Template talk:Maricopa County, Arizona

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Ghost towns

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2007 Comment

I've re-merged cities and towns into a single category of "municipalities". In many states, a city and a town are radically different entities with differing forms of government and differing sizes. In Arizona law, the difference is negligible and amounts to the method in which the municipality was incorporated. The term "city" and "town" are interchangeable titles. Splitting the two lists creates the impression that one is different than the other. ɑʀкʏɑɴ 17:38, 23 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Theba

There are 760 populated places in Maricopa County according to the GNIS search engine. Are we really going to use this as a qualifer for inclusion in the template? With the exception of this database there is no evidence that any coherent populated place by the name of Theba exists and I object to the inclusion of a "populated place" on this template merely because it is mentioned in a long outdated database. Shereth 21:17, 10 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The standard for inclusion on these templates is being a community (either a municipality or a populated place in an unincorporated area) in the county. I don't really like the inclusion of redlinks on these templates, because we can't prove that the community exists, but I've provided a highly reliable source for the existence of a community named Theba in an unincorporated part of Maricopa County. Even if it doesn't exist anymore (which seems to be disproven by Google Maps' satellite view of the area), it would qualify to be here as a ghost town. If you believe that there has never been a community named Theba in what is currently Maricopa County, I suggest that you seek to have the USGS correct their error. Nyttend (talk) 21:26, 10 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

So then yes, existing as an entry in a 30 year old database without any corroborating sources is sufficient to include a location in a navigational aid. I realize this is an unwinnable argument for me because you are continuing to ask me to prove a negative. Suggesting I harrass the USGS about their database is not especially helpful. Shereth 21:43, 10 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]