Lake Zurich, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the lake in Switzerland, see the article "Lake Zurich".
Lake Zurich is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,104 at the 2000 census. A 2003 special census put the village's population at 19,005.
The village is located by a lake also called Lake Zurich.
In 2006, Lake Zurich was named by Frommer's as one of the top hundred "Best Places to Raise Your Family" and by U.S. News as one of the "Top Twenty-five Affordable Places to Live in the Country".
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[edit] Geography
Lake Zurich is located at (42.192324, -88.088098)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 17.7 km² (6.8 mi²). 16.8 km² (6.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (5.26%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 18,104 people, 5,746 households, and 4,866 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,078.7/km² (2,792.3/mi²). There were 5,828 housing units at an average density of 347.3/km² (898.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.31% White, 0.81% African American, 0.17% Native American, 3.82% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.97% from other races, and 0.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.55% of the population.
There were 5,746 households out of which 54.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.3% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.3% were non-families. 12.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.12 and the average family size was 3.42.
In the village the population was spread out with 34.1% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $84,125, and the median income for a family was $89,874. Males had a median income of $63,909 versus $43,047 for females. The per capita income for the village was $30,287. About 2.0% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
The area of Lake Zurich was first settled by Europeans in the 1830s. Two early pioneers were George Ela, after whom the Ela township is named, and Seth Paine, who established a number of commercial ventures in the town. New England farmers moved to the area in the 1830s and 1840s, and German immigrants began to move to the area from the middle of the century. The village of Lake Zurich was incorporated on September 19th, 1896. It remained primarily a farming community; although the village was connected to the railroad in 1910, the line was closed ten years later. However, the arrival of the highway system with Rand Road, US Route 12 in 1922 and Half Day Road, Illinois Route 22 in 1927 established Lake Zurich as a convenient summer resort. The now-defunct Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda Railroad also served the community. Housing development began in the 1950s, with the population expanding throughout the latter part of the 20th century.
The nation-wide crisis regarding eminent domain has reached Lake Zurich. The village government intends to take and pay market value for private property in order to increase revenue via new businesses. As of 2004 Lake Zurich has acquired all the property intended to fulfill its downtown redevelopment project. While many protests occurred regularly throughout 2005 near the promenade, the protests failed to garner much attention and ended up failing. A recent court defeat brought the issue back into the public eye, as a village owned parcel was denied eminient domain. The rentors were granted the ability to stay through their lease. The court deemed that it was not emininent domain for the village to evict the rentors. The continuing issue of commercial advancement versus a more staid growth is reflected by the upcoming potentially contentious village government vote in April, 2007. The village has already broken ground on a new townhouse complex and started paving on the Illinois Route 22-U.S. Route 12 bypass as of May 8 2006. The bypass has since been completed, with cosmetic and utility work ongoing, after over 1 and a half years of extremely snarled traffic and construction delays that the city worked hard to overcome with the project owner (IDOT). Unfortunately, the construction delay may have contributed to the loss of some businesses due to the low levels of customers from the congestion.
[edit] Village Government
The Village of Lake Zurich is headed by Lake Zurich Mayor John Tolomei and by a supporting 6 member Board of Trustees. John Tolomei is now acting Mayor and will serve in that role until the next municipal election on April 17, 2007. Former mayor Jim Krischke resigned from his position to become village administrator for the Village of Hawthorn Woods.
[edit] Redevelopment Plans
The Village of Lake Zurich broke ground for the downtown redevelopment on May 4th, 2006. The groundbreaking is for the new Somerset townhomes located north of Main Street. The Somerset will have 39 luxury, three story townhomes with views of the lake. As of October, 2006, the Rt. 22 bypass will divert heavy traffic away from the downtown area in order to allow easier pedestrian travel.
[edit] Community Unit School District 95
[edit] Elementary schools
- Charles Quentin
- Isaac Fox
- May Whitney
- Sarah Adams
- Seth Paine
- Spencer Loomis
[edit] Middle schools
- Lake Zurich Middle School North (grades 6-8, nickname 'Wolves')
- Lake Zurich Middle School South (grades 6-8, enrollment approx. 900, nickname 'Eagles')
[edit] High school
- Lake Zurich High School (founded 1929 as Ela-Vernon High School, enrollment 2024, nickname 'Bears')
[edit] Private Schools
- Holy Family School (Catholic) (Grades K-8)
- St. Francis de Sales (Catholic) (Grades K-8)
- St. Matthews (Lutheran) (Grades K-8)
- Thomas more High School (Catholic) (Grades 9-12)
- Quentin Road Christian School (Baptist) (Grades K-12)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Lake Zurich official website
- Lake Zurich area informational website
- Lake Zurich Area Community Information Network
- Lake Zurich Area Local History
- Ela Area Public Library
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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| Central City | Chicago |  |
| Largest cities (over 30,000 in 2000) | Aurora • Berwyn • Bolingbrook •Calumet City • Chicago Heights • Crystal Lake • DeKalb • Des Plaines • East Chicago • Elgin • Elmhurst • Evanston • Gary • Hammond • Harvey • Highland Park • Joliet • Kenosha • Naperville • North Chicago • Park Ridge • Portage • Waukegan • Wheaton |
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| Largest towns and villages (over 30,000 in 2000) | Addison • Arlington Heights • Bartlett • Bolingbrook • Buffalo Grove • Carol Stream • Carpentersville • Cicero • Downers Grove • Elk Grove Village • Glendale Heights • Glenview • Hanover Park • Hoffman Estates • Lombard • Merrillville • Mount Prospect • Mundelein • Niles • Northbrook • Oak Lawn • Oak Park • Orland Park • Palatine • Schaumburg • Skokie • Streamwood • Tinley Park • Wheeling • Woodridge | |
| Counties | Cook • DeKalb • DuPage • Grundy • Jasper • Kane • Kankakee • Kendall • Kenosha • Lake (Illinois) • Lake (Indiana) • LaPorte • McHenry • Newton • Porter • Will | |
