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Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Gulfton, Houston/archive1

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was not promoted by User:SandyGeorgia 05:18, 20 December 2008 [1].

Gulfton, Houston

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Nominator(s): WhisperToMe (talk)

I decided it was time to nominate this article after the peer review - I finished adding access dates to the non-newspaper article/tv station article citations. I addressed many of the other points. The one thing I could do, although this isn't crucial, is consider including a different format map. But other than that I think this article is ready to be tested for FA status. WhisperToMe (talk) 22:12, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose - There are some issues to address before I can support. Here are some obvious things noticed from glancing at the article:

  • The lead section is way too short. It should be 2-3 paragraphs that summarize the article.
  • The gallery in the education is unnecessary, since there already are numerous pictures in that section.

I will add more comments, as I read through the article. --Aude (talk) 22:23, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • Thank you very much for the copyediting! :) - Anyway...
    • 1. What else do you think should be mentioned in the lead? We have the basic population, the basic location, and the basic structure of low income apartments. Should it mention the reputation for crime? What about bits from the culture section?
    • 2. What if I took the images in the education gallery section and left-aligned them in the education section?
  • WhisperToMe (talk) 22:42, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • The lead should first and foremost, say where Gulfton is located, in a way that people not familiar with Houston would understand. Then it can say something about the history, geography, demographics, government/infrastructure, transportation, etc., basically covering all the sections.
  • Pictures are not needed of all the schools. I think too many would overwhelm the text. Extra pictures can go on Commons, with a link from the article to the Commons gallery. --Aude (talk) 23:14, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]
History section
  • I have tried making parts of the section more concise. There was a lot of repetition, and I see this elsewhere in the article.
  • I'm not sure the paragraph on the Colonial House Apartments is needed. If it's kept in the article, it needs to make more clear what the significance of this complex was? The article mentions, "1989 article in response to the fate", but it's not clear what the fate of the complex was?
  • The part about Michael Pollack is probably not needed. The article says he was just a promoter, but then was referred to as an "apartment operator" This is confusing, and anyway seems too trivial.
  • I see the following paragraph begins to talk about this complex. I think the information is presented out of order, and thus confusing to the reader.
  • The "In the 1980s the economy declined " paragraph talks about two things (1) the decline in the economy and foreclosures (2) the shift towards immigrant tenants. I suggest breaking this paragraph into two, so it's easier for the reader to digest what is being said there.
  • "Kroger remodeled its Gulfton-area store to cater to Hispanics in the 2000s" - what year did the remodeling take place?
Geography
  • "Gulfton is located outside of the 610 Loop south and east of U.S. Highway 59 (Southwest Freeway), south of the Westpark Tollway, north of Bellaire Boulevard, and east of Hillcroft Avenue." - huh? I'm not familiar with Houston, so this doesn't help me at all to understand where Gulfton is located. Is Gulfton located in the western part of Houston? eastern part? or what? how far from downtown?
  • A more simple map would help readers see where Gulfton is located. Perhaps something that shows the Houston city limits, and a dot on the map or area colored indicating where Gulfton is located, and perhaps the interstate highways for reference? And the locater map belongs in the geography section, or at the top of the article.
  • The census map is not terribly helpful for showing the location, especially when shown at thumbnail size. I can't see the red line, unless I look at the image in close detail. However, a demographic map showing some variable like income levels, % of hispanic population, or such is helpful for the demographics section. Population density as presented here might be okay.

I'm going to stop here, for now, and review more later. Overall, I think the article can use copyediting, trim some of the more trivial details, and make the article more concise. --Aude (talk) 23:09, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

References
  • The references provided are all reliable sources. --Aude (talk) 23:37, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Additional comments

The changes made so far are in the right direction, addressing some of my previous concerns. Though, I see more to be done, particularly as the prose is concerned.

  • Though, I did some copyediting, that's not one of my strengths. I think copyediting is needed from someone uninvolved in the article to improve the quality of the prose.
  • Throughout the article, I see sources cited in such a manner as "As stated in a 2005 Houston Chronicle article, the Houston-Galveston Area Council identified ...". Instead, just say "In 2005, the Houston-Galveston Area Council identified ..." The footnote citation suffices in most cases.
  • I also see excess amount of direct quotes, such as 'Roberto Suro of The Washington Post described Gulfton as a "tightly packed warren."' Direct quotes should only be used sparingly. Can you paraphrase this or is Suro's description important enough to include?
  • More could be said about transportation, and it could be said more clearly. (remember, not all readers are familiar with Houston, so please provide some context) It sounds like there is no subway in Houston but there is light rail. When was it built? Does it go anywhere near Gulfton? Sounds like it doesn't. The reasoning given "agency originally envisioned "more of an express service" in that area" leaves me puzzled. What is meant by express service or what form? an express bus line? More information on the University Line, as it relates to Gulfton would be useful.
  • Another concern is the Education section, which I think goes into a tad too much detail. I think it can be written in a way that is much more concise. For example, the "Elementary and middle schools" and "History of elementary and middle schools" sections are together 11 paragraphs long. Is it possible to convey the information in those sections using 2/3 number of words or less? I know that may be a challenge, but that would go a long way towards improving the article.
  • The lead section has been improved, in the right direction, but I think it needs more work. I took out the direct quote ("Susan Rogers, author of "Superneighborhood 27..."), which detracts from prose quality, and added mention of when Gulfton was first developed, and the circumstances (oil boom). The lead can perhaps say something more about demographics, government, transportation, economy, and other sections.

These are my concerns for now. --Aude (talk) 21:22, 17 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Alright: 1. Perhaps some location details that could be useful to non-natives is the distance to Downtown Houston; - I could also say southwestern Houston. 2. I don't know exactly year the remodeling took place, but I know it took place in the 2000s. I'll re-read the article, but AFAIK the best I can say is the 2000s. WhisperToMe (talk) 14:27, 13 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Maralia I've not read the full article yet; these are just some comments on WP:LAYOUT and WP:Manual of Style issues that I noticed in a brief look at the article.

Sorry for quoting so many guidelines at you, but I figured it would be more helpful to point you in the right direction than to just say 'x isn't right'. Please let me know if you have any questions. It might also be helpful to take a look at current FAs about 'places'. Maralia (talk) 23:35, 12 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • Hey, it's fine to quote the guidelines :) - There are a few things:
    • 1. I'm thinking about how to work on the lead
    • 2. I thought about the lead image; it *does* have signature details; check out the street signs. I don't think the intersection of Gulfton and Westward exists anywhere else in the world. Plus I don't see any "sign" that says Gulfton or anything like that. However I do kind of wish the car wasn't there.
    • 3. I did add more access dates to non-newspaper article citations. However, do I need to add access dates to newspaper article citations? Even though the article itself is online, the content of the article is highly unlikely to change and the article was originally published offline.
    • 4. I removed some extra pictures, so the sandwiching hopefully is no longer there.
    • 5. As for "In the references, many website and publisher names are (incorrectly) italicized; please see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (text formatting)#Italic face." - which ones, in particular? WhisperToMe (talk) 14:24, 13 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments -

  • Per the MOS, link titles in the references shouldn't be in all capitals.
  • Current ref 71 (Rice Epicurean..) is lacking a last access date.
  • A number of your newspaper links lack last access dates. If it has a link, it needs a last access date.
  • Current ref 79 (Kolker...), Houston Press should be in italics.
  • http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/DM/lib00377,0ED3CED3B2373735.html deadlinks
Otherwise, sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 14:46, 13 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I added much more access dates. WhisperToMe (talk) 15:30, 13 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Folks, now the lead section has two paragraphs - Am I going in the right direction? WhisperToMe (talk) 17:41, 13 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Image review: All images appear to be fine. --Moni3 (talk) 13:50, 15 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose I haven't read the article yet, but I'm going to oppose based solely on the pictures, mainly because when you look at the thumbnail images in the article, you cannot see anything relevant in the photos (usually due to extraneous detail); only the photo of the Rice Headquarters looks OK. Perhaps increasing the size of the photos would improve the article, but I suspect that some of the photos will need to be retaken. In particular [2], the photo in the lead, is supposed to be a photo of apartment complexes, but when you look at it, your attention is drawn to 1) a pickup truck, 2) a divided highway, 3) some overhead power lines, and 4) some apartment complexes in the background. A crop of the photo might work, though I'd rather not have the pickup in the foreground. The second image: [3] is supposed to be of a supermarket, but is actually of some cars in the supermarket parking lot. Neither the picture nor the text explain how the remodelled store is supposed to appeal better to Hispanics (as a non-US person who lived in Houston for 3 years, I just can't see it...). The map [4] is far too busy. You want a map that shows the freeways with a dot to mark Gulfton, without the other communities being marked. As it is, your attention is drawn away from the dot to the rest of the map. Additionally, the map _really_ needs to look good at the resolution shown in the page. The photos of the schools looks like a gallery. I would just keep the photo of the Benavidez Elementary School, but severely crop it to mainly show the lobby building, which is slightly architecturally interesting (you also need to rotate it slightly to make the verticals upright). Of the other school photos, [5] is particularly bad, being a photo of the crossing outside the school - it's impossible to make out the buildings due to the fence on the opposite side of the road. Bluap (talk) 15:28, 18 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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