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I enjoy your videos! I used to work in Rochelle in the early 1970's and loved the town. The people were GREAT and very friendly! At that time they had several very good places to eat lunch and diner there. I enjoyed shopping at a men's clothing store Carney & Longenecker that was on the main drag in town. I worked for Eaton Corporation at Avenue "G" & Wood Street and enjoy sometimes still driving past to remember the way things were way back then.
Chris your videos have become ASMR for me. Driving through tranquil small towns has been "oddly satisfying" for decades in my own travels. I love avoiding the Interstates (when time permits) and exploring the forgotten roads. Having a meal in a little cafe on a town square, or a sack lunch in a town park is a simple pleasure I never want to miss. Your videos are calming and satisfying when I'm at home and not on wheels. Thanks again, and come to Missouri.
I live in rochelle illinois we love our small town i’m in middle school and i’ve lived her as long as i could remember i’ve been hanging out with friends it’s a good town and if you want a house in a small town we’re the place. I just want to say thank you because no one really know about rochelle i’m glad someone else saw it
"Thanks For The Memories" I grew up in Rochelle and it is nothing like I remember it. 7th St. was covered with a canopy of Dutch Elm Trees, there were charming street lighs on all the streets and all the lawns were green, well mowed and the homes were painted white. The Mullins used to live in the Red Italianatet House on 7th and I used to go over there all the time until they sold the house and moved to Rockford. Now, the street lights are gone, Spring Lake is a park, the Dutch Elms are dead..as is the rest of the town.
This is a really cool and fascinating video. The inrelligent humor really shines as do the techical features. The town looks to be in very good shape especially given its size and location in a high tax state. You have given life and feeling to a community easily driven past...Bravo!
I grew up in Rochelle through the 70's this brought back a lot of memories. You actually went by my first apartment but not the houses I grew up in. A lot has changed there that is for sure but a lot has stayed the same. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.
The funny thing is, my wife I just so happened to stop here today for gas on way home from our anniversary trip ( anniversary was 5/16) from The Mall of America I open up TH-cam and see that you had posted the video. Great job as always
In 1972-1974 we lived in the Holcomb house (now a historic site) 2 story Brick house on 7th av. and 6th st. 7th av, was hwy.51- 2 lane thru town the main north-south highway in Illinois. No freeways. Lots of truck traffic backed up because of the trains. No overpass then. I worked at Morgan Dye till 1973 then worked at Midwest Prestressed Concrete till 1977. Those trains back then -7 to 8 engines 1 1/2 miles long would come screaming thru town over 100MPH. Chicago Northwestern and Burlington Northern ---No Terminals or stopping in Rochelle.
Rochelle is also the Home town of JODI "VARBLE" RUSSELL a model actress the wife of AIR SUPPLY band member GRAHAM RUSSELL . she was in my older brother's high school class. She was in AIR SUPPLY'S music video "MAKING LOVE OUT OF NOTHING AT ALL" both version's.
Oh Yea ! 1970--1977Lincoln Hwy downtown-Left turn--"Frankies Tavern" and "The Pour House" Across the street. And Cherry Av.! So many dive bars after work! The downtown movie theater always had 3 year old movies so we would go to Rockford--No malls. Used to be a great Pizza place next to the theatre.
I enjoyed very much ....I spent 12 years doing aerial mapping of central and northern Illinois for Gov. great to see it from the ground as always I look forward to your videos..
Technically, the old high school was where Walgreens sits now. And the once way street, Cherry Ave, that's home to most of the bars. We have more to do than go to Walmart. :P
Egyptian Theater ? WOW ! I used to drive over to Dekalb in the early 70's to go there, I remember in 1973 an unknown group at the time played there-- "Heart"
What a great little town. I've been watching the live Webcam at the RR Park since last winter. I don't know why I'm so fascinated with this town. Thanks for the video.
I have enjoyed your videos Chris. My memory of Rochelle was on a family trip where I suggested taking a detour off Interstate 39 due to many miles of road construction in 2016, and we ate at The Country School for supper. Rochelle is a town I would definitely like to revisit and view some trains at the railroad park.
I love your videos so much. Especially now they're in this incredible quality. Thank you so much and please continue to make these videos. You'll break through to hundreds of thousands of subs within a year I bet.
Chris, just joined & love your vids! Informative! I live in Streamwood Il & have been interested in Rochelle for awhile! Thanks❤️👌🏻( Louisville: my hometown….❤️
I’m going back to Rochelle to work at one of the cold storage places. I actually go to the railroad park and relax over the years. Also can’t wait to bike out there too.
this seems like an old video because there's a lot iv seen that's changed i used to live there it was my childhood home my grandparents build their home the Walmart used to be across from the car wash before they moved it way out by the highway. you didn't pass by my grandparents house its way out where the old grubstake's restaurant used t be and we used to know the owner Ava she had to sell because of family things, she was always welcoming for out of town people stopping by biker groups and truckers. down town looks the same we didn't go down there much but non the less it brought a lot of memories back. i was still living there when the f-5 tornado hit and took out the first grubstake's building but they rebuilt until Ava sold it. that wooden park out by the MC Donald's and country side ice cream shop and skate board park looks smaller it was bigger and had more buildings around the parking lot my grandpa used to work for some of those warehouses out in down town. there is a Chinese place me and my family would always go to in the plaza area past those few gas stations. on the other side of the road was the bank and a home video we would go to and pic out DVD but mostly VHS movies for a week or 2. the tornado came through barely the corner of Rochelle it kinda curved around us but it hit my nana who was on her way home on the highway from work in DeKalb. the tornado did go further once it came through Rochelle. and that high school in the beginning the town would com and sit out front and across the field they would do fire work shows every 4th of July and always did an awesome finally. sorry if this is a lot i just miss it up there i'm in the south now but i plan on going back one day it was amazing to see and relive some old memories.
It’s not an old video. It was recorded at this time last year. Doubt that much has happened to change the place in a year in this good ole boy town haha.
You like running thru small towns, give US 34 a try starts in Chicago s Ogden Avenue cuts across Illinois thru some wonderful little towns, and right into Burlington, Iowa. Give it a try
I’m trying to go everywhere on this channel. Small town, big city, suburb, doesn’t matter. I’ve noticed that I’m the first TH-camr to hit up all of the smaller towns. I try to keep a criteria of over 5,000 to keep my sanity. Regarding US-34, I’ve made videos on Galesburg and Burlington. Still have to make another trip to rural northern Illinois to grab a handful of towns that I missed.
I just saw your video of Rochelle. What I found odd was that there were no people walking or around. Yes there was a few driving. I take it was on a Sunday. Steven Sipes
grew up in rochelle went to may school , played litlle leage baseball junior tackle fb class of 1975 rths bs degree from u of florida . Alot of young people had good paying jobs and money to spend late 60s and early 70s every fri and sat nite downtown was a hot rod muscle car rally it was awesome but full of troublemakers hubs vs hillbillys on the south side of town the dome over the water treatment plant collapsed the smell was ripe out there for anumber of years
I remember that Rochelle is a major railroad hub in this area. They also have a factory that makes passenger railroad cars. It’s a subsidiary of a Japanese company I think.
@@theshamanshadow I knew it was run by some Asian firm. The news made a big deal of that railroad car company opening a factory in Rochelle a few years ago. Sad that it went belly up.😐 Didn’t seem to last very long. Same as when Motorola opened a cellphone factory in Harvard Illinois and then moved to Asia.
I'm convinced of 2 things, Rochelle was inspiration for John Mellencamp writing Small Town, and there had to be a Mountain Dew Zero taste test survey during this video. Love small towns but wow, enjoyed the video!!
@@ChrisHarden I agree, with 15k in subs, you would think marketing could throw a cooler full of Dew for the drives, and Walmart could open the GoPro display for you. As long as you pay the Illinois "gift" tax of course lol. Perfectly timed troll humor.
A night on the town watching the trains go through. OMG it’s just getting too much excitement for me. Let’s go down town and watch a grocery truck unload. 😲Lots of railroad crossings in Rochelle.
He left out the brewery down town with the bat, balcony and event. The bistro, lots of parks, lots of bands and nighttime intertainment. We have lots of industry rec center , and other things he failed to mention.
Can't believe you visited Rochelle but not the Railroad Park. People from around the world make Rochelle their destination just for that reason. Too bad, you really missed out. A neat place to see rather than just driving aimlessly around town...
That house you mentioned at end of the block. I know who owns that home. Been in there and she opens up her home during the holidays and everything in there, appliances and all are all dated like house.
5:59 pretty sure that's my truck. Can't be positive though because it's common. Also, it's not our fault we're the Walmart shoppers. We've been begging for a store for years even since Sullivan's shut down.
You missed a few things. They filmed 2 Hollywood movies in downtown. The gazebo is where Obama spoke before he became president. Then later it was used in his campaign commercial. And, I don’t know why, but the train park gets visitors from all over the country.
you should come to ashton illinois next town west of rochelle on rt 38 then next town west of that is franklin Grove has awsome b and b , and it's( hub ) town in rochelle
Most towns in the US have numerous and very strict laws about the appearance, design, and maintenance of homes and yards. Plus, many Americans are very closed-minded about what you put in your yard and will get upset with neighbors who do anything different from the norm. That, combined with our short history, is why things look so uniform.
Hi Chris. Such fun videos! Will you do one of Wisconsin Dells please? It’d get tons of “eyeballs” on TH-cam, and be fun to see. But you don’t have to if it doesn’t float your boat tho. Thanks.
Cool video, but not shown are the two MASSIVE Nippon Sharyo railcar manufacturing plants. This Japanese railcar manufacturer chose Rochelle, Illinois (Yes, this international company chose to do business in IL, unlike what a lot of brainwashed people will tell you about how "bad" IL is for business). Anyway, they manufactured hundreds of railcars for us at Chicago Metra, Toronto: Union-Pearson express, VRE (Virginia Railway Express) and Caltrans. I was fortunate to take a company roadtrip from Chicago to Rochelle to get a tour of these two giant buildings in Rochelle as they were slowly becoming abandoned (as the employees pretended to ignore the fact). It's very sad, really. Nippon Sharyo was almost guaranteed a renewed contract for 500 Metra cars, but the Japanese company decided to pull out of the USA altogether, for unknown reasons circa 2017 (during Trump). Very surprised you didn't capture these buildings, they are huge and easily seen from the highway! You may have gotten a brief shot of them in your drone footage, not sure. I'll never forget seeing the last two railcars inside the one building ready to go---the last the building will ever see, perhaps, with a skeleton crew of amazing but denying workers. And the other building: brand new and fully capable of heavy railcar manufacturing with new tools, wheel presses, and huge shelves, which had its lights turned out.
Nippon’s cars failed certain aspects of our government’s ( its got nothing to do with Trump ) stringent crashworthy tests & instead of going back to the drawing board, they folded the doors.
Not much to do there but I guess what it has is enough for those who choose to call it home. Probably why I've never done anything there except get a bite to eat or fuel.
North of Rochelle has a new rec center the stock and field back open soon to be l.p home and harvest and a new Starbucks been build west of Rochelle quiet as of now east of Rochelle new pilot truck stop South of Rochelle new Kwik star gas station new storage buildings
Enjoyed the video and the sights of Rochelle, but why is it that a lot of these towns look deserted? Main St devoid of foot traffic and life, how do these stores turn a profit, I don't understand. I guess maybe the day of the week has an impact, but from what I have seen, it's a carbon copy of other small towns.
You missed a few points of interest. Parts of two Hollywood films were actually shot in downtown. The gazebo you passed is where Obama spoke before he became president and was actually used in one of his campaign commercials. And I don’t know why it’s so big, but the train park gets a lot of visitors from all over the country.
I lived in Rochelle while I attend Grad School at NIU, in DeKalb. Since I was an older student, I benefited more from the independent apartment living, as opposed to living in the dorm, on campus, which I stayed my first year. I was clearly an outsider, and it was quite apparent that I wasn’t welcomed, even though I was only there as a student, and had no intention of residing in Rochelle, so I spent more time driving to Rockford, to shop, and do business there, than in Rochelle. I suppose it was believed that I was one of those “displaced” tenants from the projects in Chicago, but I was from Michigan, and had no knowledge of what was going on with that. I stayed in an apartment near the “hub,” and I often, and later got used to, experiencing disruptions in phone services, and internet. I would have to wait until a “window” opened somewhere in the apartment before I could make a phone call. I’m seeing more of Rochelle in this video, than I ever saw as a resident there. I would get in my car on the weekends, and drive to Chicago, where I felt more comfortable in the diversity of the culture, and didn’t encounter as much hostility.
I haven’t even watched this yet but have seen some say it looks like a nice town and people are so friendly. LOL. Not. It’s changing and not for the good. Many moving to Rochelle from the Chicago area. Crime rates going up. Lots of drug activity. Heck, I’ve seen drug transactions taking place right downtown in the middle of the day. Plus there isn’t much to the downtown to draw anyone there. Heck you can run over to Sycamore or Oregon and find plenty of places to stop in.
He is from Michigan but he has videos of several places through out the Midwest, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, etc. They are all very interesting and informative.
Spend a night on the town getting an oil change for your Jeep. Yippee 🥳 And then get your kicks at Wally Walmart, 😂 Maybe you could run around the track that encircles that football field.
5:28 Since 1914 we’re living in the last days of this wicked system Matthew 24:3-14, so don’t worry, crime will keep going up as we get closer to the end. 2Timothy 3:1-5. NWT Bible
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I enjoy your videos!
I used to work in Rochelle in the early 1970's and loved the town. The people were GREAT and very friendly! At that time they had several very good places to eat lunch and diner there. I enjoyed shopping at a men's clothing store Carney & Longenecker that was on the main drag in town. I worked for Eaton Corporation at Avenue "G" & Wood Street and enjoy sometimes still driving past to remember the way things were way back then.
Chris your videos have become ASMR for me. Driving through tranquil small towns has been "oddly satisfying" for decades in my own travels. I love avoiding the Interstates (when time permits) and exploring the forgotten roads. Having a meal in a little cafe on a town square, or a sack lunch in a town park is a simple pleasure I never want to miss. Your videos are calming and satisfying when I'm at home and not on wheels. Thanks again, and come to Missouri.
Thanks for the kind words!
You passed by cooper park! My favorite place to go sit and watch the sunsets!
I live in rochelle illinois we love our small town i’m in middle school and i’ve lived her as long as i could remember i’ve been hanging out with friends it’s a good town and if you want a house in a small town we’re the place. I just want to say thank you because no one really know about rochelle i’m glad someone else saw it
He drove right in front of my house
"Thanks For The Memories" I grew up in Rochelle and it is nothing like I remember it. 7th St. was covered with a canopy of Dutch Elm Trees, there were charming street lighs on all the streets and all the lawns were green, well mowed and the homes were painted white. The Mullins used to live in the Red Italianatet House on 7th and I used to go over there all the time until they sold the house and moved to Rockford. Now, the street lights are gone, Spring Lake is a park, the Dutch Elms are dead..as is the rest of the town.
I don't know, man. A lot of other towns Rochelle's size in Illinois are WAY worse off than Rochelle. Take Streator, for example.
This is a really cool and fascinating video. The inrelligent humor really shines as do the techical features. The town looks to be in very good shape especially given its size and location in a high tax state. You have given life and feeling to a community easily driven past...Bravo!
Thank you, my soul needed to rekindle with old memories from many years ago. Time to pay a visit to my sweet town of Rochelle, IL.
I grew up in Rochelle through the 70's this brought back a lot of memories. You actually went by my first apartment but not the houses I grew up in. A lot has changed there that is for sure but a lot has stayed the same. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.
The funny thing is, my wife I just so happened to stop here today for gas on way home from our anniversary trip ( anniversary was 5/16) from The Mall of America I open up TH-cam and see that you had posted the video. Great job as always
In 1972-1974 we lived in the Holcomb house (now a historic site) 2 story Brick house on 7th av. and 6th st. 7th av, was hwy.51- 2 lane thru town the main north-south highway in Illinois. No freeways. Lots of truck traffic backed up because of the trains. No overpass then. I worked at Morgan Dye till 1973 then worked at Midwest Prestressed Concrete till 1977. Those trains back then -7 to 8 engines 1 1/2 miles long would come screaming thru town over 100MPH. Chicago Northwestern and Burlington Northern ---No Terminals or stopping in Rochelle.
I live a block away from it
Rochelle is also the Home town of JODI "VARBLE" RUSSELL a model actress the wife of AIR SUPPLY band member GRAHAM RUSSELL . she was in my older brother's high school class. She was in AIR SUPPLY'S music video "MAKING LOVE OUT OF NOTHING AT ALL" both version's.
This is my town! I have lived here since I was born I’m 24 now. People usually call it the “Hub City” btw
Oh Yea ! 1970--1977Lincoln Hwy downtown-Left turn--"Frankies Tavern" and "The Pour House" Across the street. And Cherry Av.! So many dive bars after work! The downtown movie theater always had 3 year old movies so we would go to Rockford--No malls. Used to be a great Pizza place next to the theatre.
I enjoyed very much ....I spent 12 years doing aerial mapping of central and northern Illinois for Gov. great to see it from the ground as always I look forward to your videos..
Technically, the old high school was where Walgreens sits now. And the once way street, Cherry Ave, that's home to most of the bars. We have more to do than go to Walmart. :P
There is a new Starbucks been build Right next to Walgreen's and behind the rec center
That’s the bldg where my dad graduated high school. Didn’t know where they built the new one til I saw this video 🥰
I used to leave work at Mid West Pre-Stressed Concrete and hit the Bars on Cherry St. --My favorite place Was Frankies Tavern and The Pour House.
My great grandma went to that high school
Is T-Birds still there, I use to go bowling on the weekends there
Across the street from the old high school on hwy 51 was a Fantastic pizza place---Real Italian. I was there 2 years ago and it was still there.
Vince's
Outstanding Pizza !! We used to eat there a lot in 1970---1976 Can't believe it's still there !
The addition of the drone to your equipment is certainly benefiting the videos. I really like the air shots in addition to the driving now.
ohmygod ive been wondering if u were gonna do rochelle!!!!!!! thats my hometown thank u!!!!!!!!
we came close to Rochelle, we went to DeKalb for a concert at the Egyptian theater...thank you for the tour!
I remember back in the early 70;s when an obscure, unknown group played at the Egyptian theatre---Their name was "Heart"
Egyptian Theater ? WOW ! I used to drive over to Dekalb in the early 70's to go there, I remember in 1973 an unknown group at the time played there-- "Heart"
What a great little town. I've been watching the live Webcam at the RR Park since last winter. I don't know why I'm so fascinated with this town. Thanks for the video.
In 2010 I stopped at the railroad park for a few hours on my way to the Illinois Railway Museum. It's the best RR park I've ever been to.
We see the sign for Rochelle when we go back to see family and friends (we live outside Nashville) very cool to see what is off the exit! Thanks!
If you go back you will see new building been build like Starbucks Rochelle is getting that build
I have enjoyed your videos Chris. My memory of Rochelle was on a family trip where I suggested taking a detour off Interstate 39 due to many miles of road construction in 2016, and we ate at The Country School for supper. Rochelle is a town I would definitely like to revisit and view some trains at the railroad park.
Country School is still open!
I love it when the angry critic seeing red makes an appearance in your videos!
Me too lol!
The house you passed at 4:45 is where one of my buddies lives. It’s got a nice spiral staircase inside.
Another great video. Rochelle looks like a nice small town. I find something comforting about a small-quiet town idk
Nothing wrong with that
I love your videos so much. Especially now they're in this incredible quality. Thank you so much and please continue to make these videos. You'll break through to hundreds of thousands of subs within a year I bet.
Thanks, and I hope so too!
Chris, just joined & love your vids! Informative! I live in Streamwood Il & have been interested in Rochelle for awhile! Thanks❤️👌🏻( Louisville: my hometown….❤️
I live in Bartlett. Rochelle is nice because it's on i88 and near Rockford, DeKalb, and Dixon.
I’m going back to Rochelle to work at one of the cold storage places. I actually go to the railroad park and relax over the years. Also can’t wait to bike out there too.
My home town!!!!!!! Born and raised
My hometown Class of 2005. Saw my house across the street from where the old RTHS was.
The Itailianate house was owned by Mrs. Vandre in the 60's and 70's. She remodeled the interior and ruined the house forever.
Yes she did!
this seems like an old video because there's a lot iv seen that's changed i used to live there it was my childhood home my grandparents build their home the Walmart used to be across from the car wash before they moved it way out by the highway. you didn't pass by my grandparents house its way out where the old grubstake's restaurant used t be and we used to know the owner Ava she had to sell because of family things, she was always welcoming for out of town people stopping by biker groups and truckers. down town looks the same we didn't go down there much but non the less it brought a lot of memories back. i was still living there when the f-5 tornado hit and took out the first grubstake's building but they rebuilt until Ava sold it. that wooden park out by the MC Donald's and country side ice cream shop and skate board park looks smaller it was bigger and had more buildings around the parking lot my grandpa used to work for some of those warehouses out in down town. there is a Chinese place me and my family would always go to in the plaza area past those few gas stations. on the other side of the road was the bank and a home video we would go to and pic out DVD but mostly VHS movies for a week or 2. the tornado came through barely the corner of Rochelle it kinda curved around us but it hit my nana who was on her way home on the highway from work in DeKalb. the tornado did go further once it came through Rochelle. and that high school in the beginning the town would com and sit out front and across the field they would do fire work shows every 4th of July and always did an awesome finally. sorry if this is a lot i just miss it up there i'm in the south now but i plan on going back one day it was amazing to see and relive some old memories.
It’s not an old video. It was recorded at this time last year. Doubt that much has happened to change the place in a year in this good ole boy town haha.
You like running thru small towns, give US 34 a try starts in Chicago s Ogden Avenue cuts across Illinois thru some wonderful little towns, and right into Burlington, Iowa.
Give it a try
I’m trying to go everywhere on this channel. Small town, big city, suburb, doesn’t matter. I’ve noticed that I’m the first TH-camr to hit up all of the smaller towns. I try to keep a criteria of over 5,000 to keep my sanity.
Regarding US-34, I’ve made videos on Galesburg and Burlington. Still have to make another trip to rural northern Illinois to grab a handful of towns that I missed.
great place because there is the rail road park, hope to be back there soon.
My grandparents are buried in Rochelle. They lived on 6th Ave for years.
“Little houses that are all the same and no one seems to care.” From Pleasant Valley Sunday a song by the Monkees.
I just saw your video of Rochelle. What I found odd was that there were no people walking or around. Yes there was a few driving. I take it was on a Sunday. Steven Sipes
grew up in rochelle went to may school , played litlle leage baseball junior tackle fb class of 1975 rths bs degree from u of florida . Alot of young people had good paying jobs and money to spend late 60s and early 70s every fri and sat nite downtown was a hot rod muscle car rally it was awesome but full of troublemakers hubs vs hillbillys on the south side of town the dome over the water treatment plant collapsed the smell was ripe out there for anumber of years
I remember that Rochelle is a major railroad hub in this area. They also have a factory that makes passenger railroad cars. It’s a subsidiary of a Japanese company I think.
Nippon japanese it's closed
@@theshamanshadow I knew it was run by some Asian firm. The news made a big deal of that railroad car company opening a factory in Rochelle a few years ago. Sad that it went belly up.😐 Didn’t seem to last very long. Same as when Motorola opened a cellphone factory in Harvard Illinois and then moved to Asia.
I'm convinced of 2 things, Rochelle was inspiration for John Mellencamp writing Small Town, and there had to be a Mountain Dew Zero taste test survey during this video. Love small towns but wow, enjoyed the video!!
Mountain Dew and Walmart owe me at this point.
@@ChrisHarden I agree, with 15k in subs, you would think marketing could throw a cooler full of Dew for the drives, and Walmart could open the GoPro display for you. As long as you pay the Illinois "gift" tax of course lol. Perfectly timed troll humor.
A night on the town watching the trains go through. OMG it’s just getting too much excitement for me. Let’s go down town and watch a grocery truck unload. 😲Lots of railroad crossings in Rochelle.
He left out the brewery down town with the bat, balcony and event. The bistro, lots of parks, lots of bands and nighttime intertainment. We have lots of industry rec center , and other things he failed to mention.
Back in 1970 we used to go to the edge of town and watch the corn grow for entertainment !
Can't believe you visited Rochelle but not the Railroad Park. People from around the world make Rochelle their destination just for that reason. Too bad, you really missed out. A neat place to see rather than just driving aimlessly around town...
Driving aimlessly around town? One could say the same thing about your hobby of train watching… aimlessly staring at trains.
That house you mentioned at end of the block. I know who owns that home. Been in there and she opens up her home during the holidays and everything in there, appliances and all are all dated like house.
5:59 pretty sure that's my truck. Can't be positive though because it's common. Also, it's not our fault we're the Walmart shoppers. We've been begging for a store for years even since Sullivan's shut down.
You missed a few things. They filmed 2 Hollywood movies in downtown. The gazebo is where Obama spoke before he became president. Then later it was used in his campaign commercial. And, I don’t know why, but the train park gets visitors from all over the country.
Because they like the trains and Rochelle has this special railroad track piece called the “double diamond”
you should come to ashton illinois next town west of rochelle on rt 38 then next town west of that is franklin Grove has awsome b and b , and it's( hub ) town in rochelle
"The Hub City!"
I used to live here...off of veterans Pkwy
Where are you from and have you done any vids on your hometown?
Check out the movie "A Thousand Acres" Filmed in Rochelle- Michelle Pheiffer-Jessica Lange-1997
You drove right by my house!
It's unbelieveble how uniform the common life in the US is.Do you have seen one house, you have seen them all.Great vlog👍🇺🇸Greatings from Germany
Most towns in the US have numerous and very strict laws about the appearance, design, and maintenance of homes and yards. Plus, many Americans are very closed-minded about what you put in your yard and will get upset with neighbors who do anything different from the norm. That, combined with our short history, is why things look so uniform.
@@michigandersea3485 Thanks for the info and have a nice weekend. Greatings from Germany
You obviously know nothing about architecture..
Lol you almost turned onto the bar street “one way”
Hi Chris. Such fun videos! Will you do one of Wisconsin Dells please? It’d get tons of “eyeballs” on TH-cam, and be fun to see. But you don’t have to if it doesn’t float your boat tho. Thanks.
The goal for the channel is to upload videos from everywhere so yeah eventually I will, just can’t tell you when that would be.
@@ChrisHarden thanks 😊
@@Burps___ So far he has only done Beloit Wisconsin since it directly joins South Beloit Illinois.
Cool video, but not shown are the two MASSIVE Nippon Sharyo railcar manufacturing plants. This Japanese railcar manufacturer chose Rochelle, Illinois (Yes, this international company chose to do business in IL, unlike what a lot of brainwashed people will tell you about how "bad" IL is for business). Anyway, they manufactured hundreds of railcars for us at Chicago Metra, Toronto: Union-Pearson express, VRE (Virginia Railway Express) and Caltrans. I was fortunate to take a company roadtrip from Chicago to Rochelle to get a tour of these two giant buildings in Rochelle as they were slowly becoming abandoned (as the employees pretended to ignore the fact). It's very sad, really. Nippon Sharyo was almost guaranteed a renewed contract for 500 Metra cars, but the Japanese company decided to pull out of the USA altogether, for unknown reasons circa 2017 (during Trump). Very surprised you didn't capture these buildings, they are huge and easily seen from the highway! You may have gotten a brief shot of them in your drone footage, not sure. I'll never forget seeing the last two railcars inside the one building ready to go---the last the building will ever see, perhaps, with a skeleton crew of amazing but denying workers. And the other building: brand new and fully capable of heavy railcar manufacturing with new tools, wheel presses, and huge shelves, which had its lights turned out.
Nippon’s cars failed certain aspects of our government’s ( its got nothing to do with Trump ) stringent crashworthy tests & instead of going back to the drawing board, they folded the doors.
Hardly the hellhole that so many of these smaller cities have become.
Not much to do there but I guess what it has is enough for those who choose to call it home. Probably why I've never done anything there except get a bite to eat or fuel.
Most who live there go to Rockford or DeKalb to do things.
North of Rochelle has a new rec center the stock and field back open soon to be l.p home and harvest and a new Starbucks been build west of Rochelle quiet as of now east of Rochelle new pilot truck stop
South of Rochelle new Kwik star gas station new storage buildings
Who sings the weight in gold song? Good song.
The Walgreens and the new Rec Center are on the site of the old High School
I saw my red jeep as you past my apartment
I saw him pass my house
Me and my friends call it “Roach hell”
Enjoyed the video and the sights of Rochelle, but why is it that a lot of these towns look deserted? Main St devoid of foot traffic and life, how do these stores turn a profit, I don't understand. I guess maybe the day of the week has an impact, but from what I have seen, it's a carbon copy of other small towns.
Name of the song intro please
You missed a few points of interest. Parts of two Hollywood films were actually shot in downtown. The gazebo you passed is where Obama spoke before he became president and was actually used in one of his campaign commercials. And I don’t know why it’s so big, but the train park gets a lot of visitors from all over the country.
How about that new distillery downtown sourced with local grains and serving wonderful upscale cocktails?
Or the airport
The only reason people go to Rochelle is the RR park
17:08 Squirrel!
I lived in Rochelle while I attend Grad School at NIU, in DeKalb. Since I was an older student, I benefited more from the independent apartment living, as opposed to living in the dorm, on campus, which I stayed my first year.
I was clearly an outsider, and it was quite apparent that I wasn’t welcomed, even though I was only there as a student, and had no intention of residing in Rochelle, so I spent more time driving to Rockford, to shop, and do business there, than in Rochelle. I suppose it was believed that I was one of those “displaced” tenants from the projects in Chicago, but I was from Michigan, and had no knowledge of what was going on with that.
I stayed in an apartment near the “hub,” and I often, and later got used to, experiencing disruptions in phone services, and internet. I would have to wait until a “window” opened somewhere in the apartment before I could make a phone call.
I’m seeing more of Rochelle in this video, than I ever saw as a resident there.
I would get in my car on the weekends, and drive to Chicago, where I felt more comfortable in the diversity of the culture, and didn’t encounter as much hostility.
Makes sense you never saw any of these parts. You never tried to.
You should do joplin MO
The majority of the land in Illinois is flat except for the extreme north west around Galena and Mount Carroll areas.
I love roach !!!
Lots of "cool" things to do there .. drink, drugs, and do it all again !!! Party !!! Fishing, hunting, biking, & drinking !!!
16:49 That is “One Way” to look at things 🥴
I used to live there for 2 years. Very depressing. Parts of the town are questionable.
I haven’t even watched this yet but have seen some say it looks like a nice town and people are so friendly. LOL. Not. It’s changing and not for the good. Many moving to Rochelle from the Chicago area. Crime rates going up. Lots of drug activity. Heck, I’ve seen drug transactions taking place right downtown in the middle of the day. Plus there isn’t much to the downtown to draw anyone there. Heck you can run over to Sycamore or Oregon and find plenty of places to stop in.
Oregon drug use is even worse than Rochelle. They bring it here. Rochelle used to be a great town. Just saying.
I been there
Bc I live there and there was a tornado I remember
I live here
You live in Illinois?
Nope.
He’s from Michigan
He is from Michigan but he has videos of several places through out the Midwest, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, etc. They are all very interesting and informative.
I can see my Cousins house here in the video
I live there and u passed my house
Spend a night on the town getting an oil change for your Jeep. Yippee 🥳 And then get your kicks at Wally Walmart, 😂 Maybe you could run around the track that encircles that football field.
5:28 Since 1914 we’re living in the last days of this wicked system Matthew 24:3-14, so don’t worry, crime will keep going up as we get closer to the end. 2Timothy 3:1-5. NWT Bible
Crime will keep going up if misinformed people keep voting Democrat