The Worst Parts of Rockford, Illinois: Westside, Rockford, Illinois 5K. 

Doing your videos midday might be easier on the eyes , just saying.

The Screw City got screwed.

R.I.P. 2 DJ SCREW

Except for Gustfasons. Lol

they did s good job if hollowing if out dems blow big fst 😀✌️

NAFA

Born and raised as well here. You just gotta try to look at the good in the community. There are a lot of great people who live here and their are positive outlets to go to.

I am glad they tore down alot of houses especially by crusader

That's what I've been thinking while watching this ,its not like our town is the worst in the country yeah we have problems but we're cleaning up

On the west side Crusader Clinic has put up a new medical building. Also the police department has split itself into three parts west side, mid town, and east side with three headquarters so that they can get to any emergencies quicker.

Yeah, it only takes a half-hour for them to show up.

Love it!

I agree with you 100%. Plus it’s laid out very well and doesn’t have that many confusing roads. Most are just north south east west roads.

Man you are such a positive guy. Attitude and experiences are everything that counts. Go on !

@@johannesmohner8695 Thank you!

You're kidding right?

At least it ain’t Chicago southside

@@i4oneM that's bullshit! If you want to leave bad enough, you'll find a way! I'm an average Joe, drove a tow truck in Rockford and DeKalb, and I got fed up, and got the hell out of hellinois! Glad I went to Florida, our governor is awesome, unlike that fat joke you got stuck with!

@@jeffhyde7934 it's my dream to go there as well!! Good for you! You're right so many sit around and complain and make excuses for not leaving their entire lives and I'm determined that won't be me.

@@i4oneM if it becomes a bad place to be... ABSOLUTELY! I mean if ya prefer to stay and get drug down by the surroundings that's everyone's right. I'd rather get out and get to a place that's safer with better opportunities for me and my family.

​@@willnewman2418that's not a high bar to pass.

Naw, it was shitty in the 70's and 80's, when I was a kiddo. My Mom grew up there and she had us lock the car doors when we drove into that part of the town.

Appreciate the kind words!

Thank you!

I moved out of the Chicago suburbs to waukesha about 9 years ago. Just came back to the Chicago burbs to save some money by living with family, and I gotta say... It sucks out here, and it's overpopulated severely

I agree to a point. In 1993 Rockford had a higher murder rate than Chicago, there was a huge gang & drug problem. In the late 80s, the South side was declining badly. Rockford began taking away services & community programs by the early 2000’s, disregarding the residents & the youth. Then the wave of Chicago people came. And crime did get way worse no doubt. Beloit, WI is starting to see the effects of it too.

I concur with your analysis. Witnessed it happening personally, I lived in Rockford in the early 2000's and was in the Danville area when I was growing up. Chicago's politics and policies have destroyed many communities outside of Cook county. Sad!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Anderson Japanese Garden is a must visit. I’ve been there on multiple occasions really enjoy it.

There are many plus sides to living in Rockford. Too bad those arent mentioned.

@@midnitesilverrun8631 what are the plus sides? Affordable house prizes at least, I assume?

I've been going to Rockford since the late 80s , the city is so run down.

The best public japanese garden

GIRL YOU AINT NEVER LIE I LIVED IN ROCKFORD FOR 10 YEARS AND IT WAS MESSED UP WAIT TILL IT GET COLD OUTSIDE DONT LET NOBODY NO WHAT YOU GOT IN YOUR HOUSE YOU GONNA GET ROBBED ITS BEST TO JUST DONT FUC WITH NOBODY STAY TO YOURSELF

I second the motion!

My family moved here in 1955 from Ms to escape Jim crow only to find him here.

I was born and raised in rockford till I left in 2009 visted twice since then and it's gone so downhill. I miss alot of things in rockford but not enough to make me even want to visit

City Data indicates all crime categories in Rockford are higher than state averages and the number of police officers is 30% lower than state average.

This documentary seems to have been produced in 1945. Huge contrast between now and then... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kNTOQd3M5W0.html

It’s still fine in my part. We don’t cause the drivein shooting, we watch it

"It was always conservative, BUT A NICE PLACE TO LIVE"?? Do you believe it was nice in spite of being conservative? In my experience, and most others, the nice places are more often conservative than not.

@@joeespo177 Like Miami and Houston ghettos? conservatives have very few major cities, but the ones they do have are poverty stricken ghettos with higher crime rates than SF and NYC.

@@notrealnamee7247 Miami and Houston are run by conservatives? What other fairy tales would you like to share?

You took the words right out my mouth I use to live there I had to move it was horrible I just couldn’t take it anymore

We live in the void😢

I've seen that one a lot of times , that's awesome

I’m planning a mural based off of my FNF and it’s mods. So far planned, we got Alex (boyfriend), Scarlett (girlfriend), and Pico fro the regular. For mods, we got Selever, Tricky, Sky, Carol, Rebecca, Agoti, Garcello, and Kapi

@@ShadeATV What's FNF mean?

I've had to replace my suspension because of the roads here

Yeah it’s an Illinois thing. Highest property taxes in the nation yet worst roads. Our tax money goes to section 8 housing and all the people living their entire lives on welfare.

@@larslux5790 me too!! The potholes and roads are absolutely outrageously bad. I had perfect alignment. Everyone I know has had tire repairs.

@@kopingkiller Thats the same for every other state , Illinois is just worse because it doesn't only go to those things , it also goes to the pockets of governors

@@anitaknight3915 better you walk then next time

Thanks, I appreciate all the comments!

I'll be 62 in June. Born and raised in Rockford Illinois. I've never left. Graduated East high school in 77.

Don’t forget The Color Morale

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂 Meee, tooo!!!

Haha he's going down my work routes :D

Everyone has the right to their own opinion.

Im from that area too (Go Knights!)! We aren't really much different than what you described. East side is only better in terms of funding and investments, haha.

Hey Dan this was a nice Video of are home Town

I lived on westmoreland 210 was my address until my grandpa pass away and my grandma had to go to a nursing home. Your home was the white one on the left side of the street?

Same here, kishwaukee and Brook road area.

What's happening is the opposite of gentrification. The people left in Rockford, are the people who destroyed it. The people who built Rockford, long since moved out because those people moved in. Gentrification is when the rich move in and make things too nice for poor people to live. Instead, the worst people moved in and made things worse for the original inhabitants to the point that they left.

@@peoplez129 Rockford has been prime land for years. Sadly, demographers and land developers with vision and foresight and connections to money and access to power, didn’t want the people in those neighborhoods to stand in the way of their plans. Decline and dereliction in cities like Rockford is deliberate. Money begins to be diverted from certain schools because of white flight. Property taxes determine education funding. Food deserts happen and people have to travel outside of their neighborhood to have access to quality meats fruits and vegetables. Pawn shops and liquor stores and currency exchanges move in…until the hardworking families that once lived there are so fed up, they too leave. Now, the spiral downward continues. Crime increases and buildings are left abandoned. And then time passes. So much time passes that it’s hard to see the beginning and end of those processes. Until finally, a police station as large as the west side is built. Resources are found. Plans are made. The undesirables that are left are shuffled out of the way with disdain. And the cycle continues. So, I must respectfully disagree with your smug assessment of the situation in Rockford.

​@@theroguewriter66 Except....there has been no "Resources are found, plans are made, undesirables shuffled out". Rockford has been a crap hole for at least 20 years. What are the rich waiting for? If it was mere gentrification, they would have finished it years ago. All one has to do is drive through Rockford to see that it is filled with undesirables. Again, it's the opposite of gentrification. Most of the buildings there are at least 70 years old. Why? Because the people that drove the people out that built the city up, never built anything themselves. Like a swarm of leeches and locusts, they came in and took over, and for the last 20+ years, probably more like the last 50 years, they've been using it up until there's nothing left. Houses get torn down so they don't turn into drug houses, or they get burned down by drug addicts. Buildings age until the point of falling apart, because nothing is put back into them or rebuilt in their place, because the people who chased out the original people who built Rockford, never built anything, never did anything, but cause crime and suffering and live loose moral lives. Thugs roaming the streets, blasting their music, more interested in those 20 inch rims and subwoofers that vibrate their car than painting their porch and mowing the grass. People robbing stores left and right, not because they need to, but because they want free stuff and don't want to work for anything. They're fine with sitting on the corners all day. Sure they'd like more, to have a nice big house and fancy car, but they don't want to do anything for it. Only if it's free and at someone elses expense. The undesirables who swarmed in Rockford like locusts were never great people, and then they had children who grew up with bad parenting and became the same or worse. Raised without a moral compass. Raised without a work ethic. Raised on encouraging behavior that is the antithesis of everything needed for a cohesive society. Nothing but petty bickering and conflict among themselves. Interested in nothing but trying to take what others have. Living the "gotta gets whats mine" mentality. All while claiming to be the victim. Never having done even the basic maintenance required in their community. They don't repair anything as it breaks, they just use it up until there's nothing left. They live in crap neighborhood because they've never done anything to make it better, they've only done things to make it worse. These same people go rent apartments, and by the time they move out in less than a year, the building has to be condemned because of how much they've destroyed the insides. They literally drive property owners into poverty and total losses. People put 20K into fixing up a house, and in less than a year or two after renting, it's destroyed by renters. That's certainly not gentrification. And this happens ALL the time. People come in and try to improve the area, but the people in the area tear down any improvements soon after. It's time to face reality. Gentrification didn't do this to Rockford. The people that now reside in Rockford did it. And those people are not the people who built Rockford, they took it by driving the people out who did build it.

@@peoplez129 You certainly paint with broad strokes, don’t you? You speak the highly offensive, coded language of “thugs, leeches, locusts, swarms…” as you dehumanize people and mock their speech. It’s so shameful that in 2021, with the plethora of studies that have proven otherwise, you insist on drawing direct correlations between poverty and work ethics/morality/crime. I’m almost afraid that you would smugly serve a hungry person boot straps…but alas, I’ve learned to budget my energy today. Trying to make eyes and minds open that are resolute in their commitment to staying tightly closed is like trying to administer medicine unto the dead. I hate that I used the word “undesirable.” I should have said hopeless…

​@@theroguewriter66 Painting with broad strokes is exactly the only thing you can do when talking about large groups of people in cities. The notion that you could possibly paint with smaller strokes on something of such a scale is preposterous. Highly offensive coded language? No. It's plain language that offends those who don't want to accept the truth about themselves or others they align themselves with. Serve a hungry person boot straps? Just shows how your perspective is baseless and wrong once again. Last time I tried to help a homeless person, they were standing on a corner with a will work for food sign. I went home, filled up a big brown grocery bag full of various food items. Oranges, apples, water bottles, sodas, cheese crackers, condiment packets, even a whole loaf of french bread used to make a ham and cheese sub, and a few other items. Drove back to the person and handed it to them.....you know what they said to me? "Can I just have some money instead". Not even "Can I have some money too", they literally said "INSTEAD". Meaning they didn't want the food, they wanted money......with a "will work for food" sign! I've seen the same people begging in front of stores for YEARS. Heck, half of them aren't even homeless, they're just on welfare and use the free time they have to beg for money to get more money. Most of them sell their foodstamps for drug money. They'll sit outside of stores and offer to sell foodstamps to people, or not even sell, they're try to do a 1:1 trade....meaning you're doing them a favor and getting nothing. Others will sell it 1:2, meaning they get 50 cents for every dollar. This is the kind of stuff that goes on. So don't try to tell me about these people, I know them, I've walked among them day in and day out. Whatever you think you know, what you really need to know is that you're the one with your eyes and mind closed. They're "hopeless", because they've never done anything but hope for a handout. They're "hopeless", because they've never tried to better themselves. They're "hopeless" because they take but never give back. They're "hopeless" because how they choose to live their lives, doesn't create anything or benefit anyone but themselves in petty small unlasting ways. The only way to know better is to do better, because if you're going to rely on waiting for someone to bring better to you, then you're not part of the solution, you're the root of the problem. Everyone always waiting for someone else to do something to make their lives better. Then blaming the world for not coming to their rescue as if they're some wilting plant that needs to be tended to. That's no way to live. That's a leech and a locust. Stop living under the mentality that someone needs to care for you and coddle you to have something nice. Everyone in a community has to do their part to make that community thrive, it's not the responsibility of some outside force, and there is no outside force in existence that could take on the burden of such a task. If they rebuilt Rockford to pristine glory right now, in a single day, everything brand new, gave everyone 1 million dollar homes and jobs galore, guess what would happen? Without the people there changing their ways, it would all be consumed again until there was nothing nice left, just like it has been before. Nothing will have changed. And then misguided bleeding hearts like you would call for it to be rebuilt at the cost of someone else all over again for another chance, blaming everything else but the personal responsibility of the people there.....and the same cycle will happen over and over and over again. Accepting this truth is the only way to see the real solutions to the problem....or to simply see that there is no solution to the problem because these people will not change. That's the thing about freedom. People are just a free to fail as they are to be successful. And some groups of people will develop, adopt, and promote culture that only leads to failure. It doesn't matter what you label them; be it undesirables or hopeless or whatever else. Labels don't change the reality. If you called a moose a horse, would it change what a moose is? No. It would still have all the attributes it had before. This notion of relabeling people to try to make it sound more positive or make them sound like victims, only serves to misdirect from the actual problem and solutions (or realizing there is no good solution because they are helpless rather than hopeless).

He might have known better. I stay away from those parts of the city because I don’t feel suicidal lately. 😬

@@glennso47 yeah , for anyone who has been outside of our city, the grass is greener. Ooh farm and fleet ,we used to go there when we were kids. One of the most rough is on the east side at cherry vale mall. Gun battles, fist fights, oh boy, we know how to live..

I think he did!!!

That would be the south of Harrison St. Kishwaukee and Brook road area.

Do you remember Barbara Puckett?? My grandma, She was in that graduating class too

Church school is looking pretty rough. Still abandoned

😂😂😂😂

Sad.

on god😂😂

I dont have any. So Ill choose rockfort

i go to auburn feeling famous

Good they still have that.

Perhaps...

@@sydneymeyers1557 oh hey bestie

Did you move back to texas

@@clc1029 No Arizona.

West Coast

I agree with you. The worst is the decisions of our local government.

On summer nights in the 1970s, people were out until 10 at night, in their yards, visiting on porches on hot summer nights! Kids playing, the car wash hopping... Ubiquity Records abuzz with the latest Motown releases, and people coming and going, to and from the grocery stores, schools and churches. Those were such different times, but even then it was rough, and hard to attract new businesses.

@@lisapalmeno4488 Facts Rockford as far as I remember alwayz was a little rough around the edges. The neighborhood I grew up in I can count several incidents to have happen, but this was one of the 'nicer' neighborhoods on the west side. You brought back Great memories with Ubiquity Records I frequently shopped there from a kid buying incense sticks to a teenager/adult buying tapes & CDs. I last seen Sonny (the owner) in 2019 he still was in good spirits.

@@tcwilson815 yeah, I had him and his wife in my newspaper a few years ago. It was an honor.

I'm nearly 62, and I'm here, too. It was the best of times, back in the day.

Speaking of CDs, we have an incredible record and CD store here. They don’t have many of my favorotes, but they have lots of cool stuff including local band CDs. I have a Color Morale CD. The melting sign also adds to the effect.

I live off 11th

I live off 7th

@@number1georgestraitfan58 is 11th as bad as people make it out to be? I've delivered off of 11th near 20 and a customer told me to never let my guard down when delivering in that area 😂

@@ThyHolyNickel94 always good to be conscious of your surroundings. I'd atleast carry a pocket knife with ya. Or your Concealed and Carry

@@ThyHolyNickel94 yes it is bad. As a Rockford native I believe both west and south sides are ghetto but the my are a different kind of ghetto. Lots of gang shit on the west end and lots of drugs on the south end.

What was the interior like when you were attending school? Seems like it used to be a nice building.

Nostalgia Tours it was beautiful back then. I got whacked on the knuckles with a ruler several times there! We lived in public housing called Fairgrounds on Underwood ave. I'm really looking forward to the other Rockford videos. Thanks

I lived in that area until the late 60's and it should be mentioned "Church School" was a public school at that time. I am shocked it's still there. Several owners took over with promises never kept.

Thanks, the one that I think you’re referring to is: (Edit) Maze by Brotherun

Actually the one right before it. From 0:00 to about 11:40.

@@cdikkers30 Mean Streetz MK2

Cairo Playlist complete!

Thank you, appreciate the kind words!

And she attended Auburn

Facts , But she claims to be from Chicago lmao

Exactly. Don't forget that the then-existing shops closed their HR departments and offices and farmed the hiring and work out to temp agencies, leaving a hole in the clerical field. Anyone who didn't learn word processing was basically out of luck, too.

I hate these depressing kind of videos so I’m gonna make my first UTube video in the and show how truly beautiful Rockford is The beauty of Rockford

I have respect for police officers everywhere. We all know that there are some bad apples here and there that abuse their power, and I have my own personal experience with a bad cop. What isn't told in all of the news headlines these days though are things like what you mentioned in your story. There have been many cases all over the U.S. during the past year where individual police officers have become victims of fatal shootings. It's a dangerous job.

@@ChrisHardenthank you for that. You are right there are some bad cops. Yes back in 80s and 90s the black gangster disciples and their leader Karl fort, were in full control of the drug trade in Rockford. It really bothered me how they seemed to be so brazen and given free reign, to stand on the street corner selling crack cocaine. So I made it my goal, to do what I could as a patrol officer, to stop this. I found out who every gang member was and could tell you everything about them. I knew what kind of car they drove, where they lived, etc. I made hundreds of felony and class x felony arrest for drugs and guns. I became a thorn that had to be death with, so they put out a $25,000 contract on my life. At the time I was young, married and had 2 kids. They found out where I lived So we had to move. Long story short, it took a toll on me mentally and physically. It got so dangerous for me that I was forced to resign. One of my deputy chiefs, found out about the contract on my life and they took me off the streets. I was also diagnosed with PTSD. To this day I still miss being a police officer and doing what I could to make a diff. I've been gone from the dept for over 20 years now and I'm still struggling with what happened to me. I thought I was only doing my job, but it turned out I was doing it to well. All the info I knew about the gangs, actually turned out to work against me, I knew to much and I paid a price for it. Back then the rkfd police dept, was a reactive and not a proactive dept. They didn't want their officers to be aggressive. Aggressive officers to them were a liability and generated to many complaints from the public. So they were content with waiting for a crime to happen then going out and solving it.

@@markhollis7219 thank you for your service!! I'm glad you got out of the police department when you did before things got much worse with the gangs, shootings, and drug activity but sad you had to take an early pension. Was your entire police career in Rockford?? You're so right with all the corruption here. It's Chicago's little sibling. It "seems" the police chief now is a better leader and brought improvement.

@@anitaknight3915 thank you for your kind words. yes, my entire police career was in Rockford. I worked for 4 years as a correctional officer in the Winnebago county jail, before becoming a rockford police officer. People have forgot how bad the gang activity was back in the 90s in Rockford. I really loved my job and did not want to take an early retirement. But Deputy Chief Dominic iasparro, found out about the contract on my life and they had to take me off the streets. I was also diagnosed with PTSD. At the time I didn't realize what a toll dealing with everything I had been thru, had taken on me mentally and physically. To this day I still miss the adrenaline rush I use to get making drug arrest and being in dangerous and deadly situations. Hard to explain but you become addicted to the rush of it all, kind of like guys in the military during combat.

@@markhollis7219 I notice so many police officers are leaving the force younger especially given the political climate and racial tensions that went on last year. Absolutely, you can get totally addicted to the adrenaline rush of solving cases, making busts, and being in dangerous situations. Just like the high and rush an addict or drug dealer can get from the fast money and lifestyle. I'm sure it took you a long time to digest everything and work through understanding those emotions once you were able to separate from that job. I'm a mental health counselor and many officers and military personnel have a lot of PTSD, high divorce rates, depression, and anxiety that they've suppressed/drank away many years and it builds up to a dangerous level taking a toll on one's psyche. They hold in and repress a lot in those fields and very few get the help or support they need. I cannot imagine the pressure and stress you had to carry given working/knowing all that info Intel on the gangs. The gangs and drugs seem to continually get worse. I'm glad you are out of that field though and I hope life is treating you and your family well ; ).

Maybe one day RU-vid can be my full-time job and I'll have more time to work with to where I can do vlog style things like that.

Me C s family dinner

Uncle Nicks on state and 6th is the iconic rockford joint

@@40ozoracle61 www.bing.com/search?q=uncle+nicks+rockford+ill&cvid=80e3973f1ffe448ba4e28f7f98265c8a&aqs=edge.0.69i59j69i57j0j69i60j0j69i60l2.2285j0j4&FORM=ANAB01&PC=U531

Lino's is pretty good, gotta go for Mr C's and uncle nicks too

Yeah going there in 80s got crazy but I appreciated my time there I love my people

In the beginning of the video he talks of the other areas of town he videos and shared. Pay attention before criticizing.

@@mariabronowski1339 I was not criticizing him.

I live South East Rockford just a stones throw from Swedish American Hospital.

Very cool! I was about a mile away from Jefferson High School(the new Jefferson). My parents are there for another year and then are moving to Wisconsin.

@@hollihall683 how are you liking Roscoe Holli? I have relatives in Roscoe.I'm from the same area of Rockford as well.

Anita, I like the area. Its quiet where we are at and my sister followed us up here after she had her son 3 years ago, so it's nice having them closer. I don't feel like I fit in with the other moms at the schools because I'm just not that ritzy kinda person, but I have met some down to earth moms too.

@@hollihall683 yeah that's what some of my relatives said too that they didn't fit in with some of the snobby upitty attitude folks. The taxes have went up to a lot higher than they were years ago, but I think Roscoe and rockton schools are better than Rockford. There's some really nice subdivisions out there. You'll find like-minded people who you resonate with in due time ; )

State and Alpine aren't bad areas at all now, most of State street is good I lived on 4th street and Kishwaukee, and there were times it wasn't good, you just can't give up , I miss Rockford Houses were affordable and I always had a job I will probably move back there and buy a house when I'm old

You still live in Rockford?

Nothing wrong with that.

Keep your peas and cues to yourself and you’ll just do fine throughout your life in Rockford 😂🤣

@@jollylord755 right on

@@michaeleacret5336 the potholes and high taxes will get you before a bullet would😂😉

@@anitaknight3915 lol i hear ya

@@michaeleacret5336 how are you liking here? What would u say is the major difference versus in Texas?

Do you like Italian? 😅🥴

I moved in 2003 i still go back to the crib tho every now & then

@@tcwilson815 same! But man has it changed

I assumed that was a possibility. That’s a common strategy used everywhere.