Wikipedia:Peer review/Gulfton, Houston/archive2

Gulfton, Houston

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch • Watch peer review

This peer review discussion has been closed.
I've listed this article for peer review because I want to get this article to featured article status. Please consider the comments made in the last failed FA nomination here: Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Gulfton, Houston/archive2

Thanks, WhisperToMe (talk) 06:54, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ruhrfisch comments: I am glad to see this has improved considerably since I reviewed it before. I also want to applaud the editors working on this - it is clearly a labor of love and Wikipedia needs quality articles on neighborhoods too. Having read and thought a lot about the article, here are some suggestions for improvement.

I read the second FAC comments and found them to be accurate as far as I can tell (not sure how much the article has been edited since the FAC closed). I have to confess that I am a bit confused by the direction to look at the FAC for reviewers. I usually tell editors to treat an unsuccessful FAC as a very thorough peer review and to address all the points in it, then ask the FAC reviewers if they could take a second look at the article. Anyway, I agree that the prose still needs work and that organization is still an issue, as is providing more context / background in places (and a bit less detail in others). Here goes with some specific suggestions.
I looked at the WP:CITY suggested outline for US cities and see this follows it. I also looked at the one FA on a neighborhood / part of a city I could find (South Side (Chicago)) for ideas as a model article - it was promoted in 2007 and standards have tightened since, so it might not be the best model. Part of why I did this was because I found that I did not have a clear understanding reading the article about many aspects of Gulfton and I wondered if having a different article structure might help.
My first idea is that the lead is supposed to be an introduction to the whole article and so I worry that the lead could do a better job of summarizing the article for the reader. At first I thought about adding a section called "Overview" between the lead and the History section, with bits on the location, the fact that this is part of Houston and not its own city, etc. The more I thought about that though, the more I thought that a revised lead and the beginning of History could probably address these issues.
I think the History section could start a bit earlier in time chronologically - since Gulfton is part of Houston, I might start with that. Perhaps something like, "Although Gulfton was not developed until the mid-1950s, it is a part of Houston, which was founded in 1836 about X miles (y km) to the northeast of the current location of Gulfton." Other bits of history that could be added are the dates of establishment of Harris County and Bellaire, and the dates of construction for I-610 and the outer loop (since these are used as geographic locators). My guess is a bit on the whole growth of Houston outward / urban sprawl might be added too, then the current History section could start.
First sentence of History is an example of how the prose still needs work: Before the 1950s, Gulfton consisted of greenfield land, and much of the area was part of a settlement called Westmoreland Farms.[3] The term greenfield is consistent with a farm (land that has never been built on, farm fields or natural) but calling it a settlement is just confusing (as a settlement is populated place like a village or town). How about a slight omission: Before the 1950s, Gulfton consisted of greenfield land, and much of the area was part of ~~a settlement called~~ Westmoreland Farms.[3]
I read the article on the Shenandoah neighborhood (which is confusingly at Shenandoah, Houston, Texas, while this is just at Gulfton, Texas). This article does not make clear that Shenandoah is surrounded by Gulfton, but should.
Who named the area Gulfton? Who built the network of streets in the "widely spaced grid road pattern" - were these from its farm days? Unincorporated Harris County or perhaps twonship roads? When did Houston annex the land?
The History section focuses on the apartment complexes. Later we read about schools and when they opened In 1953, Cunningham Elementary School, the first elementary school to serve Gulfton, was built with a capacity for 300 students.[132][149] Braeburn Elementary School opened in 1956. Long Middle School, which as of 2008 serves Gulfton, opened in 1957.[132] I think that this would be better in the history section. It owuld also help to know if these schools are actually in Gulfton or if they are in nearby neghborhoos like Shenandoah.
Back to the previous point on schools - watch needless repetition. So we get In 1953, Cunningham Elementary School, the first elementary school to serve Gulfton, was built with a capacity for 300 students.[132][149] then two sentences later a new paragraph starts In 1979, Cunningham Elementary School, which was built for 300 students in 1953, had 436 students. There is no need to repeat the original date and original capacity. Perhaps something like In 1979, Cunningham Elementary School had 436 students, or 145 percent of its original capacity.
The names of the school officials and constables seem like too much detail to me. Too much detail means more important things are lost in a sea of trivia. I do not doubt that these are fine people, but I am not sure they meet WP:NN (even the looser standard for inclusion in an article). Removing their names would also mean less future maintenance work on the article - no need to update the new constable's name.
I agree that the maps are less than clear. I also wonder if an infobox could be added to put a map an image right at the top with the lead. I think a locator map more like File:Interstate 610 map (Texas).svg would be better - fewer details (need to label Bellaire and the outer loop, perhaps add the southern boundary road.
The picture of the Krogers could be improved if it were of the left hand side with everything in SPanish and the colors matching the Mexican flag (red, green, white). Unless you click on the photo and study it, it looks like almost any supermarket anywhere in the US.
I checked the tools and there is one dab link and several dead / problem external links which will need to be fixed.
Also the article has no alt text for images but will need to have it for FAC - see WP:ALT
This ref list some interesting things about businesses in Gulfton - for example the ADOC footwear has only store in the US (and many in Central America) but this is not in the article here.
The word "costed" is not grammatical in In 2001 a partnership formed between Ed Farris of Farris & Associates and U.S. Builders began construction on the Plaza de Americas, a 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) shopping center adjacent to the Kroger in Gulfton; the project, which was scheduled to attract retailers attracting Hispanic clients, costed $4 million.
Public libraries section is only 3 sentences - could it be combined with another section? Perhaps "Community colleges and libraries"?
The Education section seems especially bloated to me - are all the street addresses necessary here (and in the rest of the article)?

Hope this helps. If my comments are useful, please consider peer reviewing an article, especially one at Wikipedia:Peer review/backlog (which is how I found this article). I do not watch peer reviews, so if you have questions or comments, please contact me on my talk page. Yours, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 22:06, 16 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]