07/07/2025
Ravenswood “People Spaces” Walking Tour
APA-CMS Event
Get your day started off right with this walking tour through Ravenswood! Meet up with our event presenters from the Lakota Group at the Ravenswood Metra station, then take a walk through the neighborhood to visit four newly-finished unique community gathering spaces. The tour will help you consider each space in the context of a wide range of learning objectives:
Learning Objectives
- Recognize the role of local government in making public space happen. Learn how aldermanic leadership, City departments, local stakeholders, and community-based organizations influence the feasibility, funding, and execution of neighborhood-scale public realm projects, and how early alignment on priorities shapes outcomes.
- Learn how small-scale improvements can have big impacts. Understand how a network of modest-scale public spaces, each tailored to its own micro-context, can collectively support broader community vitality, improving walkability, connectivity, and a sense of place throughout a neighborhood like Ravenswood.
- Understand the design and planning process for public spaces. Explore how the planning principles of visioning, community engagement, design development, and interagency coordination apply to both large-scale parks and small-scale gathering spaces, and how construction and delivery still require layered collaboration to bring public spaces to life.
- Explore context-sensitive design that responds to people and place. Discover how gathering spaces, even when located just blocks apart, can serve distinct functions depending on their physical surroundings, community needs, adjacent uses, and circulation patterns. Understand how design responds to the expected rhythm of use and subtly reinforces neighborhood identity.
- Rethink how we use the urban environment to gather and connect with one another. Examine how unconventional, leftover, or overlooked public spaces, such as widened sidewalks, alleys, or tree-lined buffers can be transformed into meaningful neighborhood amenities. Learn how simple interventions can support everyday gathering, from a quick sit to a spontaneous conversation.
AGENDA:
- 8:50 am - Attendees Arrive
- 9:00 am - Welcome and Tour
- 10:00 am - Adjourn
DETAILS
Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Time: 9:00-10:00 AM (please arrive by 8:50)
Professional Development Credit: CM | 1.0
Registration: (max capacity 25 attendees):
- $15 Member
- $20 Non-Member
- $5 Student
Remember to dress for the weather including a water bottle and comfortable shoes.
SPEAKERS:
Siraj Asfahani, Senior Vice President - Lakota Group
Siraj is an architect and urban planner with experience in different fields of design. His portfolio includes a range of projects, such as downtown planning, placemaking, park and recreational master plans, unconventional public spaces, wayfinding and urban restoration. Siraj believes that good design is innovative, practical, and long lasting. His skill set ranges from computer-aided graphics, rendering, and branding to construction drawings and onsite fieldwork. Multidisciplinary design is his strong point, as he combines his architectural training with his urban design knowledge.
Hannah Bader, AICP, Vice President - Lakota Group
Hannah is a planner and designer who has worked on a diverse range of project types from community-informed comprehensive and strategic plans to site planning and park designs. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to excellence, Hannah excels in managing high-profile planning projects and coordinating all aspects of the process. Her expertise encompasses analytic and creative writing, community engagement, and visual communication. Passionate about the intersection of design and public engagement, Hannah fosters meaningful dialogue and cultivates innovative, community-specific solutions to complex problems to drive positive change.
Alexis Stein, Project Manager - Lakota Group
Alexis is a planner and designer who has experience working on a wide range of project types, from mixed-use development master planning to placemaking initiatives to community-informed framework plans. She has worked on numerous comprehensive planning projects, assisting with all stages of plan development from community engagement to analysis to final plan writing and design. She believes that innovative planning is best achieved through comprehensive public engagement processes and is committed to working alongside communities to cultivate places that are sustainable and livable.