The sun sets over East State Street on Thursday, May 5, 2022, in downtown Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Last week, readers of Forbes were presented a glowing depiction of Rockford as a vibrant city rich in culture and natural beauty.

Descriptions of our town aren’t always so rosy.

National media organizations that have descended on Rockford have described our city as everything from “one of the Rust Belt’s worst casualties” to a “beaten down factory town.” But there have also been bright spots calling our community “one of the 15 best places to move in the U.S.” and saying it’s “teeming with cultural and historical landmarks.”

Those seemingly contradictory characterizations can reflect the state of the times — such as when the 1980s-era recession brought the Washington Post and New York Times to town — or they can be spread out by just a matter of weeks.

“We just recently had … (articles stating) we’re the least affordable community to live in and then we’re the coolest city to live in, and the No. 1 reason is because we’re affordable,” Mayor Tom McNamara said. “So I feel like they’re all over the map.”

Related: Rockford named one of 5 ‘surprisingly cool’ towns where you can buy a home for less than $150K

Travel writer Roger Sands’ article for Forbes, titled “How Rockford, Illinois is reinventing itself,” was celebrated here for putting Rockford in a positive light on the national stage. In light of that, we decided to look back at national media coverage of Rockford spread over four decades. Topics ranged from the city’s efforts toward ending veterans homelessness by the Wall Street Journal to a notorious depiction of town by Rolling Stone after a thwarted bombing attempt at the CherryVale Mall. We provide 10 memorable examples of national coverage below.

The way Rockford is described by news organizations can affect how outsiders see us. Therese Thill, president of the Rockford Area Economic Development Council, remembers researching Rockford when she was considering taking the job here in November. The first article she saw was also by Forbes, and it named Rockford one of America’s most miserable cities.

“And that designation just kept getting regurgitated through local sources,” Thill said. “You’d see it on Facebook pages, it’d be regurgitated through some other local media.”

But Thill visited nonetheless, and eventually took the job here.

“I’m glad that I did take the chance and come out for a visit. What I experienced was much more positive,” Thill said. “While every community has problems with crime and often its public school systems, I really saw people in Rockford trying to make a difference.”

Related: Rockford named one of 12 most beautiful places to visit in Illinois

Rockfordians, it seems, can have the hardest time accepting positive news coverage. It’s those articles that are criticized as overlooking the city’s problems while negative depictions are held up as examples of failure.

“I noticed that within the first three weeks of being here,” Thill said. “Rockfordians, we’re really hard on ourselves.”

Thill came to town from Grand Rapids, Michigan, after growing up in the suburbs of Detroit. She remembers a time when people described that region by joking that the last one out should turn off the lights. Now, she said, it’s unrecognizable with new housing, new corporations, a lot of innovation and initiative.

“I think that’s a path for Rockford, too, if we choose that path,” Thill said. “There’s some really smart and dedicated people here who are trying to make the community better.”

Rockford natives can be some of the city’s harshest critics, she said, while those that move here appreciate its finer assets. Positive coverage from national organizations can be a reminder to locals about the good things our community offers, McNamara said.

“For Rockfordians, because we’re in it every day, we don’t always see some of the phenomenal benefits our city and our region has to offer until they’re pointed out by someone from the outside,” McNamara.

He said what residents don’t always notice amid negative coverage is how the city addresses those issues.

“Rockford is fairly unique in that we don’t run away from our challenges,” McNamara said. “We really run at our challenges, and when we’re at our best we run at our challenges together.”

Rockford in the national spotlight

Here are 10 memorable examples of national media coverage that depicted Rockford in both sobering and exceptional terms.

‘There’s no slowing down revitalization’ | Forbes (2022)

“A vibrant, low-cost-of-living city with over 20,000 of acres of public green space, all within a stone’s throw of Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee, Rockford is a diverse community that is capitalizing on its many assets.” — Forbes, “How Rockford, Illinois, is reinventing itself.” (May 2, 2022)

Read the full story here.

‘It might be time to plan a visit’ | Chicago Tribune (2018)

“Rockford has many of those elements that city dwellers have come to expect from energized urban areas: craft breweries (Prairie Street Brewing Co. and Carlyle Brewing Co.), a bustling restaurant scene (with locally sourced offerings at places like Social Urban Bar & Restaurant and Octane InterLounge), a coffee roaster (Rockford Roasting Co.), swanky lofts, yoga studios and more.” — Chicago Tribune, “Rockford is making a comeback – and so is the city’s pride.” (Oct. 31, 2018)

Read the full story here.

‘A murder rate that is three times that of Los Angeles’ | Wall Street Journal (2017)

“Officer (Patrice) Turner knows these students well. She doesn’t just police here, but lives right down the street on Rockford’s west side, a blighted neighborhood in a city with a murder rate that is three times that of Los Angeles and rivals the rates in Milwaukee and Chicago.” — Wall Street Journal, “An Illinois City Aims to Move Better Policing Right Into the Neighborhood.” (Sept. 14, 2017)

‘One of the Rust Belt’s worst casualties’ | Sports Illustrated (2015)

“The Rockford, Ill., AAU team Fred VanVleet starred on during high school was called PrymeTyme—a defiant name, given that the city’s prime was so long past that none of the team’s players nor most of their parents had been alive to see it. Rockford is one of the Rust Belt’s worst casualties, a former manufacturing power 85 miles northwest of Chicago with a population of 150,000 and shrinking. In 1993 its school district was found guilty, in federal court, of decades of what a judge called ‘cruel’ discrimination against minority students, ranging from inferior facilities to substandard curricula. The city was ordered to make $252 million in changes, but the current struggles of Rockford’s African-Americans are part of that ugly educational legacy: According to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2014, Rockford had the highest unemployment rate for Black adults of any city in the nation, a staggering 28.9%.” — Sports Illustrated, “Fred VanVleet is driven (and haunted) by his hometown’s history.” (Nov. 9, 2015)

Read the full story here.

‘Beaten down factory town’ | Wall Street Journal (2013)

“This beaten-down factory town has the highest share of upside-down mortgages in the nation. Mayor Larry Morrissey isn’t surprised. He is upside down himself. …

“Once a prosperous manufacturing hub that created the airbrush and electric garage-door opener, Rockford is now the nation’s underwater capital.” — Wall Street Journal, “Welcome to Rockford, Ill., the Underwater Mortgage Capital of America.” (Sept. 8, 2013)

Read the full story here.

‘A classic sort of Middle American place’ | New York Times (2011)

New York Times Magazine visited Rockford in 2011 to illustrate a story about President Barack Obama’s economic advisers during a lingering unemployment crisis. The result was a package of portraits and audio clips from residents (including Kevin Haas, the author of this article) who still had jobs in a city hard hit by unemployment.

In an explanation of why Rockford was chosen, editor Hugo Lindgren said it was “a classic sort of Middle American place.”

The piece was called “Portraits from a Job-Starved City.”

“Few American cities have suffered as acutely as Rockford, Ill., where unemployment reached nearly 16 percent last summer.”  — New York Times Magazine, “Portraits of a Job-Starved City.” (Jan. 18, 2011)

‘Searching for a new direction for its economy’ | Wall Street Journal (2009)

“Rockford has a long history of riding the waves of U.S. economic booms and busts. It was founded by pioneers that established its entrepreneurial spirit. Later, its rise as a manufacturing powerhouse mirrored the ascension of the U.S. on the world stage. Today, like much of the nation, it is searching for a new direction for its economy.” — Wall Street Journal, “For Rockford, This Downturn Won’t be the First.” (Feb. 3, 2009)

Read the full story here.

‘The lone claim to fame of being the hometown of Cheap Trick’ | Rolling Stone (2008)

“A hardscrabble town in the middle of America, the place is not much more than an intersection of interstates and railway lines … the main attraction in town: CherryVale Mall, a sad-sack collection of clothing stores and sneaker shops on the outskirts of Rockford.” — Rolling Stone, “Special Report: The Fear Factory.” (Feb. 7, 2008)

“… a Midwestern city of 150,000 … and the lone claim to fame of being the hometown of Cheap Trick.”

Read the full story here.

‘Its people exhibit a resilience and a confidence’ | Washington Post (1983)

“That does not mean Rockford resembles a stereotyped picture of Recession City, U.S.A., with shuttered factories and the bleak air of depression. Its people exhibit a resilience and a confidence that are particularly impressive given the hardships many face. Rockford’s splendid parks and well-tended, prosperous-looking neighborhoods make it hard to believe this community has been hit so devastatingly.” — Washington Post, “Rockford Lowers Its Sights.” (June 5, 1983)

Read the full story here.

‘Rockford is in trouble’ | New York Times (1982)

“Rockford is in trouble. Its 19.3 percent unemployment rate, recorded in July, is the highest in the country. Only a handful of businesses are open in the four-block downtown shopping mall known as Symbol Square, and virtually no shoppers are to be seen.” — New York Times, “Rockford and its 19% Jobless are Struggling to Survive.” (Aug. 30, 1982)

Read the full story here.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.