Lifestyle: Rain gardens have many benefits

Lifestyle: Rain gardens have many benefits
I recently designed a rain garden for UMSL, CBB building. Installation began this past weekend. Check out these photos: http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/building.html

URBANEXUS St. Louis: Creative Minds Come Together

The place was so packed there were people waiting in line to get in and standing room only. Great turn out! If you haven't been down town in a while, make it a point to go and explore. There are marvelous new places that have popped up, one being Left Bank Books Bookstore. Be sure and stop by to support them. On to notes taken from the event thanks to our dear friend Robin Page.

Washington University professor, Jasmin Aber:
Info I found online for Jasmin:
Interview: http://stlmagblogs.typepad.com/looklisten/q-a-with-architect-jasmin.html
Brief Article: http://www.cooltownstudios.com/2006/10/06/why-do-cities-shrink-and-grow-can-cultural-regeneration-help

Jasmin started the “Creative Exchange Lab”, to promote innovation and empower North St. Louis Jasmin sees innovation as Human Capitol

Jasmin defines creativity as “the process by which ideas are generated, connected and transformed into things that are valued.” Jasmin identified the creative sector to include: publishing, advertising, design, music and arts…

For success, there needs to be a balance between consumption of art and invention/production of art. Jasmin believes we need to create indicators that measure the invention/production, not just the consumption.

STL Board of Alderman, Alderman for the 21st ward, Antonio French:
Antonio’s background is working as a political strategist and campaign manager
Antonio voted a “mover and shaker” by the STL Business Journal, a big deal since he is African American and the STL Business Journal is a very white publication

Info I found online for Antonio:
Antonio’s website for the 21st ward: http://21stward.org/
Antonio’s Pub Def website: http://www.pubdef.net/
Pub Def breaking news feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Pubdefnet
Antonio’s Pub Def twitter page: http://twitter.com/PubDef

In his new role as Alderman (since March 2009) Antonio is working to answer the question “How can city government attract and retain Creative Types (Entrepreneurs) here in STL? Joe Edwards, developer of the U City Loop, is a perfect example of who we want in St. Louis. Antonio believes that Creative Types are not just attracted to a city; they are attracted to the elements of the city that make life meaningful.

The 21st ward is using the façade program to update a currently unused building in preparation for use as a café. Antonio showed a slide of a building for sale for $1200 - It needed rehab, but it is hard to beat $1200. Funding is available to those who want to pursue opening a business.

Vice President of Metropolis St. Louis, Leslie Proud
Info I found online for Leslie:
MSTL website: http://www.mstl.org/
MSTL website blog: http://www.mstl.org/blog/

Goal of Metropolis organization is to encourage people to explore neighborhoods and new businesses. Metropolis recently sponsored a “lot festival”, an event where Creative Types sold their creations / wares.

Metropolis puts on events for people who are new to the area in order to foster creating connections between people and to support new business ideas and innovative concepts. Metropolis successfully uses social media (FB, Twitter) to communicate upcoming events.

Metropolis is working with members of the STL community to create a positive perception and project a positive image of the city of STL, through the events they sponsor, so city residents have pride in STL.

Trailnet program coordinator, Jennifer Allen:
Trailnet role: promote a healthy and active lifestyle for STL residents.

Info I found online for Jennifer:
Trailnet website: http://www.trailnet.org/
Trailnet website calendar: http://www.trailnet.org/calendar.php See Ferguson Sunday Parkways event on the calendar. According to STL Bike Federation announcements recently at “VEER the movie”, the city of STL may have a similar event downtown. Francis Slay is working on this.
Event pdf: http://www.trailnet.org/documents/9-9-09_TrailnetandNextAmericanCitytohostLivableSt.LouisDiscussion.pdf

Missouri Foundation for Health Healthy and Active Communities project: http://hac.wustl.edu/mfh/index.asp

This link announces the Livable St. Louis event. However, what I think is valuable about this web page is the related event links to the right by date and by venue: http://events.thetelegraph.com/st-louis-mo/events/show/88492068-livable-st-louis-what-it-takes-to-retain-and-attract-creative-individuals

Jennifer’s priority in her current role is to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for STL residents Jennifer hopes to accomplish this in part by making STL more walkable and bikeable.

Studies have demonstrated in-migration to cities having bike and pedestrian routes and infrastructure, even when there are not a lot of jobs in the area. In these cities, each successive generation is more energy conscious.

Jennifer noted the democratizing effect of bike and pedestrian routes.
Bike and pedestrian routes help to humanize a city: allows us to interact face to face. Our government policies must support the development of a cohesive connected network of bike and pedestrian routes.

Personal Touch - The Gatesworth

Lewisites landscape architect Jay Doty has been the primary designer for landscapes surrounding the senior retirement community The Gatesworth for years. He recently designed a landscape for a new addition to the facility, called the "West Wing". The grand opening was last month. "Ladue News" did a feature article on it in their August issue.

Anne Lewis featured in St. Louis At Home Magazine

At last count, there were more than 7 million swimming pools in America. And their collective ecological footprint is not small. There's the toxic chlorine (which leaches into natural waterways); the evaporation (wasting potable water is dumb, even in rainy Missouri); and the energy drain of all the filters, heaters, and lights. But Google "green pools" and you'll mostly find tips on battling algae blooms. That's why landscape architect Anne Lewis (lewisites.com), who's maintained an eco-friendly pool for more than a decade, had to figure out how to do it herself. Read more about this article at this link: http://www.stlmagathome.com/media/At-Home/July-August-2009/Life-Aquatic/