----- Original Message ----- From: Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net Date: Friday, March 19, 2004 3:20 pm Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] [[New Haven, Connecticut]]
Some people tend to view some of this local information as non-encyclopedic, but sometimes it is exactly what gives flavour to a place. Even those of us who condemn the excesses of capitalism can recognize that certain commercial enterprises play an important social and cultural role in their respective communities. If one were to extrapolate Rick's argument that the mention of the pizza restaurants constitutes advertising, then we should also delete the Disneyland article because it is effectively advertising for the theme park. Imagine the arguments if someone tried to delete that article.
I think the whole idea of 'encyclopedic'-ness is becoming a barrier to Wikipedia.
I have to agree with Erik; include these places. For those who know the Jersey Shore, imagine an article on the area _without_ including something on the Stone Pony. I live here...Not including the Stone Pony would leave a gaping hole. Not including the Hilltop Steakhouse in a similar article on Boston would be similar.
Yeah, you'd get all the facts, but you'd miss a lot of the character.