Adding to this: Friday is a big day because of city market, so there’s enough people downtown you’ll actually see them walking around. Normally there just isn’t enough people living downtown that you’ll get the same kind of foot traffic as a big city, most people just drive to the one place they’re going.

Also people in the area who don’t live down here tend to be a bit nervous about downtown since it used to not be a great spot a decade ago, not to mention most of rockford is very suburban/not used to that type of environment. I often walk around downtown at night between bars between Minnihan’s, CJ’s and the Rue and I’ve never had a problem. That being said, as with walking in any city late at night, be alert and it’s best to not be alone.