Daniel Speaks at 2014 Mississippi River Conference
Daniel has been invited to speak this week at the 2014 Mississippi River Conference in Moline about a web-based forum for community dialog that Lakota recently helped some wonderful long-term clients establish. For almost 20 years Lakota has worked closely with the Quad Cities community and with River Action, a Davenport-based organization that advocates for... Read More
Categories: Around the Office
Moline Centred Plan Receives Best Strategic Plan Award
Over the years, the Lakota Group has had a fruitful working relationship with the communities that comprise the Quad Cities metropolitan region. In 1998, Lakota, in collaboration with 18 Quad City communities and various other local non-profit groups and agencies, created the Mississippi River Corridor Land Use Plan and Design Principles, a comprehensive planning document... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, In The News
Density in the Suburbs | APA 2014 Conference
Lakota is a sponsor of this week’s APA-IL conference in Evanston, and we hope to see you there! Come see Scott participate in a panel discussion titled “Density in the Suburbs” on Wednesday at 1:00. The topic will be how to retrofit obsolete single use, suburban development into high density, sustainable development. As the program... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research
CANstruction: The Lakota Group Gorilla Wins the People’s Choice Award!
Did you happen to notice an 8-foot tall silverback gorilla tromping through the Merchandise Mart recently? Then you may have seen the CANstruction Chicago 2014 entry designed and built by The Lakota Group and its teammates Valenti Builders and Myefski Architects. “CANsanova Knuckle-Crushes Hunger,” took home the People’s Choice Award as well as the ribbon... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Awards + Accolades
Lakota Bullish about Downtown Kenosha
Scott was the keynote speaker at the annual State of Downtown Kenosha this week, where he told the audience of more than 100 people that the city had a unique asset to build on: its streetcar infrastructure. The event was reported in the Kenosha News under the headline “Boosters bullish about state of downtown Kenosha”... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Visiting Detroit at the 2014 National Main Street Conference
It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a blog post – more than a year in fact. Well, I thought I’d make up for my extended absence from the keyboard by chronicling my attendance at the National Main Street Conference, held this year in Detroit – the “Motor City!” – a place I’d come... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Ideas + Research
Frank Lloyd Wright and Survey Serendipity
I’ve spent most of my adult life living in Oak Park, Illinois, that well-known Chicago suburb celebrated for being the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway and the home of that other distinguished gentleman, Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed a number of his Prairie School homes and buildings in the community during the first couple of decades... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research
My Life With the Bagpipes
This blog post is not my usual, straight-laced update posting on Lakota projects and happenings. Nope, it’s not even my customary musings about some cool, forlorn old buildings I happened to come across during a work assignment. This time around, I thought I’d write about my quirky but somewhat intriguing (to some) little hobby, one... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Uncategorized
A Revitalized Marion Street in Oak Park, IL
The project to revitalize downtown Oak Park, Illinois was completed in fall of 2007, when plans to reopen a former pedestrian mall to two-way traffic were carried out. Marion Street, in the heart of the central business district, was transformed into a welcoming streetscape reminiscent of its early 20th century look. The new Marion Street... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Project Stories
Pullman State Historic Site: ULI Releases Technical Assistance Panel Report
As a follow-up to an earlier post here at the Lakota blog regarding the Pullman State Historic Site, the Urban Land Institute-Chicago District Council just released the Final Report of its Technical Assistance Panel Visit to the site last October. The report provides a summary of the Panel’s findings during its three-day site visit, including... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Historic Theaters and Revitalizing Traditional Commercial Districts – Recent Lakota Work
Over the past year, the Lakota Group has had a full plate of work with challenging commercial district planning work in three very distinct communities and neighborhoods – the Six Corners commercial district in Chicago’s ethnically diverse northwest side; downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin, once one of the state’s most bustling industrial hubs; and Momence, Illinois, a small... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Neighborhoods, Master Plans and Tivoli Lights: An End of The Year Lakota Group Update
An old Lakota Sioux proverb says that it takes a thousand voices to tell a single story. We thought it would be a good opportunity to provide a brief update on our project portfolio – projects that showcase the depth and talent of our team of planners and designers. From all of us at Lakota, we... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Project Stories
Main Street Momence Does A Master Plan
Over the years, The Lakota Group has had the privilege and opportunity to work in many rural towns and small communities throughout the Midwest, ranging in assignments from designing new waterfronts to designing streetscapes and preparing downtown master plans. During the last three years, our Main Street revitalization and historic preservation work has also taken... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, Project Stories
Pullman 20 years later – Lakota Participates in ULI Technical Assistance Panel for the Pullman State Historic Site
In April 1991, under former Governor James R. Thompson, the State of Illinois purchased the Pullman Palace Car Company Factory Complex and the adjacent Florence Hotel as part of a newly established state historic site. Those of you may recall from your college history or urban planning classes that Pullman was one of the country’s first... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research, Project Stories
Naperville recognized for its historic preservation efforts
The Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association recognized the City of Naperville’s historic preservation program with a 2011 Chapter “Best Practice” Award during the Illinois Chapter’s annual conference last week in Evanston. Naperville undertook a two-year community engagement process to strengthen its local historic preservation program by revising its historic preservation ordinance, reconstituting the... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Project Stories
Welcome to the Lakota Group Blog
“It is observed that in any great endeavor, it is not enough for a person to depend on himself” – Lakota proverb. The Lakota Sioux Native-Americans of the Great Plains lived their lives according to the ideals of community, cooperation, generosity and strength. For the Lakota, strong communities are not possible without cooperation, trust and... Read More
Categories: Around the Office