User:OvertAnalyzer/Sandbox2

Discussion of geographic areas

The following are my thoughts on how various articles on geographic designations (GDs) might be arranged. I felt I need this to help clarify in my own mind what type of information should be included within the various types of GDs. Hopefully this will help minimize unnecessary and duplicate information. Over time, I'll try to develop proposed guidelines on the information I think articles for each type of GD should contain.

Nested Discrete Geographic Designations

Levels of geographic designations that are generally nested and that have generally non-overlapping discrete boundaries.

• Neighborhood/District
• Burough
• City/Town/Census designated areas
• County/Parish
• State
• Country
• Empire/Common Wealth (not always contained within a single continent)
• Continent
• Americas

Topics to cover:

• Any data specifically relevant to the GD.
• When creating a list of items for a lower level GD, do not repeat the data at the higher level. Instead, reference the various lower level lists that are encompassed by the higher level GD.

Non-nested Discrete Geographic Designations

Examples:

• South Coast Air Quality Management District
• Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metropolitan Statistical Area

Non-Discrete Geographic Designations

Geographic areas without official fixed boundaries that vary based on opinion or context.

Examples:

• Southern California
• Eastern California
• Greater Los Angeles Area
• Inland Empire
• Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area
• Inland Valley
• High Desert
• San Bernardino Valley (possibly should be a Non-nested Discrete GD example)
• Los Angeles Basin

Topics to cover:

• Etymology of the geographic designation.
• The various contexts in which the geographic designation is used.
• A description of the maximum and minimum geographic extents included within geographic designation.
• If appropriate, a series of maps or descriptions that show commonly found versions of the geographic designation, preferably with coded maps to show the differences.
• A table showing the various discrete geographic areas that are included within the subject geographic area. The table should be coded (corresponding to the maps) to indicate which version(s) each discrete geographic area falls within.
• A description of the GD's demographics, but only if the demographics don't swing broadly by GD version, or the variations in demographics by GD version can be described.

Topics not to cover:

• Avoid including histories, since this info is already described in the associated discrete GDs. It is difficult to decide what to include and not to include anyway, because it depends on the boundary being discussed. Only include history as it relates to the etymology, or if the GD has a very specific history related to it. For example, the Inland Empire, beyond the etymology, does not typically have a history associated to it specifically. It would not seem helpful to repeat everything that is in the San Bernardino and Riverside city and county histories. I do believe though that the San Bernardino Valley, does typically have a specific history associated with it, beyond the specific histories of each city.
• Avoid including lists of discrete GDs that are contained in the non-discrete GD, unless a table can be built that shows when each discrete GD should be included base on the context of the non-discrete GD.