Talk:Gulfton, Houston, Texas

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Good article Gulfton, Houston, Texas was a nominee for Geography and places good article, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. There are suggestions below for improving the article. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
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I'm not sure if this in and of itself could be used as a reference, but I know it has links to references: http://www.colorado.edu/IBS/PP/menken/courses/socy5031/sample2.PDF WhisperToMe (talk) 20:29, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA review

WhisperToMe, you've done a great job so far with improving the article. I think it's a bit early to nominate for GA, but I've done the most thorough review that I can to help you further improve the article. I have placed the article on hold for one week to allow you and other editors to address the suggestions below. Not all are necessary for good article status, but the lead, article structure, broadness and prose quality need addressing to achieve GA.

Lead

  • Please rewrite the lead using the guidelines in WP:LEAD, as the lead should function as a short overview of the article, containing no information that is not elaborated on within the article. Currently the text doesn't flow very well. Also, "section of western Houston, Texas, United State" seems quite vague - is Gulfton classed as a suburb? A neighbourhood? A community?
  • Use Template:Convert for "3.2 square miles"
  • The lead image looks quite dark - any chance of lightening it?
  • An infobox would be a nice touch - perhaps you could use this one: Template:Infobox Settlement?

#History

  • Need to merge short paragraphs, and the section could use a copy edit to make sure it flows well.
  • "Gulfton consisted of a greenfield before the 1950s..." could be "Gulfton consisted of greenfield land until the mid-1950s, when the first subdivision in the area, Shenandoah, opened with 16 blocks of ranch-style homes."
  • The next sentence could be "During the oil boom (is there a wiki-link?) of the 1970s, more than 15,000 apartment units (which seems a very large number) were built to house the young, predominantly white, new residents who came from Rust Belt areas in the Northeast and Midwest United States." I think this sentence needs a citation since it makes a number of claims (number of apartment units, demographics of new residents etc).
  • The next sentences about swimming pools seem a distraction from the topic. Is the complex with 17 swimming pools (should be 17, not seventeen, since the number is above 10) representative of the size generally being built at the time, or is it the largest? Why is it mentioned? Then it jumps to 2005, which doesn't belong here.
  • "Apartment complex owners... lowered rates... and reduced rents" - is this a duplication?
  • I have never heard of "adults only" policies in regards to apartments, does this mean families with children were banned from living there? If you could find an internal link for that or explain why they had such a policy (if unique to Gulfton), that would be interesting.
  • "By 2005 60% of Gulfton residents ... illegal immigrants." - Move this to a Demographics section and expand. (Refer below for suggestions for Demographics.)
  • "Crime increased in the area, so some individuals gave the neighborhood the name Gulfton Ghetto" - Which individuals? Was it only a couple of individuals, or did it become a common nickname among Houston residents?
  • "criminals included people who refer to themselves as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)" is unclear. Please reword.
  • "The Shenandoah subdivision closed itself from Gulfton." - How?
  • Who are Robert Fisher and Lisa Taafe? Why does their opinion matter? Tie this paragraph in more with the previous paragraph and add internal links.
  • "The 2000 Census ... possibly leading to under-representation in the census." - Move to Demographics. Cite sentence about immigrants carrying their distrust with them as it reads like original research.
  • "Cunningham Elementary School and Benavidez Elementary School became overcrowded in the 1990s.[5]" Move to Education section.
  • "The prominence of the Hispanic community lead Kroger to remodel its Gulfton-area store to cater to Hispanics in the 2000s.[6]" Is Kroger the only place to do this, or is it indicative of a trend? Expand and integrate into History section.
  • "Beatrice Marquez ... specifically identify themselves as going to Gulfton. [7]" - I don't understand this sentence, or why it's here.

Geography

  • This section is needed. It can expand upon the location of Gulfton within Houston, and could include a map of the area (map is not necessary for GA, just making a suggestion for the future). Also can describe "cityscape" (for lack of a better word!), like the types of buildings, and you can move the swimming pool fact here, too.
  • Geography sections typically have info on the climate, but since Gulfton's climate is the same as Houston's, it makes sense to omit that info.

Demographics

  • Aside from the stuff I've already suggested you move to here, this is a great opportunity to highlight the similarities and differences between Gulfton and the rest of Houston, e.g. income, family structure, other census data as applicable.
  • You could also describe differences and trends in demographics over time.

Economy / Arts and culture / Sports and recreation

  • Other typical sections for articles on places, only include them if Gulfton is significantly different from Houston or there is a wealth of unique information. For example, if the headquarters of a notable company is located in Gulfton, or Gulfton is renowned for a creative movement or producing top athletes, or there are a number of museums, parks (move info from Parks section to here), cultural festivals etc.

Government

  • Needs expansion. If subsections cannot be sufficiently expanded, then consolidate. Any info on voting trends, the mayor, etc?

Police service / Fire service

  • Move into Infrastructure.

Education

  • I would remove the subsections and consolidate the section. One sentence in "Private schools" and one sentence in "Colleges" is not enough to warrant sections.
  • One sentence paragraphs should be integrated and you don't need a list for only four dot points - convert to prose.
  • "Most Gulfton residents attend Lee High School." - is this most high school-aged residents, or most of the population of Gulfton? Clarify.

Parks

  • Consolidate into Sports and recreation or Geography.

Infrastructure

  • Include information on methods of transportation, utilities (e.g. if power station located in area), healthcare and other amenities and services like police and fire.

See also

  • Should be before References.

References

  • Need to expand information in citations - for example, no references have retrieval dates. Refer to WP:CITE#FULL for more info. Fix capitalisation - some are in all caps for no reason.

External links

  • Formatting needs to be standardised.
  • Don't need Up Close link, already in References.

Good luck! :) Somno (talk) 09:33, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

  • Thank you very much! I began improvements and I will address some sections at a later point... WhisperToMe (talk) 16:11, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
The article is coming along but there is still much work required to reach GA level, so I have failed the article. Work on expansion and avoiding one sentence paragraphs, and when these issues are addressed, the article can be renominated. If you feel that this review is in error, feel free to have it reassessed. Somno (talk) 08:50, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
Alrighty - When I have time I'll try to expand the article WhisperToMe (talk) 01:13, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Gulfton, Houston, Texas/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Overall

  • Many of the necessary changes suggested by previous reviewers have not yet been completed such as:
    • "The Shenandoah subdivision closed itself from Gulfton." - How?
    • "criminals included people who refer to themselves as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)" is unclear. Please reword. (It is still unclear)
    • Who are Robert Fisher and Lisa Taafe? Why does their opinion matter? Tie this paragraph in more with the previous paragraph and add internal links... Is he a sociologist? If so, from what university/institute? Also, don't just lay out the quote, say something about like how the area was probably unable to become a viable community because of the lack of certain necessary infrastructure.
    • "The prominence of the Hispanic community lead Kroger to remodel its Gulfton-area store to cater to Hispanics in the 2000s.[6]" Is Kroger the only place to do this, or is it indicative of a trend? Expand and integrate into History section.
    • "Beatrice Marquez ... specifically identify themselves as going to Gulfton. [7]" - I don't understand this sentence, or why it's here.
    • "this is a great opportunity to highlight the similarities and differences between Gulfton and the rest of Houston, e.g. income, family structure, other census data as applicable." Just exactly how do the population figures compare besides the fact that Gulfton is more densely populated?
    • Need to expand information in citations - for example, no references have retrieval dates. Refer to WP:CITE#FULL for more info. Fix capitalisation - some are in all caps for no reason.
  • The prose in areas is still lacks refinement (also as indicated by previous reviews). I have mentioned a few notable problem areas below and in some instances provided suggestions for their cleanup.
  • Make sure citations come after punctuation (e.g. "The cow jumped over the moon.[1]" not "The cow jumped over the moon[1]."). It is generally against GA standards to put external links in the text; they should be linked as part of the citation/reference. This is a perfect example from the the Education section of what not to do in both instances: "The attendance boundaries of Benavidez Elementary School [2]." Similar recurrences throughout the article need to be fixed.
  • Key terms can be wikilinked to provide additional information to readers.
  • Certain other aspects do not meet GA criteria as established below.

Lead

  • The lead is still too choppy. "Gulfton is a community of western Houston, Texas, United States.

Instead of: "Gulfton, a 3.2 sq mi (8.3 km²) group of apartment complexes[1] with a mostly Hispanic and immigrant population, is located outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8, west of the city of Bellaire, east and south of U.S. Highway 59, and north of Bellaire Boulevard. The Greater Southwest Houston Chamber of Commerce defines Gulfton as a part of "Southwest Houston."[2] Susan Rogers, author of "Superneighborhood 27: A Brief History of Change," described Gulfton as one of several "low-rent suburban environments."[3]."

Perhaps this could be rewritten as the following:

"Gulfton is a community of southwest Houston, Texas, United States located outside the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8, west of the city of Bellaire, east and south of U.S. Highway 59, and north of Bellaire Boulevard. The neighborhood covers 3.2 sq mi (8.3 km²) and is comprised of multi-family apartment complexes occupied primarily by Hispanic residents and immigrants; the area is characterized as one of several "low-rent suburban environments" in Houston." See the difference in the flow?

History

  • Awkward: "Shenandoah, consisting of 16 blocks of ranch-style homes and the first subdivision in the area, opened in the mid-1950s."

Better: "The first subdivision in the area, Shenandoah, opened in the mid-1950s and consists of 16 blocks of ranch-style homes."

  • "The apartments opened during the Oil Boom of the 1970s; they were built for and housed many young, predominately White people who originated from Rust Belt areas in the Northeast and Midwest United States.[3]" Not necessary to capitalize "white".

Better phrasing: "Apartment complexes in the community opened during the "Oil Boom" of the 1970s and housed white migrant workers from the Northeast and Midwest United States."

Geography

  • "As a consequence of the trend of building apartments to accommodate young adults, Gulfton as of 2005 contains more than one hundred semi-private swimming pools; many of them had been filled.[3]" I don't get what 100 swimming pools have to do with young adults or why this is important?
  • Awkward: "Many immigrants carried their distrust of governments to the United States, possibly leading to under-representation in the census.[9]"

Better: "Underrepresentation in the census is possible due to the fact that many of the area's immigrants, especially those residing in the country illegally, may be distrustful of the government's attempt to obtain personal information."

  • "as of 2008 Al Green represents the district." Make sure this links to Al Green the Congressman, not Al Green the singer.

Education

  • Remove external links

Sports and recreation

  • "became established" -> "was established"

So far, this is a good start to what could be a great article but is not yet a GA candidate. Because of the numerous unfixed problems, the article will fail for now but please renominate in the future when the above revisions are complete! Best, Epicadam (talk) 15:14, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

  • Okay, I will work on it some more. However...
    • '"The Shenandoah subdivision closed itself from Gulfton." - How? '
      • this "The Shenandoah subdivision barricaded its streets, closing itself from Gulfton." addresses it - By barricading its streets, it shut itself from Gulfton. That is all the source I used states. It doesn't explain how the streets are barricaded.
    • "**"Beatrice Marquez ... specifically identify themselves as going to Gulfton. [7]" - I don't understand this sentence, or why it's here."
      • It is there to highlight how well-known Gulfton is in many Central American communities. I believe this concept is clear; if it needs rewording please reply.

*** I believed what the article states about Fisher and Taafe would be sufficient to explain their importance. I could do some more research in to them, but please tell me exactly what additional information is needed regarding the two. The article already states: "Robert Fisher, PhD and Lisa Taafe, LMSW, authors of Public Life in Gulfton: Multiple Publics and Models of Organization[5] " - Do you want to know who granted the credentials or what the PHd and LMSW are for? I believed that simply saying PHD and referring to the book written would be enough.

        • EDIT: I found some more information that should be enough to satisfy this requirement.
      • ""The prominence of the Hispanic community lead Kroger to remodel its Gulfton-area store to cater to Hispanics in the 2000s.[6]" Is Kroger the only place to do this, or is it indicative of a trend? Expand and integrate into History section."
        • I have A. merged this into the history section and B. explained the significance. What else should I do with this?

As for ""this is a great opportunity to highlight the similarities and differences between Gulfton and the rest of Houston, e.g. income, family structure, other census data as applicable." Just exactly how do the population figures compare besides the fact that Gulfton is more densely populated?" I will compare family sizes; while there are comparisons I am not sure what else is pertinent or should be made. All I have right now is Gulfton SN vs. City of Houston total figures.

Also, the pool stuff is there because the features of the Gulfton apartments originally catered to young adults (this is because they were built for young migrants in the 1970s), and NOT to families. Now the apartments have features not necessary for families (the private pools).

WhisperToMe (talk) 02:44, 13 June 2008 (UTC)