What’s the Spice of Your Life?

By The Lakota Group  |  December 20, 2022

This year, The Lakota Group is celebrating the season by offering one simple ingredient to inspire you: Cinnamon.  A classic and comforting element that sparks nostalgic memories of holidays past and inspires hope and spice in the new year. We spend our days helping people identify tools and strategies to build better communities. Tag us... Read More

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Rewilding: Models and Methodologies

By Morgan Harty  |  July 16, 2019

At the Lakota Group we focus heavily on communication and engagement throughout our design and planning processes. Not only is it our job as landscape architects and urban planners to explore and create innovative solutions, but more importantly, we are charged with educating our clients and communities about best management practices and the value of... Read More

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25 Years of Downtown Plans

By The Lakota Group  |  September 25, 2018

We’ve worked in downtowns across the country—large and small—to craft placemaking, transportation, and economic development strategies that provide both vibrant spaces for residents and destinations for visitors. Our downtown project experience includes design standards and form-based codes, public art and open space programming, streetscape planning and design, heritage tourism and Main Street planning, and signage... Read More

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Join us at the BARK(ing) Spot!

By The Lakota Group  |  September 10, 2018

We are excited to announce that in celebration of PARK(ing) Day on September 21st, The Lakota Group will be transforming parking spaces on West Illinois Street into an urban oasis filled with adoptable dogs from The Anti-Cruelty Society. This temporarily-transformed space, the BARK(ing) Spot, will feature leafy landscaping; comfy places to sit and play; and... Read More

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25 Years of Parks & Playgrounds

By The Lakota Group  |  August 27, 2018

Since 1993, The Lakota Group has designed numerous parks across the Chicagoland area—from neighborhood playgrounds to entire park district comprehensive plans. Through every aspect of the process, we incorporate innovative, sustainable design and extensive community input. Check out just some of the parks and playgrounds we have worked on over the past 25 years!  ... Read More

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Park and Recreation Month Celebration Continues

By The Lakota Group  |  July 31, 2018

For 25 years, we’ve been planning Park and Recreation Plans around the Midwest. We are closing out Park and Recreation month with some insight on how Lakota’s process has become more accessible, reliable, and even more engaging!   Read More

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25 Years of Parks and Rec Planning

By The Lakota Group  |  July 25, 2018

For the last 25 years, Lakota has been working with communities across the country to transform parks, trails, waterfronts, and recreation fields into beautiful, active, and relaxing places for everyone. We’ve learned a lot along the way and have highlighted a few lessons learned from the firm’s top Parks and Rec planners. Read More

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25 Years of Community Engagement

By The Lakota Group  |  June 25, 2018

For 25 years, The Lakota Group has engaged communities in fun and innovative ways. From St. Cloud, Minnesota, to San Antonio, Texas, and everywhere in between, we continue to create visionary work that is rooted in community stakeholders’ unique needs and desires. We seek to strike a balance between forward-thinking technologies and good ol’ fashioned face-to-face... Read More

Categories: 25 Lakota, Uncategorized

25 Years of Comprehensive Plans

By The Lakota Group  |  May 29, 2018

Since 1993, comprehensive and regional planning has evolved from land use “bubble maps” to strategic thinking on community resiliency, placemaking, and quality of life. Comprehensive plans must also inspire communities to be stewards of their own future and active participants in implementation. Lakota has completed numerous comprehensive plan assignments over the years in large cities, small... Read More

Categories: 25 Lakota, Uncategorized

25 Years Since 1993

By The Lakota Group  |  March 26, 2018

For the Lakota family, it’s all about the people – in 1993, it all started with a dream to make great planning accessible to all communities. This year marks our 25-year anniversary. Join us in celebrating innovation, great work, and inspiring communities through a series of blogs on the 25th of every month. Follow us... Read More

Categories: 25 Lakota, Uncategorized

New Year | New People | New Work

By Marisa Schulz  |  January 10, 2018

We are beyond thrilled to welcome MORGAN HARTY to our growing team. Morgan is a landscape architect with an expertise in green infrastructure techniques focusing on stormwater management and water conservation. The New Year also brought new projects… We are kicking-off our work on CHICAGO’S GREEKTOWN MASTER PLAN, which seeks to maintain the cultural identity... Read More

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The Newsiest of News Around Lakota

By Becky Hurley  |  November 20, 2016

Out with the warm weather but in with more new hires at Lakota! We are absolutely thrilled to announce the newest additions to our growing Team: MARISA SHULZ, an experienced urban designer, planner, and writer, joins us as our first Marketing + Brand Director.  Marisa was most recently on the faculty at DePaul’s Chaddick institute... Read More

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Battling Hunger with Creative Muscle

By The Lakota Group  |  June 30, 2014

You may have noticed them if you’ve walked through the Merchandise Mart sometime in late August through early September. They stand about 10 feet tall and resemble anything from a waterfall to Garfield to a hotdog. Of course, we are talking about Chicago’s annual CANstruction event. For the past several years, Chicago’s leading AEC firms... Read More

Categories: Around the Office, Uncategorized

My Life With the Bagpipes

By Siraj Asfahani  |  November 13, 2012

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