I am just curious about a few things. I am sure my fellow UO'ers can put some light to this or help me out. I have edited some Wikipedia pages multiple times and have always tried to include information that is relevant and pertaining to the article. When I lived in Lakewood, I created many of the sections, such as neighborhoods, schools, etc. I also created the "Gold Coast Lakewood" page. However, when I moved to South Euclid, I have noticed it is a poorly constructed Wiki page. I have tried on at least 3 occasions to update the Wiki entry by adding a picture, info. on the Cedar Center development, and also about other things such as the Metroparks and even the new Oakwood Commons. Every single time I try to do ANYTHING to add to the page, some head honcho guy immediately removes my information. The last time I edited the page, I added info. to the new Cedar Center project, which I have been following closely and he removed the info., stating "This is not a real estate brochure". What the hell is that supposed to mean? Many Wiki pages contain development and project news - all over the region, the country, and across the world, so I don't understand that at all. Furthermore, no matter what I try to do to help the page, it always gets removed.

 

My other problem is trying to understand why Cleveland and all of the inner ring suburbs absolutely have to have the population count for the past 5-6 decades listed, yet none of the wealthier suburbs or most of the cities around the rest of the country ever show such a stat on their page. For example: Chagrin Falls, Moreland Hills, or even Mayfield Heights DO NOT show this stat, yet Cleveland, South Euclid, and Cleveland Heights do, as an example. When I tried to remove this stat from South Euclid, it was brought back within 20 minutes by this same person. I have no qualms about the stat being there, so long as it's distributed to all of the cities, suburbs, and townships - but something seems very wrong when it's only listed on the inner rings that have suffered. This doesn't make the city look very attractive to only list negative things and when I try to add positive things, they are removed. Again - I am not only trying to list positive things to promote my city. That is not my issue - my issue is that someone on Wikipedia is preventing any editing to a page that is supposed to be editable by anyone. I have cited my sources in the past, especially on Cleveland and Lakewood's pages only to see removals there too.

 

While this may seem like a rant, all I am trying to get across is my confusion why it's so difficult to make our local Wiki pages more attractive, informing, and educational for viewers. A quick look at any Wiki for any city or neighborhood in anywhere in Europe or most of the USA always produces extremely beautiful bold pictures and positive information. A gander at a Cleveland or Cleveland suburb page usually gloats about our poverty, population decrease, how dangerous the city is, and usually has an AWFUL picture of the city.

 

I almost feel like someone out there wants Cleveland's Wiki's to look like sh!t. Just my opinion, and I hope others would share their viewpoint on this thought I've had.

 

The entry for Detroit-Shoreway states underneath a picture of a row of empty storefronts, "Gordon Square, Detroit-Shoreway's retail hub and slated to become an arts area in the near future." And the main entry for Cleveland focuses mainly on our population declines. Is that really the most important thing about Cleveland? That page however is a star page, meaning it's even harder to edit.

 

As a perfect example, look at Trafalgar Square's entry @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_square - and notice how it compares to say, our most famous neighborhood in all of Cleveland, Tremont: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremont,_Cleveland

 

I figured why bother fixing up Tremont's entry, because it would just get reverted back. What does it take to make our Wiki pages awesome? Sadly, anyone outside of Cleveland who views the Tremont page would hardly find it to be informing or enticing. Hell, if I was an out of towner and saw that, I'd think Tremont was an absolute shithole. Unfortunately, it's one of the coolest neighborhoods in Ohio. I could give more examples, such as my hometown of South Euclid, which has a really crappy Wiki page. This turns into a "be the change you wish to see" but when I be the change, some person is taking it all back with the click of a mouse button.

^No offense, but Traflagar Square is one of the most well-known landmarks on the planet--I would expect a different Wiki article for something like that than a neighborhood in a midwestern city. 

 

As to the rest of your post, I have no idea about the inner workings of Wikipedia, but it seems weird that your stuff keeps getting taken down. 

Here is a good example

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Village

Ok--now that makes a lot of sense.  Why shouldn't Tremont have a better page?  Weird...

Ohio City has a little better one but still not that good

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_City,_Cleveland

I used Trafalgar Square off the top of my head. Just about every single neighborhood in Pittsburgh has a fantastic page. As ClevelandOhio demonstrated, German Village has a lovely entry. You will also notice that German Village makes no mention of population declines or wage information, whereas Tremont and Ohio City do.

So I've been busy improving wikipages for University circle this weekend:

 

Created pages:

1) Cozad-Bates House http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozad-Bates_House

2) Michelson-Morley Memorial Fountain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson-Morley_Memorial_Fountain

 

Greatly improved:

3) Temple Tifereth-Israel  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temple_%28Cleveland,_Ohio%29

 

Greatly, Greatly improved:

4) University Circle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Circle

 

However, I have hit a road block and need help.  Last night I created the "Montessori High School at University Circle" page and was immediately hit with "primary sources needed" warnings across the top.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_High_School_at_University_Circle As you can see, I went over the top with every source I could find mentioning the school, but so some reason the mods are still giving me a hard time, and I'm nervous all my research and work will be deleted.

 

I wrote to the mod asking why my news paper articles were not "primary, independent sources" and he replied with:

By reliable sources, it is generlly expected that sources will be multiple and have extensive coverage; newspapers should be established, not local, and be at least of regional, or in the USA, of state-wide distribution; this is of particular importance for schools as they often receive routine mentions in local newspapers. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/09/cleveland_montessori_high_scho.html for example, is simply an information piece on the opening of the school; at that time the school would not have earned any notability, while http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/06/new_high_school_in_university.html is little more than advertorial that again is only based on the school's opening.

 

What else can I do to get those warnings to go away??

It's been a long time since I did anything on Wikipedia, but I believe there's a Cleveland project page.  Maybe you could contact some of the people over there, or at least put up a note asking for help with your sources.

Ohio City has a little better one but still not that good

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_City,_Cleveland

 

I thought that first pic looked familiar: that's because I added it a ways back.

Sorry to bring up such an old thread, but something always gets to me when I look at the Cleveland Wiki page.  What is up with the old 1992 picture of the Port of Cleveland?  It makes Cleveland look like some dreary city in Soviet Ukraine or something.  It doesn't exactly help Cleveland's image, and not like Wikipedia is the end all be all of what represents Cleveland, it just isn't exactly a flattering picture of the city.