The Wetlands Initiative
Lakota has just completed a community engagement and master planning process for the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, a spectacular 3,000-acre wetland and natural area about two hours southwest of Chicago. After almost a century as farmland, in 2001 The Wetlands Initiative turned off the pump and began to restore the Refuge to wetlands. The Refuge today... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Lakota in the Tribune: Niles Arts+Culture Plan
On February 16, the Lakota Group led a Community Workshop for the Niles Arts + Culture Master Plan. The event drew a huge crowd and was covered by the Chicago Tribune. Check it out! Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, In The News
In the Community, In the News
Lakota has been in the news again, engaging with suburban communities outside both Chicago and Milwaukee—and those conversations are yielding real results: ACTIVE TOSA: Lakota is leading the effort to create a Recreational Master Plan for Wauwatosa, a community near Milwaukee, WI. Our work, which will address the future of the parks, trails, open spaces, and recreation... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
In the (Partner) Spotlight with the Millennium Reserve
The Lakota Group has been featured as a Partner Spotlight on the Millennium Reserve Website. President Scott Freres explains how Lakota embodies an “ally” mentality, while VP Sarah White emphasizes the importance of public engagement in Lakota’s process, which, Sarah says, is all about “trying to find common ground between people with different perspectives. Our work... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, In The News
Lakota’s Gateway Master Plan Makes the News
The Lakota Group’s work to create a cohesive and community-supported vision for the Forest Preserve of Cook County was recognized yesterday by Doug T. Graham of the Daily Herald. “Although designs for the gateways have not been completed, the goal is for them to convey a sense of welcome, interest, safety and beauty, according to... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Historic Preservation: An Integral Ingredient in Solving the Contemporary Urban Plight
Want more? Click here for the full PDF:Historic Preservation – An Integral Ingredient in Solving the Contemporary Urban Plight Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, In The News
It’s Award Season at Lakota
Lakota Wins Merit Award for St. Cloud Placemaking The Lakota Group was recently presented with a Merit Award by the Illinois chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ILASLA) for its innovative work in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Engaged to help identify placemaking strategies and opportunities to enhance quality of life, Lakota worked to educate St.... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, In The News, Project Stories
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
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
Scott as Badger
Scott was interviewed by his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, about his work as a landscape architect in the 20-plus years since he graduated. Scott’s reflections about the practice of landscape architecture and how it has changed is worth a look, even for those who do not bleed Badger red. Scott remembers that twenty... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, In The News
Lakota Helps Sisters of BVM in Dubuque Plan for the Future
One of our more unique projects we’ve been working on for the past year or so has been in Dubuque, Iowa with the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Sisters asked that Lakota help develop a plan that would preserve their 108-acre campus in ways that align with their values as they... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Mercy Donates Historic Home in Cedar Rapids MedQuarter to Couple
For the past year, The Lakota Group has been working in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on developing a master plan for the newly-created MedQuarter district. While Lakota’s work on the master plan is nearing completion for the Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District (SSMID), it looks like there is some other news taking place in the district. Recently,... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Mastering the Main Street Revitalization Approach
The grassroots Main Street Four-Point Approach, developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has helped revitalize traditional commercial districts in small towns, suburbs, and urban neighborhoods across the country over the last three decades. Lakota vice president, Nick Kalogeresis, who spent 10 years working for the National Trust Main Street Center as a program... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Transit-Oriented Downtown Evanston
Abutting Chicago’s North Side, Evanston has developed a reputation as a desirable, transit-oriented community that promotes economic growth without compromising its unique sense of place. For the APA’s National Planning Conference being held in Chicago from April 13-17, Kevin Clark, Lakota Group vice president, will give a tour of Evanston’s mixed-used downtown and will talk... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Ideas + Research, In The News
Reinvigorating Oak Park through Public Investment
What is the long-term value of investing in high-quality public spaces? And what impact do public infrastructure improvements have on private investment and placemaking? Daniel Grove, associate principal at The Lakota Group, and Scott Freres, principal/president, will be giving a tour of historic Marion Street in Oak Park for the National American Planning Association Conference... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research, In The News, 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