Crestwood, Illinois
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| Incorporated | Village in 1928. | |||||||||||||||
| County; State | Cook; Illinois | |||||||||||||||
| Township | Worth, Bremen | |||||||||||||||
| Government | Trustee-village | |||||||||||||||
| Mayor | Robert Stranczek | |||||||||||||||
| Population (2000) | 11,251 (up 3.95% from 1990) | |||||||||||||||
| Pop. density | 1,419.6/km² (3,682.3/mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| ZIP code(s) | 60445 | |||||||||||||||
| Area code | 708 | |||||||||||||||
| Land area | 7.9 km² (3.1 mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| Income | Per capita: $21,995 Household: $45,813 |
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| Home value | Mean: $131,127 (2000) Median: $122,700 |
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| Website | www.villageofcrestwood.com | |||||||||||||||
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Crestwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,251 at the 2000 census.
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[edit] Geography
Crestwood is located at (41.645233, -87.743586)[1].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.1 km²), of which, 3.1 square miles (7.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (1.61%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the 2000 census[2], there were 11,251 people, 4,685 households, and 2,759 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,682.3 people per square mile (1,419.6/km²). There were 4,805 housing units at an average density of 1,572.6/sq mi (606.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.46% White, 4.52% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 1.04% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.68% of the population.
The top five ancentries reported in Crestwood as of the 2000 census were Irish (29.4%), German (23.8%), Polish (19.8%), Italian (12.0%) and English (4.8%).[3]
There were 4,685 households out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.1% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the village the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 85.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $45,813, and the median income for a family was $56,030. Males had a median income of $41,448 versus $31,455 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,995. About 2.2% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
The Windy City Thunderbolts of the independent baseball Frontier League play at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood.
[edit] Government
The Mayor is Robert Stranczek, son of former mayor, Chester Stanczek. Chester retired in October 2007, and it was then announced that Robert would be taking over his father's role as mayor. In December, after being the mayor for just over a month, Robert Stranczek ran straight into his first test as the mayor. A scandal with the Crestwood Police department where a mother was arrested for child neglect while she and 3 of her kids were donating money to the Salvation Army and her two year old was left sleeping in a locked car just a few feet away left Mr. Stranczek looking innefective as a leader. Public outcry and media criticism were lodged at the police department and Mayor Robert Stranczek never publicly defended the actions of his police officers or the department until after the criminal case was dropped. Many residents compare him very unfavorably to his father, the man who gave him the office, Chester Stranczek. There are to this day many unanswered charges to the corruption in the village of Crestwood and at the Crestwood Police department.
The Treffly Coyne case was dropped by the Cook County prosecutor for lack of evidence. The state's position was that it "was not able to meet it's burden of proof." Many attribute the charges being dropped to media outcry. The story was carried in over 570 newspapers around the world and was heavily commented about on the internet. The prosecutor, Peggy Gill-Curtain denies that media scrutiny caused her office to drop the charges.
One day after the trial articles appeared in several Chicago newspapers levelling charges that Police Officer Forrest Wondolowski, the arresting officer in the Coyne case, had lied to the city of Chicago about his status with the department in Crestwood and innapropriately took compensation for a disability where he said he hurt his shoulder and could not lift more than fifty pounds. He was given a desk job in Chicago and paid disability. He worked without restriction in Crestwood. The city of Chicago has launched an investigation into the matter.
Coyne had always demanded an apology from the city and the police department as well as to have the charges dropped. A few days after the trial, after comments by police chief Timothy Sulikowski which she considered belligerant and offensive, Coyne filed a federal civil rights lawsuit. Noted civil rights attorney Blake Horwitz stepped up to the microphones and accused the Crestwood Police of malicious prosecution, a conspiracy to conceal wrongdoing, and several constitutional violations. The case is ongoing at this time.
Police chief Sulikowski and Mayor Robert Stranczek maintain there is no problem with the department and were quick to add that Forrest Wondolowski was well respected, Stranczek said "we have no problem with him."
Treffly Coyne hopes the federal lawsuit will force the Crestwood Police department to make the department more professional in its approach to law enforcement.
Only time will tell if the case has permanently diminished the reputation and viability of the Stranczek administration.
Crestwood's government rebates to its residents a portion of their property and other municipal tax payments.[4]
According to a signpost for the villages, there is a policy in place of demanding the use of English within the village. This has caused some controversy, as the text on the sign has a spelling error.
Crestwood is in Illinois' 1st congressional district.
[edit] References
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Profile of General Demographic Characteristics, Crestwood, IllinoisPDF (38.9 KiB). U.S. Census Bureau. Accessed 2007-07-11.
- ^ Mayor Returns $48 Million to Taxpayers, Then Retires - by Dennis Byrne - The Heartland Institute
[edit] External links
- Crestwood, Illinois is at coordinates Coordinates:
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