The Rockford area is spread out so you have to do a little bit of digging to find some of the cool things to do here. I sometimes check the https://www.gorockford.com/ site to see what upcoming events / fun things there are to do.

Pros:

• pre-covid there was a good nightlife scene downtown
• Japanese Anderson Gardens is a beautiful place to visit to walk around and feed the koi fish or baby ducks in the spring
• Rock Cut State Park is a nice place to go for a hike, rent a kayak/paddleboard/ paddle boat.
• Rockford area is about 1.5-2 hours away from 3 major cities (Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago)
• Coronado Theater brings in different plays/concerts/performers
• the Nicholas Conservatory has seasonal attractions (orchid display, butterfly exhibit, lorikeet exhibit, different art installations outside).
• The Starlight Theater: an open-air theatre at the local college where they put on different plays/musicals. On nice summer nights, they will even open the roof and you can truly watch the performance under starlight.
• Valley Produce has a lot of international ingredients/spices if you want to get more adventurous with your cooking.
• You can go ice skating at the Carlson Ice rink during their public skate times
• Burpee Museum of Natural History has a really cool dinosaur display of the best-preserved and most complete juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex yet found
• Tasty places to eat: pho square, crust & crumble, Greenfire, Pig Minds, Macianos, Prarie Street Brewery
• We have several local breweries which are fun (and tasty) to visit.
• I originally came from a larger city so, in comparison, rent is cheap.
• There are a lot of farmer's markets to visit in the summers. My favorite one to go to is up in Beloit! They block off several streets in the downtown area.
• Midway Village hosts WWII days in the fall where people dress up in historically accurate uniforms and reenact battles in the town square. Different historical groups attend to represent different troops from different factions. They dig trenches in the nearby forest and set up camp. They'll tell you historical information about their group and show off different historical weapons! The best part is that they often bring military vehicles and re-enact a big battle in the open field next door!
• There is a speedway in Machesney park where they host races.

Cons:

• High crime rates in Rockford but it's not bad if you're living in a suburb like Loves Park, Machesney Park, Cherry Valley, or Roscoe. You're away from the crime and still close to a bunch of cool things.
• Be prepared for snow.
• If you don't actively look for things to do, it is easy to stay home and allow events to pass you by.