Talk:Columbia, Missouri

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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Columbia, Missouri article.
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Good article Columbia, Missouri has been listed as one of the Geography and places good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a reassessment.
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17 March 2007 The people’s encyclopedia anoints our local celebs Lauren Sweet – Columbia Missourian
Maintained The following user(s) are actively contributing to this article and may be able to help with questions about verification and sources:
Grey Wanderer, Me5000, Breakyunit
This in no way implies article ownership; all editors are encouraged to contribute.

Contents

[edit] Pics that are needed

I've been working on moving the article to FA-status, and we're closer now with recent GA promotion, but I think some specific pics would help out. I don't have a camera or very good photography skills so if anyone wants to take these here is a list, off the top of my head:

  • For the Laws and Government section a pic of city hall(Daniel Boone Building).
  • For the Economy section a pic of Shelter Insurance, or State Farm Insurance.
  • For the Cityscape section a pic of ninth street or downtown/
  • For the Infrastructure section a pic of the I-70/63 interchange or/and Columbia Regional Airport
  • Also generally, we're lacking on pics of commercial areas and historic neighborhoods like Steward road and East Campus.

Grey Wanderer | Talk 00:53, 6 January 2008 (UTC)

I can take some of these pictures once I get back in town and when the weather is permitting(at least two weeks from now). I think I might already have a picture of city hall- is that at the opposite end of the street that the columns are on? Are there columns in front of that building? Breakyunit (talk) 11:59, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Great! anything you can do would be appreciated. The building your thinking of is the Boone County Courthouse, which could be used as well. City Hall is on the northeast corner of the intersection of Broadway and 7th street. Its a five story converted hotel (Daniel Boone Hotel).Grey Wanderer | Talk 12:24, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't know if you still need it, but here is a pic of the courthouse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CourthouseCoMo.jpg Me5000 (talk) 03:35, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Thinking of ways to improve the article

I was re-reading the article and have thought of some things we could do to perhaps improve the article.

  • I think the section on neighborhoods could use some more information about some neighborhoods specifically (maybe the four National Historic Districts within the city: Downtown Columbia, East Campus, Francis Quadrangle, and North Ninth Street).
  • Under education, not much information specific to any of the schools. Perhaps a little bit about what makes the different schools special. Didn't Hickman win the state football game a few years back? Are the other schools unique in any way?
  • Maybe in the sports section we could talk about the other college athletics that people attend (such as baseball). Also, are there any non-Mizzou sports in Columbia worth noting?
  • It says that "Columbia's hospitals and supporting facilities are a major referral center for the state"- could we be more specific about the role Columbia's health care serves in Missouri? I think that the University research reactor makes radioactive nuclides used in nuclear medicine in other areas (such as St. Louis), maybe we could mention that. Also, what sort of trauma center the University hospital is, number of employees, the new orthopedic (I think) center being built. Seems like there is more to talk about here.
  • As for transportation, we don't mention the MKT Railroad depot that is now destroyed. Now that I think about it, maybe this would be better in the History of Columbia, Missouri article, but I thought about it just now. Maybe say that we used to have trains, but no longer do or something. Also, maybe mention transportation offered (Doc and Norm?) to and from the St. Louis and Kansas City airports.
  • Finally, there is only information about print media and not about radio or television. Student channels on both should be mentioned I think and maybe relate that to the journalism school or something. Any magazines centered on or in Columbia?

Its a lot easier to say what needs to be done than it is to actually do it, so I will try to make some of the additions I have suggested in the near future. I think there is a lot we can do to add to the article. I am not very keen on grammar and writing style, but perhaps someone who is could assess the article's readability or something. Breakyunit (talk) 12:21, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I think everything you've said above is probably worth implementing, I'd be happy to copy-edit any additions you make, and I'll try to get started on some myself in a few days.Grey Wanderer | Talk 12:25, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
Alright, that sounds great. I just thought of one other thing that could go under Economy- I was told once that Columbia is a great place to start a restaurant or something about restaurants. I'll have to look into that and find a source, but thought I'd mention it in case it rang any bells. Breakyunit (talk) 12:28, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

There was a study done several years ago that mentioned Columbia as one of the best places to open a restaurant. A whole listing of those types of awards can be found here. Is it ok if I add you to the "maintained box" on the top of this page?Grey Wanderer | Talk 12:32, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Excellent. I'll read that in more detail later when I'm not too tired. Yes you can add me to the "maintained box", thanks for asking. Breakyunit (talk) 12:37, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

The Show-Me State Games are definitely worth mentioning, according to this article it had more participants than any other state game in 2004. The COLT Railroad may also be worth mentioning under transportation. Me5000 (talk) 20:39, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Good idea with the Show-Me State Games, Me5000. I didn't use the article you cited because I found ones that were more recent, but the article you stated might have some useful information about the economic impact of the games. Is there anything else we could add at the moment to the "Sports" section? I was thinking about crossing off the items in the list I created above as I/we address them. Breakyunit (talk) 00:35, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Note about citations

It would be very much appreciated if everyone did website citations in this format: <ref>{{cite web | url= | title= | work= | accessdate=}}</ref>, here is a guide in case you're not sure what goes in each section. Here is a list of all the citation templates if the reference isn't from a website. Thank you. Me5000 (talk) 16:40, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, the article will be quick failed with all the citations aren't in the same format.Grey Wanderer | Talk 21:10, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
Oh, sorry. I had no idea- I still consider myself relatively new to editing. Breakyunit (talk) 21:25, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

No problem, I just wanted to thank both of you guys, and the random editors who have made one or two edits, for the drive to improve the page. As much as I do on Wikipedia, this is the first time I've really been involved with hard-working and active editors really intent on bring a page to FA-status.Grey Wanderer | Talk 21:43, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

I was wondering how to cite the newly added info under Health Care that says "a physician density that is about 3 times the United States average". I cited two sources that I got that info from, but that's not the whole story. One source says how many physicians Columbia has and the other is data on the physician density in the U.S. There is a third source here that says what the physician density is in the U.S. until 2004. There is a significant increase from 2004 to 2005 between the sources, so I'm not sure which is correct hence the "about" in the article. Finally, I just took the amount of physicians in Columbia divided by the population given in this article to find Columbia's physician density- 8.48 physicians per 1000 people. How can I say all this in an in text citation? Breakyunit (talk) 23:41, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
I have no idea, sorry. I think the people at the help desk will know the answer, though. Me5000 (talk) 18:45, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

You may be able to do it somehow (I don't know how) and I think it is good information to include, but watch out for WP:OR.-Grey Wanderer | Talk 00:19, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I kept that in mind, but I don't know how dividing two numbers to get a new number then using the new number in an article is "research". I put the question here, but no responses yet. --Breakyunit (talk) 02:12, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] History sections

It is my understanding that some have suggested cutting some from the history paragraph in the intro and some from the history section.

I think changing these two sentences (which are in the intro) "In 1818 a group of settlers, incorporated under the Smithton Land Company, purchased over 2,000 acres (8 km²) and established the village of Smithton less than a mile from current day downtown Columbia. In 1821 the settlers moved, because of lack of water, across the Flat Branch to the plateau between the Flat Branch and Hinkson creeks in what is now the downtown district."
into
"In 1821 a group of settlers incorporated under the Smithton Land Company moved from their nearby village, because of lack of water, across the Flat Branch to the plateau that is now the downtown district."
or even
"In 1821 a group of settlers moved from their nearby village, because of lack of water, across the Flat Branch to the plateau that is now the downtown district."
since it is just the intro and the first sentence as it is in the article doesn't tell us much about Columbia itself.

In the History section, I propose changing these sentences: "In 1678 La Salle claimed all of Missouri for France." →Is inconsequential in this context and doesn't tell us much about Columbia, I think it can be removed.
"In 1806, Daniel Boone and his sons established a salt lick 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Columbia. The Booneslick Trail wound from Kentucky through St. Charles, Missouri to the salt lick." →This info doesn't seem to add much because the next sentence doesn't say that these trails were responsible for settlement. If they were responsible, then maybe the next sentence should attest to the significance of these two sentences.
"In addition, the now defunct Silvey Insurance was once a large local employer." →I don't know if this is important enough to include in this article.

What do you guys think? --Breakyunit (talk) 21:14, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

I about to may a couple cuts, using a hybrid of your suggestion, let me know what you think.-Grey Wanderer | Talk 00:19, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
I think the intro is better now. Do you think it is easiest to read the way its divided up? The second paragraph sorta covers two things- history and economy/education. Just an idea, but maybe we could reorganize it like this.
Columbia was settled in Pre-Columbian times by the mound building, Mississippian culture of Native Americans. In 1818 a group of settlers, incorporated under the Smithton Land Company, purchased over 2,000 acres (8 km²) and established the village of Smithton near present-day downtown Columbia. In 1821 the settlers moved and re-named the settlement Columbia—a poetic name for the United States. The founding of the University of Missouri in 1839 established the city as a center of education and research. By 1851 two other institutions of higher education, Stephens College and Columbia College were established within the city.
Located in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, Columbia is equidistant from St. Louis and Kansas City, in a region known as "Mid-Missouri". Today Columbia has a highly diversified economy, and is often ranked highly for its business atmosphere. Never a strong center of industry and manufacturing the city's economic base relies on the education, medical, technology and insurance industries.Studies consistently rank Columbia as a top city in which to live for educational facilities, health care, technological savvy, economic growth, cultural opportunities and cost of living.[16] The city has been ranked as high as the second-best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine's annual list and is regularly in the top 100.[17] People from Columbia are described as "Columbians."
Also, what (if anything) are we going to do with the History section? Are the changes I suggested above alright? I'm not really a great writer, so I'm just throwing this out there. --Breakyunit (talk) 02:06, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

I really think the history section itself is fine, it compares similarly with other FA city articles I've seen. I enacted your intro paragraph suggestion above, I think its quite a bit more concise. Thanks for your work, I love seeing the article get better by the hour.Grey Wanderer | Talk 02:31, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Demography

I'm having some trouble finding the exact statistics in the demography section(I'm not sure that they exist). this source has median household income and per capita income, but nothing about the poverty line or median family income. These sources [1] a<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Lupin/navpop.css&action=raw&ctype=text/css&dontcountme=s">nd [2] Have things about the median age, but some of the statistics aren't in the same format as the demography section(the source has ages 15 and younger instead of 18 and 16 to 24 instead of 18 to 24) . So, is the section going to need to be rewritten some what or are there some sources somewhere that I couldn't find? Me5000 (talk) 02:43, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

I found another source here that has the median family income people under 18, above 18 , and above 65. It also has the % of the population under the poverty line. I'm going to put these sources into the article(without rewriting for now) and see what's left that isn't sourced afterwords. Me5000 (talk) 03:03, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

The following statistics are still unsourced:

  • "In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64"
  • "For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males."
  • "Males had a median income of $34,710 versus $26,694 for females."
  • "About 9.4% of families were below the poverty line including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over." Me5000 (talk) 03:17, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mid-Missouri

I might be wrong, but shouldn't Mid-Missouri be capitalized as it is a proper noun, I was thinking of creating an article for the loosely defined area sometime soon.-Grey Wanderer | Talk 20:31, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, I think its debatable. If you read WP:MOS here it says sometimes regions are proper nouns. The question is whether mid-Missouri is of "uncertain proper-noun status". A google search would make it seem that it is a proper noun because almost all the hits are "Mid-Missouri" but I think they are used as part of the name of those businesses. I found this site that suggests mid-Missouri should not be capitalized(maybe this one site makes the proper noun status uncertain). I think it could be argued either way. I prefer lower case, but I'm not going to make a big deal about it if you disagree. --Breakyunit (talk) 22:35, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Malformed FAC nom

I removed a malformed FAC template for a nomination that was never submitted to WP:FAC. Also, per WP:FAC/ar, nominations can be resubmitted once issues raised are addressed. The article previously failed on January 23, and these are all the changes made since then. Perhaps an extensive (at least a month) peer review would help get the article in shape for FAC. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:24, 24 February 2008 (UTC)