

  […] in the post about rolling stone. will pfeifer and i were in features when we did this story may 25, 2002. sorry […]

• 2. john q. public  |  January 30th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

  It’s a sad article….but unfortunately their right. Too many conservatives in this city are holding this town back.

• 3. john q. public  |  January 30th, 2008 at 6:16 pm

  they’re…sorry

• 4. hokumboy  |  January 30th, 2008 at 6:23 pm

  Hmmmm, I don’t know……
  I think they’ve got us pretty well pegged.

• 5. mike l  |  January 30th, 2008 at 8:00 pm

  It is true. What does Rockford have that a terrorist would like to blow up? Rockford is a backwards northern hillbilly city.

• 6. Julianne Jackson  |  January 30th, 2008 at 8:02 pm

  A big ‘ol slam on Rockford? Really? I thought it was pretty accurate, though I would have said that Rockford was more like a wannabe suburb. But I digress.

  “makes me wonder if writer guy lawson ever came to rockford”

  Dominic Iasparro was interviewed by Guy Lawson for the article and while it is not stated explicitly it seems to me that Mr. Lawson was indeed in Rockford.

  I think that it was a very informative article and if you had read the whole thing you might find yourself more upset by what the Joint Terrorism Task Force and FBI are touting as Homeland Security than Mr. Lawson’s description of Rockford.

• 7. Ron Esser  |  January 30th, 2008 at 8:54 pm

  I’m commenting on the “comments”.
  Concerning what Lawson has to say about Rockford could be appropriately tagged on 80% of America’s city’s of 150,000 population.
  I guarantee that wherever Lawson lives, it’s not “peaches & cream” there either. Every city has it’s ups & downs.
  I think that before Lawson decided to refer to Rockford as being “Cheap Trick’s hometown”, he should probably ask any of the guys from that band why they make Rockford their hometown.
  This town has its quirks and those who have lived here for awhile know that some things should have been done when they should have been done. Nonetheless, mistakes are made and that’s what I call experience.
  One mistake that wasn’t made, thanks to the watchful eye of our law enforcement, was having a disturbed person put us on the map for all the wrong reasons.
  People in this world manage to “slip through the cracks” and do unspeakable things that shock us all and Rockford isn’t immune from these people.
  The best part about Lawson’s inconsideration to Rockford is probably the reality that this man couldn’t make it here,but deep down wishes he could.
  For anyone offended by his article, you should show him empathy instead of publicity.
  “To each his own”, I always say.

• 8. Chris  |  January 30th, 2008 at 8:55 pm

  Uh, isn’t that pretty much accurate, though?

• 9. Patrick  |  January 30th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

  Here’s something for you to think about!

  The article you reference details a horrific series of crimes committed against your society, against your future and your children’s future, by the FBI and its JTTs. The fear they have generated, and the publicity they have generated, go a long way to creating an atmosphere where the government can chip away at the Bill of Rights and call it security.

  In other words. your rights are being taken away in “response” to a “threat” that was created by the federal government.

  No major media outlet has been willing to touch this story. Now — finally — Rolling Stone has shown some guts and covered it. They haven’t done a great job but at least they have mentioned it.

  So when you complain to them about how they portray your hometown, please also thank them for finally telling the truth about the charade that was played out in Rockford in December of 2006.

  Here’s another idea: Why not post some photos of Rockford and prove Rolling Stone wrong? That would be the perfect comeback!

  One more thing: Here’s a post about the guy the FBI sent to entrap Derrick Shareef:
  Burned! Meet William Chrisman, FBI Entrapment Specialist

• 10. Alex Bates  |  January 30th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

  Rockford is dead. No more screws. No more jobs. No more people. Its just dead. To me, rolling stones… And the world. Its dead. Thats rockford. Dead.

• 11. cb1ocker  |  January 30th, 2008 at 11:02 pm

  from what i can tell, from living in rockford for 5 months now because of work, rolling stone seems to have hit the nail on the head.

• 12. Anna Voelker  |  January 31st, 2008 at 6:16 am

  I’m a Peoria native, who spent half her life in a small town north of Milwaukee. I chose to live in Rockford for the job and for its close proximity to the aforementioned towns. I figured I would be here two years and then move on. I ended up loving this community. I’m now 30, and I’ve been here more than seven years.

  I agree with Ron and Patrick. I have no issues with the story. I don’t like the “editorializing,” however. It wouldn’t be right if the Register Star used descriptions like that when we report on small towns outside Rockford.

  Still, Ron, love your positive approach, and Patrick, I’ll see what photos I can dig up of Rockford today. There are plenty in our archive.

• 13. vardo  |  January 31st, 2008 at 6:29 am

  Rockford is dead, Charles Box did it.Larry Morrisay is going to fix it(hopefully).We are fifteen years behind alot of cities our size.We should take a look at Grand Rapids,Michagan and see what they done right ,they where much worst than us just twenty years ago.REMEMBERTHE FUTURE STOP WORRYING ABOUT NOW (IT’S TO LATE!)

• 14. tk1  |  January 31st, 2008 at 6:43 am

  I think the article did describe rockford well. Although.. the mall may be a small target for a terrorist. We do have much better targets they could hit. Many companys in rockford are able to and possibly are making machines or other things that could be used by our military. Those companies could be better targets. I dont see us as totally safe from being a terrorist target.
  as for rockford’s job market.. the screw industry may be dead or dying.. but there are other jobs out there and available, and I am not talking about Fast food either.

• 15. CheapTrix  |  January 31st, 2008 at 7:15 am

  This is just like Rockford, wasting our time (including myself) worrying about what others think about our city instead of working together to fix it…..Let’s face it guys, this town is too conservative and has not made any progress in the last 20 years. We now have Mayor who wants to move forward and be on the cutting edge, so maybe we should try to support him and his ideas. He seems to have some pretty damn good ideas, if only we would allow him to do them instead of putting up the customary roadblocks.

  Just my thoughts after 41 years of watching Rockford do very litttle to be progressive.

• 16. jennie pollock  |  January 31st, 2008 at 8:12 am

  i’m all for improving rockford, and i think the article overall is worthy, like some posters mention, don’t get me wrong.

  but it saddens me to see people getting even more negative about rockford than this article was.

• 17. SO TURE  |  January 31st, 2008 at 8:46 am

  So True…..Rockford is so behind the times….Great place to live if your 90 years old!

• 18. Shawn  |  January 31st, 2008 at 8:57 am

  Rockford is a slow….. boring place to live. And yes its true…great place for the older community boring and behind the times for everyone else!

• 19. Joy  |  January 31st, 2008 at 9:03 am

  So sad but true!

• 20. dru  |  January 31st, 2008 at 9:03 am

  Hey!! Long time reader, first time writer….Does anyone even realize that the article is really about terrorist or the fabrication of terrorists by our government?!?! I mean, get real, what does Rockford really have that terrorist could destroy and devastate America….nothing….there are malls all over america. Oh no!! hope terrorists dont murders all of our sock monkeys!!! The article is not even about rockford, but that seems that is all anyone got from reading the article, that is if you even read the whole thing. I think Larson’s description of this city is extremely accurate, and there is nothing wrong with that. For those of you who couldn’t get past the “big ol dis on R-town” go ahead and read further and find out what Larson was actually talking about. He wasnt dissing rockford, or trying to rekindle mixed feelings about Aretha Franklin, he was just comparing it to other larger cities, and giving a description. Peace Out!!!!

• 21. hokumboy  |  January 31st, 2008 at 9:09 am

  SO TURE ( ?? ) ,
  I hope you’re right. I can’t wait ’till iI’m 90 then. I’ve lived here for 60 years and am still waiting for it to be a great place to live.

  I remember when this town overflowed with good paying jobs. Now it’s pretty much a haven for minimum wage positions. It does have plenty of cutsey little restaurants for the bosses to frequent and mix with their employees who are waiting tables to supplement their incomes. Great!

  40 years ago we were on the top ten list of nuclear targets in the US. Now I doubt if any self respecting terrorist (if that phrase is possible) would want to stop here to do more than gas up.

  Why do the guys from Cheap Trick stay here?
  “Big fish in the little pond” comes to mind. That, and the constant fawning by the staff of the RRStar could be the reasons.

• 22. Drew  |  January 31st, 2008 at 9:14 am

  For years, everyone from the mayor on down has worked hard to make this the nothing community that it is. That is the reality. Why is this assessment from an outsider surprising and upsetting?
  It’s like having an ugly car, taking it to a car show, and then getting mad when people say it’s ugly.
  Everyone who lives in this area knows what this community has and what it lacks. We shouldn’t get upset because someone confirms it.

• 23. Eric  |  January 31st, 2008 at 9:20 am

  I grew up in Rockford and graduated from high school in 1989. At least 90% of my good friends went on to college and earned a Bachelor’s Degree, if not an advanced one. Aside from ONE person, we never returned to live in Rockford. I’m not a geek or a bookworm either. I had many friends and one of the reasons we worked hard in school was so we could escape from that town.

  The problem in Rockford is obvious. The vast majority of citizens are simply uneducated, which creates a “lowest common denominator” mentality. In this situation, the masses need to drag everyone down to their level in order to create their only possible version of equality. Anyone familiar with public schools sees this played out on a daily basis. In society, however, the government cannot control the denominator, so the masses do it themselves. They portray all educated, successful, or progressive people as “elites.” In turn, when these elites make suggestions or try to implement changes, they are viewed as the enemy because, as all uneducated people somehow know, the elites only want to change things in order to better themselves, at the expense of the masses. That thought process is what makes it so easy to form groups to protest or stop suggested changes or improvements. The situation was so obvious when we were growing up that the best solution is to live where we don’t have to fight against that mentality, which only exacerbates the problem because the lack of education worsens due to a constant brain drain.

  It’s a recipe for disaster that Rockford may never overcome. I haven’t lived there in 18 years, but I’ll bet this assessment is still accurate.

• 24. Jim Grisanzio  |  January 31st, 2008 at 9:31 am

  Rockford has a lot to offer except jobs. That is why I work out of town. The story is on target. What does Rockford have to offer a terrorist. I am an assistant supervisor in a Elgin company with many ties and contacts to worldly people.

• 25. JENN  |  January 31st, 2008 at 10:22 am

  HOW TERRIBLE !!!!!!!!! HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF BEING PROUD OF WHERE YOU COME FROM? IT IS ALWAYS EASY TO COMPLAIN, BUT WHAT DO YOU DO TO MAKE IT BETTER? I HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR ALL OF YOU THAT THINK THIS IS A HORRIBLE PLACE, MOVE TO CHICAGO, WHERE YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO HAVE ANYTHING NICE, LIVE IN A DECENT HOME, OR HAVE GRASS FOR YOUR CHILDREN TO PLAY ON AND TREES TO CLIMB. SURE THERE ARE BETTER PLACES TO LIVE , BUT IF THIS WASN’T A GREAT PLACE YOU’D FIND A WAY TO NOT BE HERE.

• 26. Sarah  |  January 31st, 2008 at 10:58 am

  The article is right on. Rockford is an armpit. People get stuck here because it’s cheap to live. Where else can you go, be dirt poor, and be able to buy a house? Rockford offers nothing else. People ask “Why does Cheap Trick stay in Rockford?”-They didn’t stay in Rockford-They grew up and made a better life for themselves. They came from Rockford, but they didn’t stay. Who in there right mind would?

• 27. Mike L.  |  January 31st, 2008 at 11:24 am

  For all of it’s flaws, Rockford is not nearly the disaapointing town the writer painted in his article. Rockford has one of the best park districts in the nation. We have some of the best golf courses compared to other communities our size. We have Jane the dinosaur. We have the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. We are also a very sports friendly town. You can see anything from football, baseball, soccer, championship hockey and even catch a Roller Derby match if you look hard enough.
  I am a little confused by the second posted comment stating “too many conservatives” are the reason for this towns shortcomings. Being more conservative minded myself, I probably share much of the same frustration as Mr. John Q. Public above, I just never seemed to see it as a conservative issue. I have always seen it as what we call “C.A.V.E.” which stands for “Committe Against Virtually Everything.” I truly believe that dynamic is changing in town. We are making great progress.
  The writers description of us just being an intersection is a bit comical as well. Obviously the writer has never tried to leave downtown Rockford after a hockey game. He’d realize we are much more than just an intersection!
  All in all, Rockford is not a bad town. We have work to do, but thankfully there are citizens who are willing to do that work and help make it a better place. In church circles, there’s a saying that goes like this; “if you ever find the perfect church, don’t join it, you will wreck it.” I think that probably holds true for a community our size as well. We are going to have challenges. This isn’t Mayberry. What matters is how we respond and react to those challenges, how we face up to them and resolve them. It doesn’t take a village to change it from good to great, it takes individuals like you and I willing to work towards making it a better place for ourselves and our children.

• 28. MARGARET  |  January 31st, 2008 at 11:42 am

  Well i have lived in Rockford now for 5 years and i find it to be a slower place to live after living in Chicago for 40 yrs but with that said i feel its a nice place to live for the most part..People seem to be more friendly and helpful compared to Chicago…Yes houses are cheaper and there is not a whole lot going on but if its not exciting enough you can always go to Chicago….Chicago is so crowded and so much traffic and crime its disgusting…Chicago has not much more except more bars and shopping..but to live there is no picnic…very fast paced and veryt expensive…so its all what you want….

• 29. Greg  |  January 31st, 2008 at 12:31 pm

  The people who respond here are most the biggest problem. When I moved here over 14 years ago from the east coast, I kept asking myself who in their right mind keeps electing Box for Mayor? Oh, thats right the complaining people. Rockford has come a long way since I got here and still has a lot to do but so do a lot of cities. If you had any civic pride you would actually do something to improve the city by getting involved instead of sitting on your rear watching TV and complaining. A city is just of a collection of people, so it is only as good as the people who are here, look internally if you want to see the problem. I have seen progress. Oh, by the way Giuliani is a conservative and I thought he did a pretty good job with NY.

• 30. Matthew  |  January 31st, 2008 at 12:47 pm

  Although Guy Lawson’s worded descriptions of Rockford may feel insulting to our residents, it is fair to admit that Rockford isn’t a terribly progressive city. As a matter of fact, I do see it being quite resistant to change, and it feels like our city is dying for that. It travel quite a bit to cities of comparible size, and truth be known, we are lagging.

  This could be a thriving community, but it is up to the residents of Rockford to voice to our aldermen and city council what we collectively want, need and expect as a community. They, often times, make decisions unopposed that lead to disparagement for Rockford residents, while, in being fair, other times make good decisions, also. Nothing and noplace is perfect, but, a blog isn’t where that can be remedied. Face to face, eyeball to eyeball is.

  I am a lifelong Rockford resident, having left only in serving a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps. I love our city, and as a resident see what it has to offer, but I can see where someone from the outside may not. Let’s change that. Look at the progressiveness of Madison, WI, or Peoria, IL. What makes us different that them? Why can’t we progress, thrive and prosper?

  We truly can be more progressive, if we, as a community choose to be. This is a community of truly good people.

  It is nice to bring in the nice stores and restataunts that we do, but these types of businesses often don’t pay the types of wages that allow people to put money back into our local economy after their basic family and living expenses are met. My guess is that many even come up short to cover those expenses.

  We need to bring more industry back into Rockford, and allow the good people of our community the ability to earn a good wage without commute to other communities, allowing people engagement in our local economy beyond living expenses.

  We need to elect progressive people, and work toward getting progressive people appointed where not elected. It won’t happen overnight, and I’m sure that there are some deep-seated objectionalists who like things the way that they “used to be” entrenched on the city council, but over time, we can progress; if we , as a community, choose to. It’s not about liberal or conservative. Progressive-minded people come in either catagory. It’s about removing those who are holding us back, and allowing those who can do, to do.

  There are a lot of good people in this community, who work very hard every day for change. If ours and their voices can be heard, over time, we can make Rockford not just a better place to live, but, a great place to live and/or visit.

  Were Guy Larson’s descriptions of our community mean-spirited, and meant in insult? Maybe. Tactless? Yes. Inaccurate? Not completely.

• 31. dt  |  January 31st, 2008 at 12:51 pm

  we have king bush for a president this shows me the usa as a whole is a dump cross roads, rolling stone is nothing without customers,this great nation is going down

• 32. MarvelousMarv  |  January 31st, 2008 at 1:15 pm

  That bastard didn’t even mention Chicken George.

• 33. Holly  |  January 31st, 2008 at 1:16 pm

  So many comments, so little space. This city has a lot to offer if you just look!! Do we really want to bring this kind of attention to ourselves? What if a real terrorist finds out about all the great things we have and then targets those? You think on that while I go do another fun thing with my family.

• 34. RebelMan  |  January 31st, 2008 at 2:29 pm

  The whole state of Illinois has turned into a communistic state ever since Senate Bill 500 was passed! I’m a smoker, and I believe in aggrevated assault on legislators that took smoker’s rights away. I can’t wait to see one of them out in public……….

• 35. hokumboy  |  January 31st, 2008 at 2:41 pm

  Greg,
  you may be right. I’ll go ask the folks that organized to fight the asphalt plant how well civic pride and involvement worked for them.

• 36. Laura  |  January 31st, 2008 at 2:50 pm

  I was not offended by what he said.
  Think about it.. we have a large population and no where to go.. our roads should be larger with with atleast 3 lanes and most of them are one. Its kept from getiing better because people are too concerned about keeping it a small county city which it isn’t anymore.. We need JOBS, ENTERTAINMENT, we need to accomodate our population better,

• 37. David Preece  |  January 31st, 2008 at 5:17 pm

  Here is the text of a letter to the editor I sent to Rolling Stone…enjoy!

  Rockford’s Terror Targets

  Guy Lawson’s January 25th article, The Fear Factory, blew the lid off our best-kept secret: Rockford, Illinois really is a primary target for terror.

  CherryVale Mall was actually the first of many sites targeted by the terrorists. High on the list were Anderson Japanese Gardens due to their rating as North America’s best Japanese botanical asset. Also included was the historic Coronado Theatre, a breathtakingly-restored 1927 vaudeville venue that presents the best in Western high culture. Then there’s Magic Waters, the state’s largest water park that is filled with children each summer. Don’t forget Rock Cut State Park, 3,100 acres of forest, lakes and trails that could easily hide a battalion of special forces. The terror gang may have seen capitalists from across the region plotting strategy on the meticulous fairways of Aldeen Golf Course, or perhaps mapping out business growth plans on tablecloths at one of our fine restaurants. And we suspect they believed Jane, the famous juvenile T. rex at the Burpee Museum of Natural History, is a source of inspiration for patriots from across the Midwest.

  While we don’t want to give the bad guys too many more ideas for their target list, and we’re not sure if Mr. Lawson actually experienced the Rockford Region first-hand, the friendlies out there may want to visit www.gorockford.com to check out things for themselves.

  David Preece
  President & CEO
  Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

• 38. Gary  |  January 31st, 2008 at 6:17 pm

  Im a little older prob more then most of the people on here but back in the sixty`s and early seventy`s we had a lot of real good things going on in rockford. Ole MAYOR BEN T, had this town running good.And yes MAYOR BOX did Mess this town up but the paper wont print that and the tv news wont report on that ! The Aldermen have had their hands in this too ! Gone are all the Factory `s that a lot of us use to work at. We have more crime here becouse of Mayor Box and the people know the real reason for that, but The Register Star are too Scared to print the reason`s Why. Year`s ago The Rockford Morning Star would print the Truth but the paper we have now Is soooo far left and BIAS they wont print the truth. Come on I DARE you to start printing and telling the truth REGISTER STAR And print what all the people in rockford already know. LET `S see if you have the GUT`S

• 39. Menlo Bob  |  January 31st, 2008 at 8:10 pm

  The guy charged with plotting to attack Cherry Vale Mall was homegrown convert to Islam. He wasn’t dispatched from the Middle East to the Middle West. It has nothing to do with the desirability of the target. Otherwise the Rolling Stone offices would be next…come to think of it…

• 40. Jason  |  January 31st, 2008 at 9:33 pm

  Rolling Stone is a mouthpiece for the extreme Left. It’s political headlines and articles in every issue are laughably predictable. “Bush is the Devil, Bush is Hitler, 9/11 was an inside job, the war on terror doesn’t really exist, it’s a government scam, etc etc.”

  The point of the article in dissing Rockford served the larger cause, which is that terrorism is a government manufactured fear. “Why would a terrorist want to blow anything up in Rockford?! Must not have been a terrorrist!” Except it’s a red herring.
  The ultimate value of any terrorist threat is not in what landmarks it can destroy, symbolism aside. It’s the threat of killing any civil society’s most vital treasure. It’s people. Human lives. Ask the people of Israel, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq Thailand, Sudan, etc etc. who battle terrorists on the ground daily. It happened on 9/11 here. Our government is making sure it doesn’t happen again. Period. Protecting it’s people from harm is our governments first and greatest responsibility. They do this so the ignorant editors over at the Rolling Stone can publish their tripe.

• 41. Allen Penticoff  |  February 1st, 2008 at 9:45 am

  I would not call Rockford “dead” - certainly not at dead as Freeport, but I would call Rockford ugly. And I think therein lays the problem. Rockford’s treasures are hidden and scattered. There is no way to get to the great things without passing miles and miles of ugly urban landscape. Blighted housing from the west, endless strip malls from the east, stagnant old urban areas from the south (though improving) and a mixture of all the above from the north. Frankly I’m tired of looking at it myself after 18 years of living here. We have great parks, plenty of things to do, but downtown is dead after work hours, heck there’s not even a single riverfront restaurant downtown - what’s up with that. No decent cafes open on a Sunday morning in the downtown area. Sure you can go a a strip mall to get your java, but to get a book at the library then sit and read it - nowhere. Whining about the CAVE people - won’t fix anything. Rockford’s most serious mistake was in not getting a downtown campus college or university - something that would have young people living and working downtown. The rest became decentralized and totally lacking in community. Now they want to take out the last vestage of culture and remove the downtown mall - a small place of escape for office workers on sunny noons.

  In short, I’ll agree with the writer. But the people and activities make up for a lot of other shortcomingss.

• 42. hokumboy  |  February 1st, 2008 at 10:02 am

  I agree Allen.
  Wouldn’t a nice waterfront restaurant be a great addition to the downtown area? Unfortunately the area our Mayor has chosen for his Riverwalk would have no possible location to put one.
  If he’d only look across the river to the North Madison/ North Water Street area he’d see a wonderful area to fill with riverfront restaurants, shops, and activities. The East State area of downtown is seeing a growth of revitalization. The potential is boundless. But,,,, his obsession lies elsewhere. I wonder why???????

• 43. Dave  |  February 1st, 2008 at 10:09 am

  Rockford is so dead that we can’t even identify with the airport. The name: Chicago-Rockford International Airport. Rockford identity lies with the fact that we’re just another ‘burb of Chicago.

• 44. Gary  |  February 1st, 2008 at 2:56 pm

  HEY JENN ! What did you do when you moved here from CHICAGO ? I know, you brought all the crime with you from the projects. RIGHT ?

• 45. addiwp  |  February 1st, 2008 at 5:33 pm

  I gotta say that Rockford beats living in the landing pattern of O’Hare, near four zillion railroad tracks, factory smoke billowing out by the ton. I came from the ugliest suburb on the planet to the Forest City in ‘80 and forgot to ever go back. Dead is where I came from. Rockford may not be the hottest spot on the planet but it’s only semi-comatose, not dead. There’s potential here–we’re just twenty or thirty years behind the times. We’ll catch up. I can’t say I’m really torn up that terrorists might not want to come to town…and, I’m just glad the Rolling Stones guy got the city’s name right.

• 46. hokumboy  |  February 1st, 2008 at 6:05 pm

  “…and, I’m just glad the Rolling Stones guy got the city’s name right.”

  Didn’t the Rolling Stones (the band) get our name wrong on the tour t-shirts when they played here some 30 years ago?
  Wasn’t it “Rockland” or something like that?

• 47. Allen Penticoff  |  February 1st, 2008 at 8:21 pm

  I really should have commented on the phony terrorist set ups the whole story reported on. Just more stuff to shake your head at and wonder what we’ve come to. Your chances of being killed by a tornado in January are better than being a victim of a terrorist attack. There’s no money left for Cease Fire or other programs that do have a direct impact on our local security, but apparently plenty for wild goose chases. Read Orwell’s 1984 again. Fear has always been a tool for the oppressor to control the masses.

  Back to Rockford. Stuff is happening downtown at night. But the much sought after - live downtowners won’t be happening anytime soon - as it is a long way from having a pedestrian friendly place to live where a short walk gets you to efficient public transportation and a place to buy groceries. Check out Boston - or even the near north side of Chicago. That’s what it takes to make a “downtown” liveable.

  Take a trip down to Peoria and see what they’ve done with their waterfront - it is impressive. A decent place to go hang out. We’re missing out on that.

  So, again, I’ll defend the writer - who probably did not have time to take in much of Rockford, but was going on a limited “first impression” - well you know what they say about first impressions. We need to keep planting flowers and trees and sprucing up the neighborhoods on our thoroughfares. And pick up the litter. That’s where the best first impression comes.

• 48. rickyp  |  February 1st, 2008 at 9:34 pm

  I’m new to this area and hope the people of Rockford are smarter than those representing you at the RRStar. I called the Star last night about this Rollingstone article because I thought this would be a great story for the people of Rockford to hear.
  Since 911 we have had Terrorism rammed down our throat. This has been the pretext for the current wars.[youtube:60 minute recalled interview-indictment]
  Now here is an article in Rollingstone that shows how our own government has been facking terrorist attacks on it’s own citizens, but hte Star is more worried about what the Rollingstone thinks about Rockford. SuperTuesday is next week, wouldn’t this be a good story for the people to know before they vote. Canidates like McCain are warmangers and love this fake terrorism stuff.
  wouldn’t it be nice to vote in a canidate who would get us out of this war so our troops have a chance to live and maybe this money could be spent at home to bring something of Rockford that maybe even Rollingstone would like.
  Tell the real story! The History Channel just had a show on the Anthrax scare and how the scores of anthrax was traced back to our government. Recent Zogby polls show that 67 percent of Americans question 911. Wake up, and don’t worry about what Rollingstone thinks about Rockford, or maybe you would like the future alternative, google Rex 84!

• 49. Bricks & Clicks &raqu&hellip  |  February 2nd, 2008 at 6:50 am

  […] of you made sure to tell us we were missing the point when we called out Rolling Stone for dissing Rockford in its feature story on how the U.S. fights terrorism. One reader said, […]

• 50. RaChelle  |  February 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am

  I try very hard to remain positive, but its not easy. Rockford DOES have beautiful parks, I am an avid visitor of the Public Library, and I can personally testify to the fantastic opportunities my children got in their special ed programs in ROCKFORD PUBLIC SCHOOL, for which I’ll be forever grateful.

  I own a small business on Auburn Street, the only retail business east of North Main…. the antique shop Oddly Enough.

  Rockford, real and original.. NOT. We are undergoing so much WASTE, it’s really a shame. It doesn’t seem as if anyone notices. Or cares?

  Rockford had my shop’s access closed off for NINE MONTHS last year for road construction, and we counted 62 days no one worked. They all got called away to Lowe’s Corporate. But then I’m just a LITTLE place.. 30000 square feet of wonderful, ORIGINAL stuff.

  Then Rockford voted in a 1% sales tax increase,for road construction, making us have Chicago-style tax on Rockford wages, or Rockford’s unemployment, which I hear a lot about.

  THEN Rockford and the State plan a re-do of Auburn and North Main, where they will be destroying a good amount of the brand new concrete they just put in, as well as removing quite a lot of the “improvement on North Main in 2001.

  The present plans for this project include permanently closing down immediate access to several area business in the vicinity of the project.

  Rockford, Real and Original.

  I feel unimportant compared to all of the love shown to the the “downtown” area. We’re not a poor cousin, but we’re treated as such.

  I read the Rolling Stone article and do realize it was about terrorism. The irreverent side of my humor got a HUGE kick out of the article. It was humorous. ROTFLMAO

• 51. Tony  |  February 2nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm

  Right. On. The. Nose.

  Much of the time, I feel as though Rockford does its best to be a third rate city. We came here from the outskirts of Chicago and can’t wait to get back out there. I’ll take that insanity for this pitiful excuse of a city anyday.

• 52. thedudeabides  |  February 3rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm

  Wow. Just seeing this post today.

  David Preece’s letter made me laugh.

  “Hey! We have plenty of nice stuff to blow up!”

• 53. Gary  |  February 4th, 2008 at 8:17 am

  HEY TONY, JUST START HEADING EAST ! ITS people from the BURBS AND PROJECTS AROUND CHICAGO THAT ARE WRECKING THIS TOWN ! DONT LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY BACK !!!!!

• 54. Anna Voelker  |  February 5th, 2008 at 9:18 pm

  Wow, still getting comments on this post days afterward. Thanks for the great conversation — even to those of you who continue to knock Rockford and Register Star staff.

  By the way, the photo gallery we published on Rockford’s gems is getting healthy traffic. More than 9,000 page views so far. Take some time to check it out. It’s here.

• 55. Sarah  |  February 7th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

  Gary,
  Just to let you know, it’s the people from the BURBS that raised your property value when they decided to come live here and we can’t blame the people from the projects when we have just as bad if not worse projects already here and the Mayor invited the residents of Caprini Green here in conjunction with the Chicago Mayor.
  Why don’t we have the Metro? Why did Rockford say NO to everything proposed in the last 10 yrs? Where did our 1% tax raise go? Has anybody seen the roads lately? I own 2 homes and pay tax on both and still pay tuition for private school/ Why? Because Rockford public failed to educate my children. This town is way behind and the most backward narrow minded city I have ever seen. I work in real estate and have people transfer from other states and want to buy a house, BUT NOT in Rockford. How do you explain the fact that people from other states, that don’t even come from this area, know Rockford isn’t a good plans to be?

• 56. Gary  |  February 8th, 2008 at 7:39 am

  SARAH, DO you really think that the people from the CHICAGO PROJECTS DID NOT BRING ALL THE CRIME WHITH THEM ? WE HAVE NEVER HAD AS MUCH CRIME HERE BEFORE ! WHERE YOU FROM THE LAND OF NOD ? AND SCHOOLING YOUR KIDS IS YOUR PROBLEM NOT MINE ! YOU HAVE TWO HOUSES SO YOU SHOULD BE ABEL TO AFFORD TO PUT THEM IN ANY SCHOOL YOU WANT. JUST TRY TO LIVE LIKE THE REST OF US PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR JOBS, HOMES AND EVERYTHING ELSE , SO LADY YOU SELL HOUSES, YOU AND YOUR MONEY DONT IMPRESS ME ONE BIT! WHATS THE MATTER, COULD`NT YOU SELL HOMES IN THE BURBS ? AND NOW YOU WANT TO COME HERE AND BITCH ABOUT OUR TOWN.

• 57. sarah  |  February 10th, 2008 at 11:30 am

  Gary,
  You are a very judgemental person. You don’t know anything about me, you assume. I never said I sell houses, I said I work in real estate, I do own two homes, and I do pay tution for my children’s school, Why is that offending to you? That doesn’t imply I make tons if money. If I did I wouldn’t live in Rockford.
  I never said that “NO” crime comes from Chicago, I said the Mayors brought the projects here, Rockford has a higher crime to population ratio than Chicago. You don’t read very well either. I said, the people from the burbs raised the property value by moving here and paying higher prices than the locals. I have never lived in the burbs, no will I. I don’t understand why you even care about my opinion anyway, I thought this was just a discussion?

• 58. jonathan  |  February 20th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

  I moved to Rockford in 2002 because my spouse got a job here. Although it has a decent park system, there are no jobs and nothing to do. I have lived in cities both larger and smaller than Rockford and this is clearly the worst. Rockfordonians have to abandon the idea that they can drop out of high school(or barely) graduate and make 50k a year working in a machine shop. It seems that the rest of America understands that these kinds of jobs are in the past, like blacksmithing, candlemaking and shepherding. Why can’t Rockford get it. There are three other great things about Rockford, though:

  1) close to Chicago
  2) close to Madison
  3) close to Milwaukee

• 59. Michael Trela  |  April 4th, 2008 at 3:08 pm

  Unfortunately the city sucks. My wife and I moved here 4 years ago. Now they are putting asphalt plant in our area. We’ll abandon the house and run away from Rockford as soon as I find job near Chicago. I would not recommend the city to my friends.

• 60. Hilary  |  April 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

  Hey, look on the bright side. We made it into Rolling Stone!

• 61. Brian  |  April 4th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

  Everything they said is pretty much exactly true. I grew up in Rockford, but at times have lived elsewhere for jobs and such. Ultimately, I returned back here for ONE reason - Rockford houses are much more affordable than trying to live any closer to Chicago.

  Beyond that, though, Rockford is a pretty sad place to be. Available eating and shopping are okay, thought the malls are a joke. But there is no decent entertainment - music in town is pretty bad, one pathetic company has a monopoly on movie theaters in this town, and things like concerts and theater are SO overpriced for Rockford. It’s like they think we’re Chicago or something. FAR from it, both in quality and what area residents are willing to pay.

  Roads are disasters, and anything west of the River, or even like 11th St, (including downtown) is just a ghetto - why would ANYONE want to spend any time there?

  Don’t go blaming Rolling Stone just cause the town sucks. They’re just telling it like it is.

• 62. Vicki Langy  |  April 5th, 2008 at 6:58 am

  The article seemed very accurate to me. Escaping from Rockford was the best decision I’ve ever made. As for those above that had mentioned Charles Box was the person that ruined Rockford, this is untrue. It goes back long before Mr. Box. Rockford didn’t want the Chrysler Plant. Rockford didn’t want CherryVale Mall. Rockford drove out Fred Ford, who during his time of authority, turned the airport into a place people wanted to fly out of. The UPS hub is here because of him also. Rockford decided to elect officials to the school board rather than continue appointing them. The list goes on….

• 63. Barry  |  April 5th, 2008 at 7:39 am

  The way you people drive (tailgating, blowing red lights, going 20-40mph over the speed limit) I’m to busy trying to stay alive going through Rockford and not able to pay much attention to your dump called Rockford. I put the drivers in Rockford up there with the drivers in Charlotte NC as the most worse and inconsiderate drivers I ever seen.

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