Survey sent to Round Lake-area residents

How much do you love Round Lake?

That's one question on a survey mailed to residents in Round Lake, Round Lake Beach and Round Lake Park.

Sent by the Round Lake Management Commission and Illinois State University, the survey is part of a study to determine how emotionally attached people are to where they live.

"Basically, we want to know how people feel about a place and how that feeling affects certain behaviors," said Joan M. Brehm, project director from the Illinois State University sociology and anthropology department.

The information will also help lake management commission officials determine how residents use the lake now, and how they want to use it in the future.

That could include idea ranging from more lights to tougher lake restrictions to improving water quality, Brehm said.

Surveys were sent Thursday to homes within three blocks of the 228-acre glacial lake.

They should be completed by the person 18 years of age or older who had the most recent birthday. That person must be a permanent resident of the household, and not a guest or someone who rents a room in the neighborhood. The person does not have to be the homeowner.

The Round Lake study is part of a larger study including lakes in Wisconsin and New Hampshire, Brehm said.

"This is a community-based project designed to help local groups, like the Round Lake Management Commission, understand how local communities can help with quality of life issues for residents," she said.

The survey also asks about recreational opportunities on the lake, the people residents know around the lake, and water quality.

Ken Schur, head of the Round Lake Management Commission, said this study is exactly what his group needs.

"With this data, we can hopefully create a better community around the lake and help out with the health and integrity of Round Lake," Schur said.

Brehm hopes to complete the study by late January, then turn over the findings to the commission.

Anyone who did not receive a survey should contact her at (309) 438-7177 or by e-mail at Jmbrehm@ilstu.edu.

"We want as many surveys filled out as possible," she said. "We want to learn everything we can."