Editing Crystal Lake, Illinois (section)

==Economy==
The economy of Crystal Lake is fairly decentralized, as there is no central industry within the city. There are several large companies, but none of them is a majority employer. The main economic activities in the city are retail, dining, and light industry. This includes small, specialized, local-owned shops and restaurants as well as broader-ranged national chains. There are several industrial parks in Crystal Lake, which are full of small, independently owned businesses which engage in various industries, such as landscaping or automotive repair.

The shopping center for most of Crystal Lake centers on "the strip", a long stretch of road that runs along what once used to be Crystal Pointe Mall but is now a series of strip malls. The strip is located on Route 14 between Route 31 and Dole Avenue. As the name suggests, this area has mostly national chains. Another shopping area is the downtown district, which is where some, small independent stores are located. Because of parking challenges in the downtown area, many thriving independent businesses can be found in convenient areas throughout the city where access for their customers is more centralized and parking is more abundant.<ref name="history" />

The south side of the city features several gravel quarries. A majority of these quarries are already exhausted, and have been allowed to fill with water, forming an area known as the Vulcan Lakes, also stretching into [[Lake in the Hills, Illinois|Lake in the Hills]] and [[Algonquin, Illinois|Algonquin]]. The two northernmost lakes are now known as Three Oaks Recreation Area. Recreational operations at this site started in Autumn, 2010, and it has since become one of the most popular destinations in Crystal Lake.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crystallake.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2975 |title=City of Crystal Lake Annual Budget 2010-2011 |publisher=crystallake.org |access-date=2010-12-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214225211/http://crystallake.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2975 |archive-date=2010-12-14 }}</ref>