Valet Park

Lake County is in the grip of gold rush fever. Except, instead of gold it is real estate. And instead of fever, substitute frenzy.

As readers of this blog are handsomely aware ...

Boom Goes the Housing Market

the Lake County Board is on-the-record projecting that the county population will exceed 800,000 by 2020. Real estate speculators naturally want to know where the influx of new residents will occur, and are now closely monitoring the County Board for their buy signal.

As readers of this blog are profusely aware ...

Honey I Shrunk the County Board

it is a poorly kept secret that legislation waits in Springfield that will allow the Lake County Board Commissioners to keep control over the Lake County Forest Preserves. (Current statutes mandate an independent Forest Preserve Board when the county population reaches 800,000.) The smart money -- which knows how to add 2 plus 2 -- can see that the County Board's gobsmacking projection of 800,000 residents by 2020 means but one thing: the County Board is planning to sell off the Forest Preserves to the highest bidder in an effort to raise hard cash to maintain liquidity.

One immediate effect would be a dramatic increase in county population.

The real estate speculators, no surprise, want their piece of the action and are poised to buy up all the land adjoining those Forest Preserves going to the auction block. One unanswered question remains: Which Forest Preserves?

As a service to real estate speculators, boodlers, and fast-buck artists in general, your LakeCountyEye has obtained a classified list of proposed housing developments, subdivisions, theme parks, mega-malls being considered by the County Board. Your favorite Forest Preserve may soon become a construction zone. Interested operatives will have guess which Forest Preserves are impacted. There are ten & shhh don't tell anyone:

Ten Proposals for Developing the Lake County Forest Preserves

Six Flags Over Fourth Lake Cuba Marsh Guantanamo Bay Condo Co-op Fort Sheridan Miniature Golf and Go Karts Independence Grove 1776 Medieval Faire Adlai E Stevenson Historic Haunted Halloween Home Baby Huey's Petting Zoo & Duck Farm Wadsworth Savanna Bikini-Wax No-Touch Car Wash Universal Studios Ethel's Woods Illinois Beach Park Spent Fuel Rod Repository, Water Slide & Adeline Geo-Karis Wheel Lakewood Olympic Size Equestrian Village

Look through your surveyor's equipment for your LakeCountyEye. At a Forest Preserve near you.