Loves Park is a very nice area to the east of Rockford. Everytime we visit our son's apartment, we seek pre-Great Recession levels of road, housing and commercial construction.
Our son rented from the Holtans for his last three years of medical school and has been very satisfied with the property and the service. Broken items were addressed quickly - a busted overhead garage door spring was replaced within two hours of our call. The husband and wife landlords are both medical professionals who understand the med school calendar. They crafted the lease to end, more or less, with the end of our son's time at UIC-Rockford, and not 12 months after the lease began. We really appreciated that.
The property is a little older and could use upgrades here and there - some rugs, maybe add a garbage disposal and under-counter lights and consider a full-size washer/dryer. But for a single student, there's nothing here that would be off-putting. (I imagine most married couples would be happy here, too, but I can't really comment on that.)
The site is only about 15 minutes from campus and just a bit more from most of the hospitals and clinics a med student will likely spend time at. Most major retail/food stores are close by (try Woodman's if you're on a budget . . . or if you're not) and there are several truly wonderful restaurants in the area. Comcast provides video and internet and we had no problems with either during the three years. And, seemingly most importantly, our son found several coffee shops where he could sit and study for hours. read more