Talk:Washington Park Court District

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Washington Park Court District 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 so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.

Washington Park Court District is part of the Washington Park, Chicago series, a good topic. This is identified as among the best series of articles produced by the Wikipedia community. If you can update or improve it, please do so.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
January 3, 2009	Good article nominee	Not listed
February 14, 2009	Good article nominee	Listed
February 24, 2009	Good topic candidate	Promoted
A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on January 10, 2009. The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that Washington Park Court District* is named after the Chicago Park District's Washington Park although it is neither in the park nor in the Washington Park community area?*
Current status: Good article

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Sources for GA push

[1], [2], [3]

This might be rather difficult. I will keep digging, I will check some databases too. --IvoShandor (talk) 19:55, 3 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Washington Park Court District/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Will be adding comments shortly. Noble Story (talk • contributions) 15:31, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Review 1

Short article. However:

I was not going to nominate it for WP:GAC, but WP:GTC rules state that to be eligible all articles must be WP:GAs. There is not much encyclopedic content out there, so I added what I could.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:26, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Despite its name it is not located within either the Washington Park community area or the Washington Park park. It is one block north of both.

I'm thinking that these two sentences could be combined into one, to make for better flow. And maybe a ref?

Combined. I don't have a ref, but look at the map. It is surely one block north of the Park. We could say (see map) or something.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:26, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In May 1990, the district was one of ten that was under consideration for Chicago Landmark status.[6] It was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 2, 1991.

Again, I think the sentences could be combined.

O.K.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:34, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The district was named for the Park,[1] which was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Should be a ref for "which was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted."

O.K.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:43, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Between 1900 and 1934 the African American population in Chicago grew from 30,000 to 236,000. In this time, the Demographics of Chicago changed so that instead of having this population diluted in scattered places, it was concentrated in two large strips of land. The concentration was enforced by violence at first.

Should have a ref for each sentence.

It's the same one, but I added it.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 04:13, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Now about the Demographics section: it is simply incomplete. What about the demographics now? That part should be included

I added more recent demographics for the community area.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 03:57, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Noble Story (talk • contributions) 02:47, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Review 2

Note that I've done a few minor grammar fixes myself, if you don't mind. But:

Washington Park Court, which runs one-way northbound from east 50th Street to east 49th Street, is a one-city block-long streetlocated at 432 east in the Chicago street numbering system. Officially, it runs from 4900 south to 5060 south in the numbering system.

In "east 50th Street", "east 49th Street, and so on, should east and south be capitalized?

In the street name the direction should be capitalized, but elsewhere it should not.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:44, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The street plus a few adjacent homes at one end is considered to be a neighborhood that has been designated as a district.

What exactly does this mean? And a reference, maybe?

We know it is a Chicago Landmark district. The word neighborhood was my own. I have changed it to be more encyclopedic.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:47, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The district was named for the Park,[1] which was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

This looks like it could go in the lead, maybe right after the first sentence.

O.K.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:59, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The street hosts residential designs of architect Henry Newhouse and of developers Andrew and John Dubach.[3] The T. G. Dickinson Real Estate Company mandated 10-foot (3.0 m) setbacks for all properties and originally sold lots in small groups of two or three.[4] In 1990, the district contained forty-nine row houses that span a wide variety of architectural styles including Classical Revival and Romanesque.[7] As of 2004, the district contained fifty-one properties.[4] At least twenty-five of the lots were developed by the Dubaches and at least twelve of the properties were designed by Newhouse.[4] Their architectural contributions set the tone for the block, which uses mostly brick and limestone houses that share porch and cornice lines.[4] Most houses have mansards or recessed roofs with bay fronts.

The first sentence about the designers really should go down past the stats about the number of properties. It's really broken up by saying after it "The T. G. Dickinson Real Estate Company mandated...". Also, the last sentence needs a ref.

Move makes sense.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 06:03, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure which sentence you are referring to.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 06:05, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In this time, the Demographics of Chicago changed so that instead of having this population diluted in scattered places, it was concentrated in two large strips of land.

"So that" is not a great phrase to use. Maybe try something like: "The population was initially diluted in scattered places, but during this time, due to the change in the demographics of Chicago, it became concentrated in two large strips of land." Something like that.

Sounds better.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 06:08, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

especially after the 1926, the United States Supreme Court upheld racially restrictive covenants in Corrigan v. Buckley (271 U.S. 323 (1926))

No external links should be present in an article, I believe.

This is a common convention in legal articles. See also Washington Park Subdivision.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 06:12, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

South Side local businessmen and the University of Chicago became alarmed at the prospect of poorer blacks moving from the Black Belt due to a combination of racial succession and economic decline.

What is the Black Belt?

I have linked it and explained it.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 06:54, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Most black neighborhoods were bounded by covenanted areas since 85% of Chicago was covenanted.

Try: "Because 85% of Chicago was covenanted, Most black neighborhoods were bounded by covenanted areas."

Sounds much better.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 06:56, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Washington Park Court Improvement Association changed its focus from neighborhood improvement via planting shrubs and cleaning streets to upholding segregationist policies.

Do you really need to say "via planting shrubs and cleaning streets"?

reworded.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 07:02, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Noble Story (talk • contributions) 04:56, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Review 3

The district was named for the Park,[1] which was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Now that this is in the lead, do you need it here as well?

The WP:LEAD summarizes the text. It does not replace it.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 09:48, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The T. G. Dickinson Real Estate Company mandated 10-foot (3.0 m) setbacks for all properties and originally sold lots in small groups of two or three.

This probably needs some a date with it. Also, you should make clear what exactly the "T. G. Dickinson Real Estate Company" has to do with the district.

I am limited by my source, but I did what I could.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 10:01, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The concentration was enforced by violence at first. After a few decades of violence, restrictive covenants became the preferred way to enforce segregation.

I think these 2 sentences could be combined in some way.

O.K.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 09:52, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

And I think that covers pretty much all the issues (i.e. it's close to GA). Noble Story (talk • contributions) 09:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Final

And now, I think this articles passes the GA criteria. Noble Story (talk • contributions) 12:51, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]