Rhesusman

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Lakeside Mall

I received your note. I did do some work on the Lakeside Mall entry. The mall was the largest in the state for around twenty years and substantially helped move along the death of downtown Detroit as a shopping center. It's notable in that respect. The article is notable as well for being fairly well written and designed. There are far more articles that cannot claim that distinction. When looking for stuff to propose for deletion, if I see people making an effort to get an article into good shape, that's a sign that the people are using the article -- ultimately the purpose of the encyclopedia. Wikipedia has over a milion articles and I would rather see efforts on the deltion front directed toward those stubs and poorly written presentations than I would toward articles that are complete, correct and cover a topic of interest to many. There's plenty of other articles that should come before this one in the deletion wheel. Jtmichcock 02:20, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

From looking around, there are several hundred shopping malls that are listed on Wikipedia. Look here for some examples. You had better be prepared to list each and every one for deletion because that will be demanded. I would think that your time on Wikipedia would be better spent actually creating material rather than destroying. Don't you?

Lakeside was the largest mall ever in Michigan for twenty years (until Great Lakes Crossing). It remains the largest non-outlet mall in Michigan. It is the only mall in the country that will have a Macy's divided into two stores. It is well known to people throughout the region (better known than Sharon McPhail, who has her own listing). It is also locally known for the fact that its location discouraged black shoppers from coming given that it refused bus service from Detroit for a number of years -- and opened, coincidentally, the same year Detroit Schools started busing.

Like I said before: there are over a million articles on Wikipedia. Every one of the thousands of high schools gets a listing. Why focus in on something that is well known within a local community, that people have put effort into (i.e., is cleanly written and editied and is not close to being a stub) and at the same time fail to list the hundreds upon of other malls listed unless, of course, you have some sort of beef with Lakeside?

Personally, I would like to see people put more effort into building the encylopedia, expanding stubs and cleaning up text. Jtmichcock 11:22, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

I don't see the above as "snapping." Rather, I am trying to be blunt and to directly communicate my concerns. The reality is that there are nearly 1,000 shopping malls of various notability listed on Wikipedia. Nominating Lakeside Mall would not occur in a vacuum; you would necessarily raise the attention levels of everyone who worked on those other articles who would feel their work is threatened. I'm being completely frank in stating 1) the article would probably be kept and 2) anything that I might have said that has in any way offended you would pale beyond the response you would receive.

I see from your contributions that you have not made many edits to Wikipedia. Obviously, everyone here has been at that stage and I understand that people have the urge (as well as the right) to contribute. My recommendation to any newcomer is that they need to put the writing first. My suggestion to you is to keep writing. Sooner or later something you have poured your energies into will be nominated at AfD. After that happens, but only after that happens, it's my view that you should feel free to insert items on AfD.

Good luck writing! (And another editor has posted a message to you on my talk page -- his group needs help expanding the lists of malls. Remember, Wikipedia is not paper, there's supposed to be a lot of stuff that you would not see in Britannica. Personally, I think Northland Mall, as the first suburban mall, and Eastland Mall, as the first enclosed Mall, deserve entries. Jtmichcock 14:32, 31 March 2006 (UTC)