Crystal Lake, Illinois
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Crystal Lake is a city located in McHenry County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 38,000. Crystal Lake has a small bit of fame for being the city where the tradition of giving gold coins to the Salvation Army anonymously began in the early 1980s.
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Geography
ILMap-doton-CrystalLake.PNG
Location of Crystal Lake, Illinois
Crystal Lake is located at 42°13'35" North, 88°20'8" West (42.226423, -88.335439)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 43.5 km² (16.8 mi²). 42.1 km² (16.2 mi²) of it is land and 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.33% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 38,000 people, 13,070 households, and 9,854 families residing in the city. The population density is 903.4/km² (2,339.5/mi²). There are 13,459 housing units at an average density of 320.0/km² (828.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 94.07% White, 0.56% African American, 0.16% Native American, 1.97% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.17% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. 7.01% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 13,070 households out of which 44.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% are married couples living together, 8.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% are non-families. 20.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.89 and the average family size is 3.36.
In the city the population is spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $66,872, and the median income for a family is $75,396. Males have a median income of $52,154 versus $32,287 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,146. 3.5% of the population and 2.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.4% of those under the age of 18 and 3.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
City Description
Crystal Lake is a large city and has distinct neighborhoods. As the largest city in McHenry County, Illinois, it contains three high schools, and has seven separate neighborhoods. Because many adults work out of town, notably in Chicago, social life in Crystal Lake is determined largely by who people's children go to school with. For this reason, two of the separate neighborhoods are technically in the neighboring city of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, but are both socially and socioeconomically more a part of Crystal Lake.
Crystal Lake's seven neighborhoods are largely divided by wealth and school district. Starting from the north of the city, the seven neighborhoods are easy to trace out. The first has no de facto name like the others, but is referred to as "by Prairie Ridge," referring to the nearby high school of the same name. Houses in this neighborhood are large and widely spaced. Next is downtown Crystal Lake, which rings Crystal Lake Central High School. Houses here range greatly in size and age, and it is the most diverse neighborhood in the city. Directly south of downtown Crystal Lake is the Coventry neighborhood, named for the major through street Coventry Lane. Students in the Coventry neighborhood attend either the Central or South high school of Crystal Lake. Coventry has seen a large increase recently in its Hispanic population.
To the southwest of downtown Crystal Lake is the sprawling Four Colonies neighborhood, which covers nearly 2.5 square miles. All students from Four Colonies attend the South high school. Because the neighborhood is so vast and uses so few different floor patterns in its construction, it inspires a saying among children who have never met "That they have already been in each others' houses before." Four Colonies is a solidly middle class neighborhood. South of Four Colonies is the Village neighborhood, which is named for its major thoroughfare, Village Road. An important feature of the village neighborhood is Indian Prairie Elementary School, which is built on a large and steep series of hills that is a favorite sledding location during the snowy months. The Village neighborhood is solidly upper middle class. Village residents attend the South high school.
The last two neighborhoods in Crystal Lake are de facto neighborhoods of Crystal Lake due to social and school district ties. These two neighborhoods are technically in Lake in the Hills, Illinois. The Spring Hill subdivision bears a strong resemblance to the Village neighborhood, but the houses are slightly smaller. Spring Lake residents attend the South high school, as Spring Lake is across the street from the Village neighborhood. Spring lake mixes the middle class and the upper middle class. The final neighborhood of Crystal Lake is also in Lake in the Hills, Illinois. This is the exclusive Boulder Ridge neighborhood, and it is a gated community centering on the Boulder Ridge Country Club. The neighborhood opens its gates to the public most famously on Halloween, and the neighborhood is well-known by local children to give excellent candy. A discussion of Boulder Ridge at any time of the year will invariably turn to this. Boulder Ridge is a solidly upper class neighborhood.
External links
- Crystal Lake official website (http://www.crystallake.org/)