From the tree-lined shores of Lone Star Lake to the exotic urban oasis of The Sandbar, everybody has a favorite part of the community we call home.

And, chances are, many of them are included here in the Journal-World’s annual springtime project known as the Progress Edition.

From a rundown of new restaurants to a listing of community clubs and activities, Progress gives us a glimpse into what makes the Lawrence area so unique, healthy and livable.

For some, it’s the infrastructure: relocation of fire stations to serve a growing city, expansion of Lawrence Municipal Airport to land future business or the addition of city parks to give us all room to play.

For others, progress means business: a menu of new restaurants, the growth in new banks or a push for a giant home-improvement center.

Still others see the struggles behind the scenes: an unfinished trafficway; the need for ground for industrial development; a glut of professional office space.

Such topics are chronicled in the pages that follow, but for a more personal glimpse of the Lawrence community, we asked a handful of Lawrence residents for their thoughts about what they think makes the community special yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Marty Kennedy

General manager, Kennedy Glass Inc.; Lawrence city commissioner

Age: 54.

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1950.

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“I was 2 1/2 years old, and we moved to 708 Rhode Island. Living four blocks away from downtown, we always had an opportunity to walk to the grocery store, the A&P store at 10th and Massachusetts. And we walked to the movies at the Jayhawker, which is now Liberty Hall. We walked to the ice cream store; it was a 6-foot-wide building, and 20 feet deep. It’s not there anymore. But that’s what I remember: being able to walk downtown and not having anything else to do.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“It’s probably our downtown, with its daylong experience of shopping, dining and entertainment. It covers the whole realm of things to be able to do. I can still walk to my favorite places to eat, walk to my favorite shopping places and be able to take in a bite of food. And after that, I can enjoy a relaxing drink at one of the establishments. Probably my favorite hangout is The Sandbar.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“I hope to be able to see our Carnegie Library our historic Carnegie Library become another useful building for the city of Lawrence, to maybe house some type of museum.”

Patty Jaimes

Douglas County clerk

Age: 60

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1959

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“The campus, specifically Memorial Stadium. I like football. I even remember before then, how it was a big deal: Everybody had the yellow corsages, with the red and blue. My folks would go to the games. They dressed up to go to the games. You would see ladies with furs. It’s always been a very important part of me.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“It’s still Memorial Stadium. They’ve changed it and added on, and it’s a beautiful stadium, with the new scoreboard. And I love the Campanile and the hill.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“A winning football team. I remember the total excitement I don’t remember the year but when KU played Oklahoma, if you were late to the ballgame, you missed the first touchdown. And if you left early you missed the winning touchdown. Something exciting like that would be good.

“Back then there was an element of surprise. We could beat Oklahoma and Nebraska. It’d be nice to have that element of surprise again.”

Mike Wildgen

City manager

Age: 54

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1974.

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“I (first) came here in ’65 to go to school. I always liked Lone Star Lake back then. It reminded me of a lake out in western Kansas. It was small and accessible.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“I like the hidden parts of the campus that I can jog in, not the main drag. When I have my running routes, I try to do something a little different, just to get away from the normal street traffic.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“In the long run, I hope my kids (Chris, 11, and Anne, 7) can still enjoy Lawrence the way I did back then where they feel they can get to areas where you can get into the country, and feel a little isolated every once in awhile. Where cars aren’t everywhere.

“We’ve got a great trails system. The Riverfront Park is a great asset. The big hope for me is that they still feel that’s an asset for 10 years, or 20 years, or more.”

Donna Bell

Executive director, Brandon Woods Retirement Community

Age: 42

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1992.

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“Downtown. It was so vibrant and it was a nice mix of different businesses and restaurants. And it was unique.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“Even though Lawrence is growing there’s still at least where I live a neighborhood. I still go to the grocery store and I can see five people that I know, and stop and chat. I grew up in Los Angeles, where people don’t talk to each other. You didn’t know your neighbor. This is much better.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“That Lawrence stays friendly. I hope that people still stop and give directions to people who need it, and when you walk into a store people still smile.”

Karen Swisher

President, Haskell Indian Nations University

Age: 59

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1996.

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“I liked the size of the city, the small size. I moved here from the Phoenix metropolitan area. I like the small-town atmosphere.

“Here’s an example: Someone at Westside Phillips 66 came to my house when I had a dead battery. They came to my house and started my vehicle. This was soon after I came in ’96, and it would never happen in the big cities.

“Not only that, but after he started it, he was going to go back to the station and this was at night, after hours he was going to go back to the station, pick up a battery, come back and put it back in. I said, ‘I’ll follow you,’ and after I got there, within a half hour, I had a new battery. And it cost me about $50. It was incredible.

“That’s why I like living in Lawrence.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“I like where I work. I like working at Haskell because it’s such a unique place. There’s no place like it anywhere else.

“I still like living in Lawrence. It’s a combination of dining, shopping, quality of life all of those things. There isn’t one thing in particular.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“I hope that all I’ve described will not change too much, that it will remain pretty much the same. The only changes would be to improve the quality of life.

“I would hope that there would be opportunities for people who live here to work here.”

Robert Hemenway

Chancellor, Kansas University

Age: 60

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1995.

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“The Outlook, the home of the chancellor at KU. I thought it was a wonderful place to be able to move into.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“Jayhawk Boulevard, and walking on a bright summer morning down Jayhawk Boulevard, about 6 o’clock, to do my daily constitutional.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“My hope for the future is Memorial Stadium and about 52,000 screaming fans celebrating another win of the Jayhawk football team.”

Nancy O’Connor

Nutrition educator/marketing director, Community Mercantile Co-op

Age: 52

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1986.

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“We moved here from southern Illinois, and we were taken by what a vibrant community it was, and the potential for a child growing up here.

“The community just walking downtown, there was a sense of vibrancy and that there were diverse opinions going on around here. And those diverse opinions were helping to keep Lawrence lively. It wasn’t a community that had a dominant philosophy, that this was the way Lawrence was. There’s positive tension in communities, and it’s particular to Lawrence and it’s a good thing.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“I’m grateful that we still have downtown.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“That we don’t grow too big for our own good. There is a balance between vibrancy and growth. It’s such a precarious balance between remaining vibrant and growing. I believe in healthy control, so that we don’t lose the sense of community that we have.

“We all define it differently, but downtown has a lot to do with that: There is still a place where people go. We wouldn’t be what we are if we didn’t have downtown, that sense that you can still run into neighbors, even with the population approaching 100,000.

“There are parades and art shows. And independently owned stores: Sunflower and Phoenix Gallery and Free State Brewery. Those are the businesses that define this community. When I’m in Free State Brewery, I’m in Lawrence, Kansas. And that’s important.”

Keith Folkmann

Director of plant operations, Sauer-Danfoss

Age: 50

Lived in Lawrence: Since 1998.

What was your favorite part of Lawrence when you arrived?

“The Lawrence school district was most impressive, specifically with Southwest Junior High. The principal, the counselors and the teachers worked extremely hard to make sure our son Mike felt welcome. Sue Hack was a teacher there, and I will forever give Sue credit for helping Mike successfully move from the East Coast to Lawrence, Kansas, at the ninth-grade level, when it’s a difficult time to make the move.”

What is your favorite part of Lawrence today?

“My wife, Carol, and I have fallen in love with Lawrence Community Theatre. We like the intimate arrangement, we appreciate the professional abilities of the people who perform, and we’re on our third year of being season-ticket holders. We really like it.”

What is your hope for Lawrence in the future?

“That we can find the ability to find consensus on what it is we want Lawrence to be. It’s important because it would eliminate the turmoil in the community that seems to exist. It would allow us to reach acceptable outcomes quicker and more effectively. And it would build more unity in the community.”