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Crystal Lake Neighborhoods |
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Crystal Lake is a large city and has distinct neighborhoods. As the largest city in McHenry County, it contains three high schools, and has many separate neighborhoods. Because many adults work out of town, notably in Chicago, social life in Crystal Lake is determined largely by whom people's children go to school with, and who lives nearby. For this reason, two of the separate neighborhoods are technically in the neighboring city of Lake in the Hills, but are both socially and socioeconomically more a part of Crystal Lake, especially due to the inclusion of these neighborhoods in Crystal Lake schools.
Starting from the north of the city, the ten neighborhoods are easy to trace out. The first has no de facto name like the others, but is referred to as "by Prairie Ridge", referring to the nearby high school of the same name. Houses in this neighborhood are large and widely spaced. The entire area lies just to the north of the city, from the downtown area to the adjacent community of Bull Valley. Next is downtown Crystal Lake, which rings Crystal Lake Central High School. Houses here range greatly in size and age, and it is the most diverse neighborhood in the city. Directly south of downtown Crystal Lake is the Coventry neighborhood, named for the major through street Coventry Lane. Students in the Coventry neighborhood attend either Central High School of Crystal Lake or Crystal Lake South High School. Oral tradition holds that Coventry was originally populated by pilots who fly out of O'Hare Airport.
 The intersection of Waterford and Bennington.To the southwest of downtown Crystal Lake is the sprawling Four Colonies neighborhood, which covers nearly 2.5 sq mi. Students from Four Colonies attend both Central and South High School. South of Four Colonies is The Villages neighborhood, which is named for its major thoroughfare, Village Road. An important feature of The Villages is Indian Prairie Elementary School, which is built on a large and steep series of hills that is a favorite sledding location during the snowy months. The residents attend South High School. A neighborhood Northeast of Four Colonies is Wedgewood. Wedgewood includes five ponds, and a forest that backs up to Huntley Road, with a paved walking path. Wedgewood has 5 brick entrance signs saying "Wedgewood", and 3 prominent entrances; the front entrance on Huntley Road's intersection with Lakeview Drive, the back entrance on Huntley Road's intersection with Boneset Drive, and the side entrance on Country Club Road. Wedgewood consists of Single Family Homes, and Villas. Wedgewood Drive circles the whole neighborhood, and is a 1 1/2 mile circle. Wedgewood has beautiful large homes, and villas.
The last two neighborhoods in Crystal Lake are de facto neighborhoods of Crystal Lake due to social and school district ties. These two neighborhoods are technically in Lake in the Hills. The Spring Hill subdivision bears a strong resemblance The Villages, but the houses are slightly smaller. Spring Lake residents attend South High School, as Spring Lake is across the street from The Villages. The final neighborhood of Crystal Lake is also in Lake in the Hills. This is the exclusive Boulder Ridge neighborhood, and it is a gated community centering on the Boulder Ridge Country Club. Lakewood, near the geographic center of Crystal Lake and on the south side of the lake also has social links to Crystal Lake and is, in many cases, considered part of the town.
Other neighborhoods in Crystal Lake ring the town's namesake lake, and are called West End, North Shore, and the Vista. These neighborhoods consist of many older homes built on the lakeshore, and vary greatly in size and style.
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