Rockford, Illinois, and BOY, do we need nurses! Three hospitals (one Catholic hospital). I work at one of the non-Catholic hospitals.
We have a Catholic high school that has won numerous awards. Protestants send their kids to this school.
We have a network of excellent elementary and middle school Catholic schools; also a fast-growing Catholic homeschool co-op.
My husband and I converted to Catholicism from evangelical Protestantism in 2004. Our parish is Holy Family, and it is the place where the “LIght of the World” retreats were created. These Catholic retreats are now conducted all over the world, and teach Catholics how to experience a “personal relationship” with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. PROTESTANTS come to these retreats!
LOTS to do at Holy Family. Several Bible studies, lots of service opportunities, etc. A great apologetics teacher. Great pastor and priests.
Several other great Catholic Churches, including the Cathedral for our diocese. We are incredibly blessed to have Bishop Thomas Doran, who is ROCK HARD CATHOLIC. Ten years before I became a Catholic or even thought about Catholicism, I listened regularly to Bishop Doran on the radio and recognized that he was a man of Christ.
BTW, the Diocese of Rockford is one of the dioceses that does NOT have a shortage of priests.
We have hosted several Catholic Family Conferences in Rockford with excellent speakers like Tim Staples, Michael Cumbie, etc.
There is a Catholic Bible Fellowship group for ladies and men. It’s been going on for over ten years now.
The city of Rockford is about 80 miles west of Chicago, which is nice if you like the Big City but don’t want to live there. Pop. about 150,000, so a small city. Not much of a downtown, but a great mall (Cherryvale).
The Rock River runs through Rockford, so if you are a boater, you’ll like that. Our Park District is award-winning and deservedly so. We have dozens of reasonably-priced golf courses; people come here from Chicago to golf. Also lots of other rec opportunities, including two ice rinks. Rockford is the hometown of Janet Lynn, who won Bronze in figure skating Sapporo in 197. Many Rockford skaters have won National and International medals in figure skating, including my two daughters.
Rockford is the home of the OLDEST continuously running music club in the U.S., the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center. There are lots of other arts opportunities.
Our YMCA is the largest in the U.S. There are several recreation paths, including a riverfront path.
Last year, Rockford won 1st place in a Garden Competition. Lots of trees in the city; it is nicknamed "Forest City.
One of our emblems is the Sock Monkey, because Rockford was the home of the original red-heeled socks. There are big sock monkey statues all over Rockford.
The weather is great. Four definite seasons, although spring is sometimes a bit muddled (it can snow or be 90). We get a little of everything, but much of the time, it is sunny and pretty. I LOVE Northern Illinoisl! Skiing resorts are about an hour away. Lots of beautiful drives within a fifty mile radius. Lots of Fall Festivals, Bazaars, and small town celebrations. Great weekends. Rockford is surrounded by cornfields and farms, but lots of parks and forests, too. Galena is especially quaint.
Bad things about Rockford:
TREMENDOUS problems with the public schools, so don’t even think of sending children to them. A deseg lawsuit in the 1990s created a brain drain and a ton of controversy, and we are still trying to recover from it.
No night life for young singles, if you’re talking dancing and drinking. If you want ballet, the symphony, etc., you’ll be OK.
Crime rate is high, mainly due to gangs. Also, a lot of poverty, since so many factories have shut down and left people without gainful employment.
Racism continues to be a problem, no matter how hard we try to fight it.
HIGH property taxes! Many people buy homes in nearby Boone County to escape the high property taxes. But we do have some of the cheapest home prices in the U.S. People from Chicago move here and commute to Chicago because they can buy a castle instead of a flat.
Not too many technical companies, so the level of technical knowledge in the city is pretty poor. When companies hear about the bad public schools, they run away from Rockford. This means there aren’t a lot of jobs for people like my husband, who is a systems administrator. He commutes 30 miles to work.
It’s a small thing, but the music in our Catholic Churches is…not the best. We all try, but the large Protestant megachurches in town can whip us in this department. OTOH, Holy Family does have LifeTeen mass, so if you like contemp, it’s available.
In spite of problems, it’s basically a decent, reasonably-priced placed to live. Check it out.
Here are some criteria I am looking for–please include whatever you can in your reply: Is there a good Catholic hospital? Good Catholic schools (elementary)? Churches? Community? Also, other things such as cost of living, cost of daycare, which area is the best place to live within the city, etc. I would specifically like to know about St. Louis, Lincoln, or anywhere in Maine if there is anyone from these areas that can help…or is there a better place? Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut…I plan on picking a place in the next couple months.
Christus Schumpert is our Catholic hospital and it’s pretty nice, with a recently opened and growing Hal Sutton’s Children’s Hospital being located there. Additionally, Shriner’s Hospital for Crippled Children is in town as well as several other top notch medical facilities! We also have NSU (Northwestern State University) School of nursing in case you plan on furthering your skills as well as LSU Health Sciences center with a top notch medical school and school of allied health (OT, PA, etc).
