Crete, Illinois

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crete is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,346 at the 2000 census.

[edit] Geography

Crete is located at 41°27′21″N, 87°37′8″W (41.455910, -87.618798).^GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 16.6 km² (6.4 mi²). 16.5 km² (6.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.47%) is water. Crete is located about 2 miles west of Illinois Route 394 and within 40 miles of downtown Chicago. Crete is home to the Bible League's International Headquaters, Balmoral Racetrack, the Badlands paintball park, Heritage Park, and many other recreational activities. Illinois State Majority leader Debbie Halverson resides in Crete, along with quarterback Donovan McNabb's parents. Located east of the highway on Richton Road is Old Post Road. Old Post Road hosts the towns legend: Axe Mans Bridge. The woods by the bridge is said to be haunted. Crete is home to acres of forest preserve along with Plum Creek, a park with iceskating and sledding in the winter, and hiking in the summer. Crete offers a small town lifestyle but with in easy reach of the big city. Many high school students from Crete have actually commuted to go to school in Chicago. Villiage Woods retirement home is located south of the city, along with a golf course. The Crete Park of Commerce is springing up near the highway northeast of the villiage with a custom shop, assistant living, and a cheerleading and gymnastics gym. Downtown Crete has a very modern library, a bowling alley, churchs, gas stations, bars, coffee shops, places to eat, and parks. Everyday during the spring you can catch a baseball or softball game at one of Crete's two baseball parks. Crete has many youth programs through the park district and library. Also, the Crete Bulldogs is a very successful youth football and cheerleading program that offers a superior coaching staff and a very competitive season.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 7,346 people, 2,704 households, and 2,090 families residing in the village. The population density was 444.6/km² (1,151.8/mi²). There were 2,807 housing units at an average density of 169.9/km² (440.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 86.46% White, 10.47% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.75% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.63% of the population.

There were 2,704 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.4% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.7% were non-families. 19.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.06.

In the village the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $67,671, and the median income for a family was $73,987. Males had a median income of $51,191 versus $31,090 for females. The per capita income for the village was $29,671. About 0.6% of families and 1.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.2% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.