City Affair Saint Louis

October's event will focus on the LBGTQ community's involvement in revitalizing city neighborhoods. What is St. Louis doing to attract and retain these demographics? What can we do better? How do the communities here compare with those of other major cities? We will tackle these questions and more on October 7.

Moderated by Randy Vines with an Introduction by Matt Mourning
With the following panel:
Alderman Shane Cohn of the 25th Ward
Robyn Montague of TransHaven Missouri
And several other speakers to be announced...

Following forty five minutes of panel discussion we will open the floor to audience questions.

EVENT INFORMATION

Thursday, October 7th:30-9:00 PM Van Goghz Martini Bar & Bistro (3200 Shenandoah Ave at Compton in the Tower Grove East neighborhood)

2 Drink minimum, please.

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As the crowning achievement of humanity, cities can be essentially defined by the bonds between people. While development, finance, and culture grab the most attention among urbanists, it is time to examine the public responsibility that underlies urban environments.

Are we responsible for maintaining a foundation of solidarity with all elements of society? Is egalitarianism possible in the divisive modern urban environment?

We will discuss issues of social justice and activism with a panel of local advocates:

Shawn Mckie - The Juice Project blends media literacy and health literacy education with physical exercise and art for social change. The Juice Box, which is also home to J.U.I.C.E., Inc., sits in a predominantly Black low-income neighborhood, and thus, re-imagines the corner store.

Jay Swoboda and RJ Koscielniak - Whats Up Magazine is St. Louis' activist publication with an ear to the street. Whats Up is sold by St. Louis' homeless and strives to create fairness, opportunity and community by covering issues that socially conscious people want to know about.

Claire Wolff - The Urban Studio Café is a non-profit cafe with a mission to foster a sense of strong community, creativity, knowledge and enrichment while providing a quality cup of joe. The Urban Studio has a successful history of providing enriching programs to youth in Old North St. Louis. Revenue generated by the cafe supports these programs.

Emily Beck will moderate the panel discussion.
Following panel discussion we will open the floor to questions.

EVENT INFORMATION

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
7:30-9:00 PM
OLD NORTH ST. LOUIS RESTORATION GROUP OFFICES
2700 N. 14th St.
ST. LOUIS, MO. 63106


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Several months ago City Affair took on the topic of some of the future Great Streets of St. Louis. On Thursday, August 5th return with us to Cherokee to hear from several people making Cherokee a Great Street today.

Our panelists for the evening will include:

Randy Vines of STL-Style.  STL-Style had been operating as an internet-based company for about 9 years before Randy and Jeff Vines made the leap into a storefront, opening Style House at 3155 Cherokee Street. They chose this area for a number of reasons, not the least among them its relative affordability and growing concentration of creative DIY startups.

Kristin Gassel of The St. Louis Curio Shoppe. The Shoppe will carry music, books, crafts, clothing, specialty food products, jewelry, souvenirs, collectibles and assorted other sundries and curiosities all made in the St. Louis area. The Curio Shoppe plans to have a positive impact on our city by supporting local businesses of all sizes and ensuring that a maximum amount of consumer dollars goes directly back to our community.

Juan Montana of Cherokee Photobooth. Opened on Easter weekend this year, Cherokee Photobooth is a unique storefront operation that embraces everything that makes Cherokee Street special-- diverse, creative, fun, gritty, and colorful.  Just drop into this unassuming storefront for a fun, quirky photo session custom-suited to your personality.

Matthew Mourning, who writes the blog Dotage will be the moderator for the evening.  Matthew returned to St. Louis after completing grad school in New Orleans and has recently become a resident of Cherokee Street.

Following the brief panel discussion we will open the floor to audience questions.

EVENT INFORMATION

Thursday, August 5th 7:30-9:00 PM  2301 Cherokee Street, one block east of Jefferson, the future storefront of The St. Louis Curio Shoppe, which will open Auguat 28^th 

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ARE BLOGS AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF FURTHERING CHANGE IN THE COMMUNITY? DO THEY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT TO SEEK POLITICAL ACTION OR DO THEY SERVE AS A REPLACEMENT FOR MEANINGFUL INVOLVEMENT?

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The ongoing conversation of urbanism and historic preservation of St. Louis architecture and its city form is largely fueled by buzzing blogs and their readership. With so much work to be done toward the revitalization of our city, we ask how web-based advocacy of the betterment our built environment plays a meaningful role in that revitalization with the following panel:

ALEX IHNEN - blogger, URBANSTL.COM
MATTHEW MOURNING - blogger, STLDOTAGE
STEVE PATTERSON - blogger, URABANREVIEWSTL

Following forty five minutes of panel discussion we will open the floor to audience questions.

Please note this is not a BYOB event like many City Affairs. Urban Eats has a great selection of drinks, and they'll be extending happy hour prices for the evening. We encourage everyone to check out their food menu and support a local business.

To have your order ready when you get there, we encourage you to place an order ahead of time.

CITY AFFAIR XVI: BLOG CITY

Thursday, June 3rd 2010
7:00-9:00 PM
Urban Eats Café
3301 Meramec Street
St. Louis, Mo. 63118


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