City Affair Saint Louis

City Affair is focusing on Grand Center, St. Louis’s esteemed Theater and Arts District, in November.

Currently the subject of an ongoing master plan process, this event will start at the 2nd public forum for the Grand Center master plan and continue with a walking tour and drinks

Grand Center’s Master Planning process public forum, begins at 5:30pm (until 7:30pm) at the majestic Scottish Rite Auditorium. For more information on the process and event, as well as the previous Master Plan public meeting in July 2011 see the website.

After the meeting, we’ll meet at 7:45 in front of the Continental Building walk past some of St. Louis’s most exciting construction projects, all located in Grand Center and moving forward despite a sluggish economy.

Not one but two St. Louis radio stations will be establishing a bricks-and-mortar presence in Grand Center, and we’ll walk by both sites. KDHX (88.1) will be moving to the 3524 Washington building (formerly used by the Creepy Crawl) and will be renovating the structure, adding a café to the ground floor. St. Louis’s National Public Radio affiliate, KWMU (90.7), will be moving to a brand new, 27,000-square foot facility located on Olive just west of Grand, departing from its present home at the UMSL campus. Construction is underway.

Also in the construction process is the long vacant Metropolitan Building, at the northeast corner of Grand and Olive. Minneapolis-based developer Dominium plans to convert the building to 72 artist-centric apartments. Architect and veteran City Affair member Paul Hohmann will be on deck to discuss the renovation, which will restore what is likely the most prominent empty building in the district to its proper vitality.

We’ll discuss the past, present and future of Grand Center at the newly reincarnated Dooley’s, the famed burger place with the ice cream scoops of cheddar cheese once located downtown in the Chemical Building. Dooley’s now calls Grand Center home, located at 601 N. Grand Blvd.

Spotlight on Grand Center

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH 7:30-9:00 PM
Grand Center Public Meeting - 3633 Lindell Boulevard, 5:30PM
Walking Tour - meet in front of Continental Building - 3615 Olive, 7:45PM
Dooley's Beef N Brew House - 601 N. Grand Blvd., 8:15PM

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For the first time in City Affair's history, we are abandoning our usual slot on the first Thursday of the month.

Instead we're moving it back a whole day to Friday October 7th to celebrate the 4th Annual Metrolink Prom and our thirtieth City Affair!

2011 METROLINK PROM: BLUE MOON BALL CELEBRATES THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF THE BLUE LINE WITH COSTUMES, MUSIC, AND DANCING ABOARD THE METROLINK

Five years ago, St. Louis’s illustrious MetroLink light rail system took a great leap forward with a brand new line that connected St. Louisans for the first time by rail to exotic locales such as Maplewood, Richmond Heights and Shrewsbury. For the fourth time in as many years, St. Louisans will unite to dance aboard the the trains in the off-beat, one-of-a-kind MetroLink Prom. Why do we do this year after year? Because MetroLink—and public transit in general—makes St. Louis a better, more accessible city. Now, with the Blue Line in place, St. Louis can experience our resurgent, historic urban core as well as our thriving, inner ring suburbs in just seven light rail stops.

2011 Metrolink prom has been organized with the help of City Affair, Citizens for Modern Transit, and the Transit Riders Union of St. Louis

DESCRIPTION:
Metrolink Prom is a full-blown, high school-style PROM aboard your favorite transit system. Dress in your finest attire—try to wear something blue. We’ll award the night’s finest dressed (blue-themed formalwear or costumes) with the title of Prom King and Prom Queen. The newly anointed Prom Court will then lead us in our promenade from the Skinker Station to the Moonrise Hotel’s rooftop bar for our Blue Moon Ball – a night of drinking and dancing with an unparalleled bird’s eye view of the city and its duo of MetroLink lines.

EVENT INFORMATION

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 2011
7:00PM-???

COST: $2.75 (for Metro 2 Hour Pass)

MEET UP:
ON THE PLATFORM OF THE FOREST PARK-DEBALIVIERE METROLINK STATION
(272 DEBALIVIERE AVE) AT 7:00PM

PROM KING AND QUEEN ELECTION:
SHREWSBURY METROLINK STATION
(7215 LANSDOWNE AVE) AT 7:45PM

PROMENADE FROM SKINKER METROLINK STATION TO:

BLUE MOON BALL:
MOONRISE HOTEL ROOFTOP BAR
(6177 DELMAR BVLD) AT 9:00PM
AT 9:00PM

As a reminder, there is no eating, drinking, or smoking while aboard Metrolink.

For more information, check out the Metrolink Prom Tumblr.

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Want to know what people who move to St. Louis think of our City? Join City Affair this Thursday for an evening of casual conversation with members of St. Louis TransPlants and enjoy breathtaking views of our beautiful City from the brand new Bar 360, 27 stories up on the rooftop of the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark!

St. Louis TransPlants is a group that fosters solidarity among St. Louis non-natives (and returning expatriates), highlighting their love for their adoptive home. They are truly St. Louisans by choice, and not by happenstance of birth.

Sure, St. Louis gets a bad rap for being a collection of small, tightly-knit, and closed off neighborhoods and towns. In some cases—as we’re sure some of the TransPlants members can relate—this reputation is deserved. But at other times, our localized divisions are trumped up and misrepresented. We at City Affair feel that our city should be a welcoming, inviting environment to all. Some of us being transplants ourselves, we not only accept, but celebrate those from other cities that choose to enrich our city with their talents and perspective! We promise we won’t ask what high school you went to (we don’t care!). See you there!

August City Affair: TransPlant Spotlight

This Thursday August 4th 7:00-10:00 pm

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It's the middle of the summer, it's hot and humid and only a 4 day work week. The City Affair crew thought it wouldn't be good enough to just host another discussion, so we're throwing a picnic!

Not just any picnic, July City Affair will focus on bold plans for the North Riverfront of St. Louis with a walking tour of the future site of Great Rivers Greenway's Iron Horse Trestle Project.

St. Louis is poised to become the site of the third linear park in the world. The Iron Horse Trestle, like the High Line in New York and the Promenade Plantée in Paris, will face a challenging implementation. At the same time as engineering for this visionary project is underway, the St. Louis Development Corporation is preparing to relegate 3,000 acres of the North Riverfront to only industrial use. What can we do as interested citizens to secure room for recreation and redevelopment on the North Riverfront?

Addressing these issues will be:
Todd Antoine - Deputy Director of Planning for Great Rivers Greenway
Phil Valko - Active Living Program Manager at Trailnet
Jennifer Allen - Program Coordinator for Trailnet

We will picnic at 7:00PM at the corner of Howard and Hadley.
We will bring grilling apparatus, fuel, plates and cups. Please consider purchasing picnic supplies at the community-owned Old North Grocery Co-op (http://oldnorthgrocery.com/).
The Co-op is located at 8 blocks from the picnic site at 2718 N. 13th Street and is open until 7PM.

The Co-op offers a full array of farm-fresh produce, meat from Lee Farms, Vess and Fitz's Soda and other staples. Currently the Co-op does not sell beer.

At 7:45PM, Todd Antoine will lead interested participants on a walking tour of the former Illinois Terminal Railroad trestle that is will be transformed into the Iron Horse Trestle.

Following the walk, Phil Valko will discuss new plans for a pedestrian and bike connection between Old North St. Louis and the St. Louis Riverfront Trail. Jennifer Allen will discuss the impending North Riverfront RFP (request for proposals) process by SLDC and what Trailnet and other organizations are doing to ensure mixed-use and recreational accessibility in the 3,000 acre area.

Open discussion will follow the trestle tour and the brief presentations.

City Affair XXVII: Picnic at the Iron Horse Trestle

July 7th 2011 from 7:00-9:00PM @ the intersection of Howard and Hadley Streets St. Louis Missouri 63106


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Any photographs submitted to grouphugstl@gmail.com by midnight on Friday, May 27 earn TRIPLE tickets and are therefore 3X more likely to win a prize!

Prizes include St. Louis Cinemas movie passes; gift cards to STL-Style, the St. Louis Curio Shoppe, Gelateria Del Leone; mugs and swag from Old North St. Louis Restoration Group; a t-shirt and decal from preservation group ModernSTL; and much more!

Get a foot up on the competition just for submitting early!

As a reminder, the final deadline for submission of photos is Tuesday, May 31 at 5pm.

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Tired of people hating on STL? So are we! It’s time for a GROUPHUG!

IF YOU LOVE ST. LOUIS, SHOW ST. LOUIS!

Calling all lovers of St. Louis! This city needs your tender embrace! Too often we hear more about what’s wrong with our city rather than the things that make it great. And far too often we counter this negativity with words rather than actions. Now is our chance to change that.
...
CITY LOVERS UNITE TO GIVE ST. LOUIS A PROVERBIAL HUG

WHAT: GROUPHUG ST. LOUIS

WHO: All lovers of St. Louis

WHEN: Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 7 – 10 pm

WHERE: STyLehouse, 3159 Cherokee St., 63118

HOW MUCH: Free!

City Affair presents GROUPHUG, the first event of its kind in the nation!

WHAT IS IT?

We are asking you and your friends to scour the city for your favorite people, places, and objects—ones that define our city and/or help to explain why you love St. Louis—and HUG these subjects for the camera. Get a friend to snap a photograph of you with your arms wrapped around your favorite St. Louis building, business, monument, person, etc. On June 2, all participants and friends are invited to attend the GROUPHUG party to view pics, imbibe, listen to music and express your love for STL.

Cleveland-based Saving Cities will be filming portions of the event and conducting interviews to document grassroots efforts to “save” Rust Belt cities from the community up. Put forward your best photograph—and our city’s best face—for our guests from Cleveland. For more information, visit www.savingcities.com

OK, I DID IT. NOW WHAT?

E-mail your photograph(s) to: grouphugstl@gmail.com by Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 5 p.m. More than one is encouraged! Tell us your name, where you are or who you are with.

WHY AM I DOING THIS?

Each submission is a chance to win prizes at the GROUPHUG event on June 2, including $100 cash, gift certificates to various St. Louis businesses, and, of course, free hugs. Prize will be awarded to Jury’s Selection for best submission.

For a list of submission rules and guidelines, event news and sneak peaks, visit http://grouphugstl.tumblr.com/.

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Where: Elvis Room, Bluebbery Hill in University City

When: May 5, 2011 7pm – 9pm



The big new trend in urban development is Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) – mixed-use residential and commercial development focused around transit that seeks to encourage transit ridership and dense, walkable livable neighborhoods. Examples of TOD are touted in Washington, D.C. and Portland, but what about St. Louis? What are the challenges and opportunities for transit-oriented development in our region? Our panelists will discuss current opportunities for development around transit and a mid-town trolley, as well future markets and challenges.

Seth Teel, Associate Director of Citizens for Modern Transit

Mark Phillips, Long-Range Planner, Metro

Melanie Rippetoe, Saint Louis University Master's in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development

Justin Chick, editor and contributor to TransitTurningPoint.com

Doors open at 7:00 PM; discussion begins at 7:30.

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The 21st Ward contains some of St. Louis's most beautiful neighborhoods and green spaces. Not content to watch these treasures slip into decline, the ward's leadership, from Alderman Antonio French to dedicated staffers and neighborhood residents, has been hard at work to make it a better place to live, work, and visit. From new walking trails in lush O'Fallon Park, to a partnership with Rebuilding Together St. Louis for a Block-by-Block Initiative that sees one historic block renovated and cleaned up at a time, the 21st Ward has no shortage of initiatives that the rest of the city's 27 Wards could and should be watching and learning from.City Affair is proud to announce that Alderman Antonio French and other speakers to be announced will present us with an overview of the tremendous activity and forward momentum in the 21st Ward. All of this will take place in the ward's planned community center--an historic church recently rescued from vacancy.

April 7, 2011
Location: New 21st Ward Community Center
4449 Red Bud Avenue, Saint Louis, MO

Doors open at 7:00 PM, event begins at 7:30 PM.

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Thursday, March 3 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm
Location
Buffalo Brewing Co
3100 Olive St.
Saint Louis, MO

We're having an informal happy hour for the month of March. Stop by the Buffalo Brewing Company and talk with fellow lovers of the City of St. Louis.

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Fort Gondo
3151 Cherokee Street
Saint Louis, MO
Doors open at 7:00 PM
Discussion begins at 7:30 PM

Graffiti is as old as civilization itself, with examples found
thousands of years ago in the pyramids of ancient Egypt and the Roman
city of Pompeii. In contemporary America, any resident or visitor to
a city--or even small towns--will see graffiti covering overpasses,
abandoned structures and the sides of buildings.

On February 3rd, we will host a panel discussion that asks the
following questions:

Is graffiti a valid form of artistic or political expression?

Does graffiti contribute to a sense that a neighborhood is blighted?

Can graffiti be a positive influence on city life, or is it always
detrimental?

Who decides what is good graffiti, and what is bad?

Can different sides of the graffiti debate come to a consensus on its
validity?

Please come to City Affair and contribute your opinions and
questions. The panel discussion will be followed by a question and
answer session from the audience. Doors open at 7:00 PM, discussion
begins at 7:30.

Panelists include:

Peat Wollaeger, Internationally known Stencil Artist Famous for his Signature EYE, Colorful Characters and Stencil Videos....stenSOUL.com.

Angelo Olegna, "Mayor of Cherokee Street"

Raven Fox, http://www.ravenfox.net/

And addition panelists to be announced.

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