Talk:Portland, Maine

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[edit] Better pictures?

How about some better pictures of the city (downtown maybe?) as it is now. How many east end and historic pictures does this page need? Jeez. The top photo of Munjoy Hill is not exactly flattering. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.224.210.134 (talk • contribs)

What's wrong with the photo exactly? Does its ass look big in it? - Dudesleeper · Talk 00:23, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
I do photography around Portland and upload photos (while I took the East End photos, I did not post them to the main page). If you have something in mind you'd like to see, please request it :) --Auto(talk / contribs) 03:26, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
The picture as is makes portland look like a small New England fishing town. Portland feels much bigger when your actually there. This picture at http://www.mereda.org/photo2.htm gives a much more accurate representation of Portland (though I assume it is copyrighted and thus cannot be used here). There defiitely needs to be a better picture. I apologize for not being formatting correctly but I am unsure how to do that.---May 11 12:38 AM —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.160.246.20 (talk • contribs).
I would truly love to put up a photo like that, but I don't have access to a helicopter / small aircraft :( —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Autocracy (talk • contribs) 18:58, 12 May 2007 (UTC).
I agree that the East End picture from the top of the Observatory isn't exactly a good representation and "first impression" image of the city, and I even live on the East End about a block to the right of that picture. I think a skyline photo taken around sunset from across Back Cove near Payson Park would be a perfect picture to put up top in the info box.Dr StrangeHat 03:14, 16 May 2007 (UTC)
I put one of the images in its own "cityscape" section in wide image format until a better image is found for the infobox.Rigby27 (talk) 14:27, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately only one is not a severe landscape resolution. Thoughts? I'm also thinking of including 295 snaking through taken from near Exit 8. Autocracy 17:07, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Geography section discussion (general to all city articles)

I recommend renaming the demographics section "Demographics & Geography" and moving geography to the end of demographics in a seperate paragraph but realize that this would be a huge undertaking to maintain compatibility with the other ~300,000 city articles. Can this be automated? Any thoughts? This section is a poorly written stub and being tabular in nature; does not belong above History (which is the foundation of the (non-stub) city articles).

Also, a project needs to be set up to write meaningful and well-written history sections for every US city.

Does anyone have any objections to me re-writting and adding to the geography section and maybe even working it into the demographics section? I realize the consistancy issues.

[edit] Portland Head Light

I've taken the step of replacing the image of Portland Head Light at the top of the article with one of the waterfront (which is less scenic, definitely). The image is awesome, much superior to the ones I took of the lighthouse, but the problem is that the light is not actually in Portland, but rather in Cape Elizabeth. I realize it's a symbol of the area, but it doesn't seem quite appropriate as the introductory image of the article on Portland itself. -- Decumanus 00:26, 2004 Oct 29 (UTC)

[edit] County Map Incorrect

The map wikipedia is using for Cumberland County is incorrect. It shows Portland as land-locked when in fact it is a peninsela in the atlantic ocean. The shape isn't even correct. Perhaps the map is intending to show boundaries around waterways and so forth but this is not clear by the drawing. This is probably a pretty major "correctness" issue for an encyclopedia.


[edit] Maine Mall

Under Sites of interest, the Maine Mall should probably not be listed since it is not in the city of Portland. --Andy 03:37, 12 September 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Poverty statistics

Are those poverty statistics accurate? They seem rediculously high...172.161.84.248 12:23, 24 July 2006 (UTC)


[edit] In The Bedroom?

Wasn't the 2001 film In The Bedroom filmed or partly filmed in Portland? Shploo 16:37, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Portland Public Schools

Added a link to the Portland Public Schools Website. Shploo 16:42, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Population

Many cities north of Boston have a population larger than that of Portland.

According (mostly?) to 2000 census data:

1. Manchester, NH (107,006) 2. Lowell, MA (105,167) 3. Cambridge, MA (101,355) 4. Lynn, MA (89,050) 5. Nashua, NH (86,605) 6. Somerville, MA (77,478) 7. Lawrence, MA (72,043) 8. Portland, ME (64,249)

I guess we could say it's the eighth largest city north of Boston in New England. (If I've missed any more feel free to add 'em!)

mj

I believe the Greater-Portland metropolitan area (population ~250,000) is larger than the greater Manchester metropolitan area (population ~198,000), greater Nasua metropolitan area (~191,000), Cambridge is part of the Boston Metropolitan area... I think on that list only the greater Lowel metro area may be larger that greater Portland...
Many people say Portland has a population of 250,000 because all the cities in the greater Portland metro area are economically and socially interdependant.
Somerville, MA is an adjacent suburb of Boston and Cambridge, MA. Lawrence and Lowell, MA are adjacent sister cities.
Portland's population count is not proportional to the city's importance in the region and an inaccurate way to compare the city with other cities when it comes to measuring its cultural significance. The abstract concept is hard to quantify, but Portland is much bigger than a head count of the people living there makes it seem. It might have to do with the medium densitiy of Greater Portland in Southern Maine and the fact that the city is the cultural center of a much larger area. For example, the greater portland commerce and cultural activity is much higher than Greater Portsmouth and Greater Manchester in New Hampshire.

Technically Miineapolis/St. Paul and Seattle are north of Boston.

[edit] Geography and Climate table

The temperatures and precipitation amounts in the table were inaccurate, so I corrected them. There was color coding before on the table, but the colors no longer correspond with the temperatures. I don't know if there is a standard set of colors used, but I just made the cells with a white background. If anyone wants to change it later, feel free. Wikieditor06 22:06, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Forest City

I've lived in Portland my entire life and I've never once heard it referred to as the Forest City. I suppose it could be as theres a automobile dealership named that. However, if a city is going to have a nickname it should sometimes be referred to as it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 153.90.116.240 (talk) 18:16, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

I've heard it referred to the Forest City many times. The nickname was much more common back before Dutch Elm Disease killed much of the city's trees. Dr StrangeHat 03:16, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] islands

I believe that all the islands are no longer a part of Portland and now belong to Casco bay. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.246.196.20 (talk) 20:35, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Maps

This article needs maps. It needs a map of Portland proper, and also maps of the metro area, showing us where these 500,000 people are supposed to live. -69.87.203.220 (talk) 11:58, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

Well volunteered. - Dudesleeper · Talk 12:20, 29 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Government

I don't know what others think, but I think a section on the structure of the city government would be a good expansion for this article. Rigby27 (talk) 20:33, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

    • Added the government section. Comments/Suggestions?Rigby27 (talk) 19:02, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Review needed

The following series of edits were made by an IP with a history of vandalism. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portland%2C_Maine&diff=207132135&oldid=206789550 I would request that someone familiar with the topic and source cited review the edits to verify that the edits are indeed valid and not subtle vandalism. Thanks!TheRedPenOfDoom (talk) 00:19, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Any Portland in a storm

I started International Automobile Construction Company & wanted to tag the talk page for Portland. Isn't there a Project for it? BTW, anybody who's got shares from Scripophily or somewhere, or any info, please add to the page. It's pretty short... Trekphiler (talk) 14:02, 18 May 2008 (UTC)