The Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) project partners recently won nearly $150,000 in funding from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) to enhance public spaces and walkability. The City of Pryor Creek and Town of Luther both received funding, which will go to streetscape and park improvements identified in IQC workshops in 2019 and 2020.
Both IQC projects were made possible in part by sponsorship from the Oklahoma Municipal League (OML), an annual partner of IQC. OML supports IQC’s Community Request for Proposals, which invited Oklahoma towns and cities to submit projects.
A section of the City of Pryor Plan.
The City of Pryor Creek will receive $102,000 to improve walkability, wayfinding, accessibility, and safe crosswalks. These streetscape improvements are related to an IQC design workshop in March of 2020, conducted in partnership with Pryor Main Street, the Mayes County HOPE Coalition, and City of Pryor.
Part of the Town of Luther plan.
The Town of Luther will receive $36,000 to carry out improvements at Wild Horse Park. IQC developed a conceptual plan for the park in partnership with the Town of Luther Parks Commission and Friends of the Park, during a Fall 2019 community engagement and design process.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
