Talk:Somerville, Massachusetts

message: Someone had made links out of the names of the hills of Somerville.  However, two of them were red links, two of them (Cobble Hill and Prospect Hill) lead to pages about unrelated neighborhoods, two (Spring Hill and Walnut Hill) lead to disambiguation pages that don't include the Somerville locations, and Winter Hill leads to a disambiguation page that does include Winter Hill, Somerville, Massachusetts.  I've changed the one useful one to the non-ambiguous page and de-linked the rest. DenisMoskowitz 20:47, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hill Links 

message: :The Somerville Museum is one hidden local treasure for discovering Somerville's roots, in a beautiful building run by volunteers, at 1 Westwood Rd on the corner with Central St.  Call 617-666-9810 for information on the latest historical and artistic exhibits.
I moved this fact to Wikitravel, since it is more touristy than encyclopedic. -- Beland 14:43, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Somerville Museum note 

message: First of all, I've been told that two of the seven hills were radically flattened to steal earth to fill in the marsh that became the Back Bay. I don't know which hills those were. I also can't cite my source, but I know there's a book about how the Back Bay became the Back Bay.
Second, there's another city with seven hills, which is Rome, Italy. I've been told that Rome and Somerville have a "sister city" arrangement, but I can't find any evidence of this on the internet.
Since I can't cite either of these things I've left them off, but maybe somebody else knows sources for these. --Dbackeberg — Preceding undated comment added 20:47, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Seattle also has seven hills, there are probably many other examples. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.50.1.88 (talk) 15:52, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

text: I'm curious how Spring Hill fits in with those ten hills. ...From that link it seems to be Strawberry/Central/Middle Hill --Skintigh (talk) 14:43, 26 March 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  More about the seven hills 

message: Why not include George Dilboy among the famous people of Somerville? Read his page and you will see that was the first Greek American to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, was cited by General Pershing as one of the 10 greatest heroes of WWI, and was honored by three US presidents. And he has a field named after him in Somerville. I think that merits a mention here, especially compared to the other folks on this list.Notmyrealname 04:08, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Dilboy wasn't born in Somerville. I'm adding a "notable residents" section. -- Akb4 14:57, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  George Dilboy 

message: recent edits seem to have broken display of full article; also some ill-formed links. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rumpuscat (talk • contribs) 21:06, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  broken display

message: It would be neat to have maps to show:
* The current features, such as major roads and squares.
* Borders with surrounding present-day municipalities and nearby features in those communities.
* The original shoreline showing Charlestown Neck.
-- Beland 23:19, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Map request 

message: I tagged the last paragraph of Demographics with NPOV because it reads more like a "letter to the editor" than an unbiased look at town. I am not from Somerville, so I wouldn't attempt to rewrite it. I think some of the actual facts could be left if they were verified, but some of the ideas (like: people "ignoring problems of working-class families such as drugs, gang violence, and suicides...") need to be either quantified or removed. Anyone from Somerville like to take a shot at cleaning up this section?--Dalmatian Mommy 04:27, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, that's a poorly-worded explanation of the City's problems.  I'm not sure I'm the guy to improve it, but there must be a way to address the issue without POV problems. The "anti-Yuppie" graffiti got some major play in the local press, and conflicts between the Mystic View Task Force people & local old-timers has spilled into the police log in recent years, so some mention of the tension clearly belongs in the article.  Speaking of which, this line - More recently, lobbying by grassroots organizations is attempting to revive and preserve Somerville's "small town" neighborhood environments by supporting local business, public transit, gardens and pedestrian/biker access. - probably needs to be edited.  MVTF is pretty controversial, linking them from that sentence makes them seem like some blissed-out garden club.  So, I support some extensive re-writing of the problematic sections of this article.  I might even take a run at it, if no one proves more motivated than I. BankyEdwards 20:48, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  NPOV - Demographics 

message: An anon IP address 76.188.162.249 has twice added someone named John Gorman to the list of "notable residents," and also to the same list for Malden, MA. However, the description with this entry does not match any of the John Gormans on the disambiguation page. The rest of the entries for this user appear to be for the sole purpose of promoting this John Gorman. Please establish notability before reinserting this item on this or other city pages. Thanks. Notmyrealname 02:59, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It does appear to be self-promotion, and a form of spamming.  That user and Gmanusa together have put Gorman on the "notable residents" lists tonight for at least four other cities or towns.  Does wiki have criteria for notability, or is eligibility totally arbitrary? Hertz1888 04:07, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Notable residents

message: "Foodmaster square" seems dubious. Comments? Info lover (talk) 15:22, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Copying here for reference purposes the latter portions of a discussion that took place on the Foodmaster Square article's talk page:
I did find this website where Foodmaster Square is listed as a region of Somerville for real estate purposes.  http://massrealestateadvisor.com/vip_buyer.asp 
Rumpuscat (talk) 15:58, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

text: It is astounding to me that a few maverick literates are missing a central concept of linguistics and human society: dynamic change and evolution.  I have been a Somerville resident for over 10 years and while this term certainly wasn't part of common parlance upon my arrival, it is a term that is catching on in wider use among friends and acquaintances in the area.  One need not be an expert in contextual sociolinguistics to understand the introduction of this term: it's a title that makes sense; is easily recognizable; and that is, except for those oddly and without founding fixated on "commercial nature", easily accepted and adopted.  I would urge the critics of this page so far to divest themselves of their apparent self-importance and accept social and linguistic change.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.43.92.191 (talk) 17:32, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: You used a lot of big words and obscure terms that I'm not going to bother to look up, and I resent you for it. We (people who are in favor of deleting this article) are not questioning the process by which places are named, as you describe above. We are simply saying that no one actually uses the term "Foodmaster Square", and believe it would make more sense for this term to be used BEFORE a Wikipedia article is created, not the other way around.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.25.77.51 (talk) 19:52, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I know many people using the term Foodmaster Square, and several others who immediately knew the location to which people were referring upon hearing it for the first time.  Just because you personally aren't aware of an idea or a term doesn't make it invalid.  That's quite the combination of ignorance and pompousness.SwampJackal (talk) 01:42, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

text: This is now incomplete -- a great deal further discussion, including proposed deletion, has occurred regarding this item since this discussion appeared.  Please see the talk page and deletion discussion for this item for the full story. 209.6.14.150 (talk) 19:49, 26 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I've never heard the name, myself. Does it refer to the Foodmaster by Alewife Brook, or the one just outside Inman?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.6.44.80 (talk) 03:50, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Alewife Brook. Hertz1888 (talk) 04:28, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Neighborhoods

message: The article references the Abbey Lounge in the culture section.  Sadly, the Abbey Lounge is no more.  It shut down some time in Nov-Dec (2008).  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.30.14.51 (talk) 18:23, 17 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: R.I.P.Abbey Lounge

message: Brickbottom District (north of McGrath Highway, south of Innerbelt District)
Would it be more accurate to describe it as east of the McGrath, west of Innerbelt?  Or do I have it in the wrong place?  38.111.35.2 (talk) 14:15, 1 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Where Is Brickbottom? 

message: According to the City of Somerville city services map http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TrashAndRecyclingBaseMap.pdf,  there are two more neighborhoods in addition to those listed in this article: "Duck Village" in the South-Easterly portion, and "The States," in the North-Easterly portion. Personally, I am surprised to see these regions listed on an official city document, in that I have lived in Somerville for nearly 20 years and have never heard either of those names mentioned, but there it is on the official document. I came to Wikipedia to look up the history of how "Duck Village got its name, and when "The States," (an area in which all of the street names are U.S. States) was developed, but did not find that, and in fact found them absent.  Discuss? 
Also it may be worth noting that "Clarendon Hill," which is listed in the article under "Hills," is considered by the city to be a region or neighborhood. 
Rachel sez (talk) 03:21, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Duck Village is near my house, but you probably wouldn't have heard of it if you didn't live there. It's basically just a little residential area with a playground and some industrial buildings by the tracks. It's in the area between Dane St., Washington St., Beacon St., Park St., and the railroad. There is a "Historical Marker" looking sign hanging in front of one of the houses there, but I don't know how accurate it is. See http://summerinsomerville.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/no-38-palmacci/compdsc02061/ 209.6.44.80 (talk) 13:55, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Additional Neighborhoods: "Duck Village," and "The States." 

message: Hello! I wrote a page on Taza Chocolate, a chocolate factory located in Sommerville, MA. Check it out! Andrea guerrerov (talk) 16:30, 18 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Chocolate factory

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hi all, 
I don't live in Somerville so I don't have the immediate means to improve this, but if anyone has a better and more recent photo of Davis Square, I feel strongly that would contribute something more to this article. The current photo is more than 10 years old, low resolution, and its composition causes the eye to drift towards that white station wagon rather than the buildings/area itself. Any photo contributions with proper licensing are greatly encouraged. --Simtropolitan (talk) 14:43, 13 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Improved photo? 

message: The 1910 annual report, page 348, has this list of city squares, including some previous names:
* Ball Square
* Central Square (formerly Prescott Square)
* Concord Square
* Cutter Square (formerly Russell Square)
* Davis Square (formerly Clarendon Square)
* Gilman Square
* Homer Square 
* Magoun Square (formerly Pollard Square)
* Metropolitan Square (formerly Post-Office Square)
* Oak Square (noted in the 1920 report as renamed to Wilson Square)
* Powder House Square (formerly Tufts Square)
* Teele Square (formerly Russell Square)
* Union Square
* Wesley Square
Many of these (Central, Concord, Cutter, Homer, Metropolitan, Wesley) aren't commonly recognized today. Others, like Gilman Square, are experiencing a revival. It might be interesting to update the list of neighborhoods and squares to reflect the history. Matthew Miller (talk) 13:49, 26 May 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Historical Squares