Talk:Banská Bystrica

Regarding the names, here is a liink to a Slovak web reference: http://vkmk.sk.neutrino.vasadomena.sk/storage/PoznajSvojeMestoBB.pdf (Page 2). Also, another question: Does Bystrica refer to one concrete river or just "rapid river" in general? (The name also exists in the Transylvanian town "Beszterce/Bistrita" Árpád 09:15, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Bystrý (bystrij) means quick in Slavic languages. Bystrica or Bystrice [Czech Bystřice] (literally approx. "quick thing (river)" ) is a very frequent toponym in this region and nowadays the word is no longer perceived to imply more than river or creek. Juro 10:45, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

12/14/07

Perhaps add more famous people from the older periods, perhaps remove the pic from that section and arrange the names in 2-3 columns if the list gets quite long. ♠♠♠ To make it more user-friendly (tourists) always give the Slovak names of all the places, institutions, streets, plus the corresponding full English translations (in whichever order, but try to keep it consistent − what's first and what's in parentheses), i.e., rather than saying "a museum of..." etc. ♠♠♠ I'm not sure about those "palaces" (unless they're called that in Slovak and the text gives a formal translation) − are there any there, where are their pics, aren't they more like mansions or something? Carca220nne (talk) 09:19, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you so much for your excellent copyediting! I really enjoy reading your articles and hoped you would help me with this one. I have just changed some of your translations of institutions to their more awkward yet official translations. I will also arrange the famous people in 2 columns as you have suggested. As to mansions, I am not sure if this term is suitable to describe a large multi-storey private house on a medieval square (i.e. adjacent to other similar houses). Should I use the word "townhouse" instead? It is more something like palazzo in Italy. Tankred (talk) 15:03, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Glad if you found any of it useful. ♠♠♠ Indeed, I'd also opt for their own translations (I didn't check except with the SNP Museum, so I left that one as it was; I'd probably clarify the college of nursing in parentheses). ♠♠♠ I'm often at a loss with what to call various non-palatial "palaces," too. A townhouse is too mundane for what you describe and I don't think an undetached structure meets people's usual understanding of a palace. I'd say that a mansion doesn't raise the same expectations as much (and implies something fanciful), nor does the Italian palazzo you suggest, a meaningful option. Except in the original name, I'd use palace for an undetached residence only when it's decidedly "horizontal," say height:width preferably more than 1:5. Carca220nne (talk) 17:35, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Economy

Comparisons with Bratislava make little sense (does the Bratislava entry compare it to Banská Bystrica, why not if it's important or meaningful), or with anything else; if at all, Banská Bystrica needs to be put in its own context = compared with something above/at the top as well as with something below/bottom; but why: each user will need a comparison with something else (Rimini, Rovaniemi...). ♠♠♠ GDP from 2001 seems quite dated (so does real estate); if retained, the reader needs to know whether it's at exchange rate parity or PPP/PPS, and what year euros. I wonder whether newer data may actually exist (see unemployment − you'll edit the refs). ♠♠♠ Hill is not particularly common in names (sounds like a mound − see the pics in Wki), which is OK, but change it everywhere then. ♠♠♠ Keep the leading world producer of copper if there's evidence that it was the single top company, say a leading... otherwise. ♠♠♠ I thought I noticed a typo somewhere (maybe not), an orphaned preposition, or an article, or something, but can't find it now. ♠♠♠ I'd add the Slovak names to the museums, too, that helps tourists find them. Carca220nne (talk) 02:23, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you so much again! I compared Banska Bystrica to Bratislava or the country's average to give numbers some meaning. Otherwise, readers would have little idea if the numbers are low or high. I cannot find any more recent figures for GDP per capita, but I will try to find the operationalization of the cited figure. I will remove the outdated real estate paragraph because it probably is not so important anyway. I will also replace the word hill with the mountain. And I will add the Slovak names wherever they are still missing. Thank you for this comprehensive review. Tankred (talk) 16:16, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Happy again. ♠♠♠ Bratislava is not a benchmark for anyone expect perhaps for someone in Bratislava (do you live among people for whom it is a point of reference for Slovakia? no one around me for whom it might possibly be and this is English=world-wide Wki). The target audience knows nothing more about Bratislava than about Banská Bystrica. Use the country's average, EU, Central European, world... average for comparisons if you want to compare, or compare it both to Bratislava and to a low-GDP city location in Slovakia (both ends, not just a higher one, are necessary for effective context). Users will always have to do their homework and compare it with what they need to on their own anyways. Agreed: comparisons are good, it's the benchmark here (Bratislava) and its singularity that's awkward − how much would it tell us about the cities if we learned that Zurich's per-capita GDP is X by comparison to Bern's Y, that Denver's GDP is A by comparison to D.C.'s B, not to mention much less known countries. The capital of a country is no singular benchmark for comparisons, it's merely a political center. ♠♠♠ Eurostat should have GDPs for at least 2004, I'd think, but probably not for Banská Bystrica; consider using their Banská Bystrica regional data instead with a brief comment like you did meaningfully with other not-quite-localized or up-to-date data. Carca220nne (talk) 18:22, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

The regional data are biased by extremely poor districts in the south and east. I could not find any recent city-level or district-level data for GDP per capita, but I am not giving up. You are right about Bratislava, I will use the country's average instead. Tankred (talk) 21:01, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

I added the updated November unemployment rate + ref, but also left the original reference to the Stat. Office where it was. I'd delete the new reference to upsvar.sk and retain only the reference to the Statistical Office once the same is available at their site (seems to be having problems at the moment). Carca220nne (talk) 00:08, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Pics

On the odd chance, Tankred, consider whether these pics might be of any use as additions or more visual alternatives here or with your Urpín: Banska Bystrica Urpin.jpg‎; Banska Bystrica SNP Square.jpg; Banska Bystrica Benicky House.jpg Carca220nne (talk) 18:13, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you! I am going to use them in both articles. Tankred (talk) 23:42, 19 December 2007 (UTC)