| Lake Zurich | |
| Village | |
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The Performing Arts Center at Lake Zurich High School
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| Official name: Lake Zurich | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Illinois |
| County | Lake |
| Township | Ela |
| Elevation | 850 ft (259 m) |
| Coordinates | |
| Area | 6.8 sq mi (18 km2) |
| - land | 6.8 sq mi (18 km2) |
| Population | 18,104 (2000) |
| Density | 2,792.3 / sq mi (1,078 / km2) |
| Founded | September 19th, 1896 |
| Village President | Suzanne Branding |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Postal code | 60047 |
| Area code | 847 and 224 |
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Location of Lake Zurich within Illinois
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| Wikimedia Commons: Lake Zurich, Illinois | |
| Website: http://www.volz.org | |
Lake Zurich is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago. The population was 18,104 at the 2000 census. A 2003 special census put the village's population at 19,005.
The village is named after the lake, Lake Zurich, which is completely located inside the village.
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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Lake Zurich is located at (42.192324, -88.088098)[1] with an elevation of 850 feet above sea level.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.8 square miles (18 km2), of which, 6.5 square miles (17 km2) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) of it (5.26%) is water.
Landscape is mainly Marshland, Forest, and Beach(by the lake)
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 18,104 people, 5,746 households, and 4,866 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,792.3 people per square mile (1,078.7/km²). There were 5,828 housing units at an average density of 898.9 per square mile (347.3/km²). 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.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the village was $101,872, and the median income for a family was $108,108.[3] 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.
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 lake now known as Lake Zurich was once named Cedar Lake in the 19th century. [1] The village of Lake Zurich was incorporated on September 19, 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, U.S. 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.
In October 2006, a four-lane bypass to Illinois Route 22 (Main Street) was completed, rerouting east-west traffic to the south and east of the downtown area. This project caused a local controversy when environmental authorities determined that construction crews were dumping silt-laden water into the spring-fed Lake Zurich. The threat of State and Federal enforcement was brought against the project in 2006 and 2007.
In order to compensate for the loss of traffic on Route 22, the Village began a 'downtown redevelopment' plan which would eventually become one of the most contentious battles in village history.
Plans were drawn several years earlier but the first developer, the Flex Group, determined it would not have sufficient resources to handle the project and abandoned it.
A second developer, McCaffery Interests, was hired and began construction on the first phase. In 2006 The Somerset Townhomes, located on the north side of West Main Street, broke ground. Unfortunately, sales were not as strong as once hoped. As of June 2009, the townhomes are about 50% unfilled due to various factors which include the nationwide housing slump. The developer abandoned the project, and legal action between the village and the developer followed.
In 2008, the village government began talks with a third developer, Equity Service Group, to redesign and recapitalize the downtown redevelopment. The developer immediately came under scrutiny from members of the community, who were wary of the past two failed attempts to redevelop the downtown area. The backlash culminated with the 2009 full-slate election of an opposition party, who vowed fiscal restraint and environmental protection during future attempts to redevelop the downtown area. While the new village administration is legally bound to negotiate with Equity Services Group, the village has begun renting out previously-vacant downtown buildings to local businesses while the redevelopment plans are on hold for analysis.
The village government has used eminent domain to obtain properties in an attempt to increase downtown revenue via new businesses. As of 2004 Lake Zurich had 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.[4] A 2007 court defeat brought the issue back into the public eye, as a village owned rental parcel was denied eminent domain. The renters were granted the ability to stay through the end of their lease due to clerical errors made by the village's legal and administrative employees regarding this parcel in particular.
The Village of Lake Zurich is headed by Village President Suzanne Branding, who was elected in 2009 to a four-year term. The Village has a six member Board of Trustees. Jim Johnson and Tom Poynton were elected in 2007 to four-year terms. Jeffrey Halen, Jonathan Sprawka and Richard Sustich were elected in 2009 to four-year terms. Dana Rzeznik was appointed in 2009 to a two-year term to replace Suzanne Branding, who was elected in 2007 to a four-year Trustee position but was elected mayor in 2009.
Public schools are managed by the Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95.
Elementary Schools (K-5)
Until 2009, Charles Quentin Elementary School was also a school in the district open in Kildeer, right outside Lake Zurich that served students in Kildeer, parts of Deer Park and a small part of Lake Zurich, but it closed due to small size of all the students who were attending it, and the school that takes students from the area now is Isaac Fox.
Middle Schools (6-8)
High School (9-12)
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