Crystal Lake, IL Reviews

Lots of opprotunities - 1/7/2014
Great area for recreational boating, fishing and biking. Great place to involve your kids as there are lots of opportunities' for football, baseball and dance. For adults there is the Raue Center for music, comedians, and plays.Read More

Time to move - 12/7/2013
I have been living here for 12 years. It's a nice community with friendly people, but I hate the weather. It feels like winter is 6 months long with many overcast days, cold temps, and most everything looks dead outside. Also good-passing jobs require long commutes. I'm about to retire and considering a more to a warm, sunny Read More

Boring - 6/15/2013
A nice place to raise a family, but not a lot of diversity. We are looking to move from here and searching in the Colorado Read More

Not much going on here...but plenty within reach - 8/19/2010
We moved to Crystal Lake in 1994, to be closer to my aging in-laws They are long gone, but we are still here for various reasons, one of which is that relocating is complicated and expensive.

Crystal Lake is an outlying Chicago suburb that didn't always think of itself as a Chicago suburb. This began to change in the when 1980s, suburban sprawl reached this neck of the woods (southeastern McHenry county) big time, causing the population and economy to explode. Crystal Lake is still on the outer edge of the sprawl, but subdivisions have continued to spring up west and northwest of here. People from closer-in suburbs kept moving farther and farther out because the farther you get from Chicago, the lower the price of housing tends to be. (That’s actually what brought my in-laws out here in the first place.) The recession has slowed the growth down some, at least for the time being. This area is still far from what I would call economically depressed, but as in most of Read More

Not a lot of diversity in some areas - 4/14/2010
My husband bought a place in Lakemoor, not far from Crystal Lake. It has definitely been an adjustment period for me since I have lived near Chicago all my life. I'm used to diversity, different culture, religion, etc. Being asian was never an issue where I live. My husband and I went to a small local restaurant in Crystal Lake and this huge family of farmers(they were in dirty overalls and ripped pants so I'm assuming...) sitting right next to us would not stop staring at me! I was so uncomfortable I barely ate my food. I could clearly see them out of the corner of my eye, all of them were eating and just gawking at me! I've never had this kind of uncomfortable experience in my life. I guess I've been sheltered growing up near Chicago. I never thought of Illinois as being small minded until I went outside of the Chicago area...what a rude awakening! I don't think it's as bad as some of the small southern towns but it was still shocking. I felt like an alien from outer Read More

Solidly Republican - 1/1/2007
Crystal Lake and the surrounding McHenry county are predominantly Republican in an otherwise Democratic state. Many Republican candidates for local office run unopposed by a Democratic party Read More

Bedroom Community, Lots of Families, Long Commutes - 10/14/2006
This is a "bedroom community" in the NW suburbs of Chicago. People drive at least an hour to work or take a metro train. The only nearby jobs seem to be Banks, Retail, Restaurants, and Medical offices. There is a lot of new housing developments and shopping. Mostly large family homes. I would say it is mostly a middle class area and majority white population. Elgin next door has a large Mexican population. There are not many freeways to jump on and off, so mostly street driving with lots of lights. It takes a little while to drive anywhere. People are generally nice and friendly. I've only lived here for just over a year and weather seems different than last year. Summers can be hot and humid, winters are cold, about 3 months of 20 degrees. Taxes seem a little high for housing, gas, and sales. A good place for families, singles and young people are a bit out of place. Schaumburg seems like a better location for young, single people. A more central location to the Read More