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Lake in the Hills, Illinois

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Lake in the Hills or L.I.T.H is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,152 at the 2000 census. A 2003 special census put the village's population at 27,728.

The village is most known for its rampant residential growth which occurred most heavily in the 1990s. Once a sleepy lakeside village of cottages and small ranches, its population skyrocketed as developers flocked to the area in the 1990s. Its population increased by 17,000 people (a nearly 300% increase) over this period, making it one of the most rapidly growing suburbs of Chicagoland and in the United States at that time.

File:LITHseal.gif
Lake in the Hills Village Seal

Since the building boom, the village has struggled to continue to provide adequate services and infrastructure as well as establish an identity and community unity, since many community services (Libraries, Schools, Fire Districts) were pre-delegated to neighboring communities like Huntley, Algonquin and Crystal Lake. The village also faces a new challenge in trying to diversify its tax base and provide more commercial and industrial businesses to try and shed the bedroom community status.

Lake in the Hills Airport, a major regional movie theater, low crime, abounding community activities, and an excellent parks system helps the village continue to maintain an excellent reputation and a place that people want to continue to live in or visit.

Geography

Location of Lake in the Hills, Illinois
Location of Lake in the Hills, Illinois

Lake in the Hills is located at 42°11′12″N 88°20′51″W / 42.18667°N 88.34750°W / 42.18667; -88.34750Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (42.186729, -88.347429)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 25.0 km² (9.6 mi²). 24.3 km² (9.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (2.39%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 23,152 people, 7,652 households, and 6,297 families residing in the village. The population density was 951.0/km² (2,461.9/mi²). There were 7,866 housing units at an average density of 323.1/km² (836.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 91.59% White, 1.50% African American, 0.14% Native American, 3.33% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.86% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.31% of the population.

There were 7,652 households out of which 51.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.4% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.7% were non-families. 13.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the village the population was spread out with 33.4% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 44.5% from 25 to 44, 13.4% from 45 to 64, and 3.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 100.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $73,313, and the median income for a family was $76,921. Males had a median income of $51,598 versus $34,449 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,239. About 1.6% of families and 2.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 0.9% of those age 65 or over.

Neighborhoods

Aside from the village's older section, the village has developed several neighborhoods, especially due to the rise of subdivisions in the village over the past 15 years.

  • Presidential Park is a grouping of older homes located north of Miller Road and east of Randall Road. It is named as such due to the streets being named after presidents.
  • Cunat Court is a neighborhood on the village's eastern side, just west of Pyott Road. It incldues 3-story condiminum buildings and a neighborhood recreational center and pool.
  • Boulder Ridge is an exclusive community in the central section of town, north of Algonquin Road, south of Miller Road and east of Frank Road. It features mansions worth between $400,000 and $1,000,000. It also includes the village's only 18 hole golf course, and an immaculate country club which is a popular spot for banquets.
  • Big Sky and Harvest Gate are neighborhoods just west of Randall Road and south of Miller Road, just east of Boulder Ridge. They are some of the village's first actual subdvisions and were built by the same developer, Town and Country Homes. Woods Creek divides them. Big Sky Park, the new Lake in the Hills Village Hall, and Lincoln Prairie Elementary School are all located within these neighborhoods.
  • Spring Lake Farm (north) is a subdivision south of Miller Road, west of Frank Road. It was also among the village's first subdivisions, built circa early 1990s, by Sundance Homes and Americana Homes. It includes both single-family and multi-family homes.
  • Spring Lake Farm is a single-family home subidvision bulit by Sundance Homes on Algonquin Road, west of Lakewood. It was the village's first subdivision west of Lakewood Road. Homes in this neighborhood are valued generally in the $200K range.
  • Bellchase is a neighborhood built by Sundance Homes on the village's only parcel south of Algonquin Road. This neighborhood features Bellchase Commons, LeRoy Guy Park, and a full range of homes, from townhomes and very small 2-story homes to McMansions with 5 bedrooms. Homes in this neighborhood are valued from the high $100s to the high $300s.
  • Sumner Glen and Provence are neighborhoods built by Town and Country Homes. They are located along the western side of Lakewood Road from Algonquin Road to Miller Road. Normandy Park and a natural swampland along Reed Road serve as this area's centerpiece. Provence features slightly smaller homes, including both ranches and two-stories, valued generally in the $200K range. Sumner Glen features more expensive homes, some with 5-6 bedrooms, valued generally in the $300K range.
  • Heron Bay is a small neighborhood featuring slighly upscale homes priced from the mid $200s to the mid $300s. It backs up to the Exner Marsh and features a very large pond with multiple fountains.
  • Meadowbrook is the village's most expansive neighborhood. Located in the northwest part of the village, along Miller, Lakewood, and Haligus Roads, it is anchored by Sunset Park and features several smaller neighborhoods within. Impressions is a townhome community, Summit Ridge is a small neighborhood of exlusive McMansion-style homes, Sunrise and Drake Park are moderately priced neighborhoods featuring one and two story homes, and Regatta is a neighborhood featuring smaller one-story homes. Concord Hills, however, was the first community and is located just east of Lakewood Road, north of Miller Road.

Education

The village is served by four school districts. Consolidated School District 158 serves a majority of the village, covering its densely populated western half. School District 300 serves the older sections of town on the eastern side, and Elementary School District 47 and Community High School District 155 serve the a small portion of the central sections of the village.

Elementary Schools serving Lake in the Hills include:

  • Lake in the Hills Elementary School serves students residing on the eastern side of town
  • Lincoln Prairie Elementary School serves students residing in District 300 boundaries in the central sections of town near Randall Road.
  • Glacier Ridge Elementary School and Indian Priairie Elementary School (in Crystal Lake, IL) serves students residing in District 47 boundaries in the central sections of town along Miller Road.
  • May Chesak and Hannah Martin Elementary Schools serve students residing in District 158 boundaries on the western side of town, along the Lakewood Road corridor. They are located in the Reed Road Campus.
  • Mackeben and Marion Conley Elementary Schools serve students residing in Distirct 158 boundaries on the southwest side of town (generally the Bellchase neighborhood). They are located on the Square Barn Road Campus in Algonquin, IL

Middle Schools serving Lake in the Hills include:

  • Westfield Middle School in Algonquin, IL serves students residing in District 300 boundaries.
  • Richard F. Bernotas Middle School and Leon J. Lundahl Middle School in Crystal Lake, IL serves students residing in District 47 boundaries.
  • Henry Marlowe Middle School in Lake in the Hills serves students residing in District 158 boundaries north of Algonquin Road and west of Lakewood Road.
  • Heineman Middle School in Algonquin, IL serves students residing in District 158 boundaries south of Algonquin Road and east of Lakewood Road.

High Schools serving Lake in the Hills include:

All three high schools are in the Fox Valley Conference and are major rivals of each other.

Huntley Public Library serves residents in the western sections of the village while Algonquin Public Library serves residents in the eastern sections of the village.

Mchenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL is the community college that serves the village.

Recreation

Even though Huntley Park District serves the village's western parts, Lake in the Hills maintains its own park district within village limits and provides immense programs and diverse types of parks and recreational areas. Significant recreational areas include:

  • Sunset Park, one of the village's largest parks located on Miller Road on the western side of the village. The park features several baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, playground equipment, picnic shelters, tennis courts, a basketball court, a gazebo, and a skate park. This is also the site of one of the village's famous summer activities, the Summer Sunset Fest held over Labor Day weekend.
  • Bark Park, located just west of Sunset, is one of the area's only dog parks and serves registered users in the village as a place for their dogs to run and interact with each other.
  • Leroy Guy Park, located in the Bellchase neighborhood on the village's southwest side on Lakewood Road, features several ballfields, playground equipment, tennis and basketball courts, and a picnic shelter.
  • Exner Marsh is a recreational area operated by the McHenry County Conservation District on the village's western side which has a decent trail system, public washrooms, tallgrass prairies, lakes and swampland, and significant stands of trees. It features one of the state of Illinois' few groups of Blanding's turtles.
  • Boulder Ridge Golf Course and Country Club is a public golf course located in the village's most expensive neighborhood in the central part of town.
  • Big Sky Park is a park located between two neigbhorhoods, just west of Randall Road.
  • The Lake in the Hills Fen is a 260-acre natural prairie and recreational area on the village's northeast side of town off Pyott Road. It features immense tallgrass prairie and hundreds of species of wildlife, many of them considered to be rare or endangered.
  • Lake in the Hills is the village's lake located in the eastern part of town. It includes several beaches, boat launches, and adjacent recreational areas. The village's oldest homes, several of them cottages, are grouped around this lake.
  • The Woods Creek is the creek which flows into the Lake in the Hills. It flows through areas just west of Randall Road and its valley and adjacent shrubery provides scenic views of the village's neighborhoods, even from a distance.
  • Ken Carpenter Park
  • Ryder Park
  • Morningside Park
  • Barbara Key Park

Shopping

The village is located along the northern fringe of the Randall Road corridor, one of the most sought-after retail corridors in Chicagoland. As a result, the village has a good portion of its retail in this section. The village's other major retail area, is along Algonquin Road.

Community Activities and Traditions

  • The Lake in the Hills Air Expo is a festival held on a Saturday in the middle of June. It includes a variety of aircraft, utilizing Lake in the Hills Airport and flying over the village, giving spectators and residents alike a taste of aircraft over the past century, especially including World War II-era aircraft.
  • Rockin' Rotary Ribfest is a village event showcasing food, live music, and more, held at the village's Sunset Park in early July.
  • Summer Sunset Festival is the village's main festival. Held at Sunset Park on the village's west side, it features live music, food, a carnival, and a fireworks display. It is usually held on Labor Day weekend.
  • The village has always been a main participant in National Night Out and uses this as an opportunity for positive resident-police interaction, community block parties, and other activities to encourage community and prevent crime
  • Summer Sunset Idol, a spinoff of American Idol, which allows aspiring amateur performers to showcase their talents. There are three rounds, spread out over the summer at the village's main summer events.
  • Community Oriented Police Programs
  • A number of concerts held throughout the year at a small amphitheater near Village Hall.

Notable Residents

Lake in the Hills was the hometown of Josh Caterer, a singer/songwriter, guitarist, and frontman for the influential indie-rock band the Smoking Popes.

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