City Affair Saint Louis

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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