What is Considered On-Topic Here in General US? What topics belong in the City vs. City subforum? What are the Rules? (good schools)

[Bowie]

Every City-Data forum has the requirement that posts within it be on-topic, meaning that the topic must fit within the subject matter of the forum. General US is considered a 'Local" forum and the requirements to stay on-topic in local forums are more stringent than they are in City-Data's general forums. The General US forum covers a wider range of local areas than other local forums at City-Data, so it may be confusing what should be posted here. To help you understand what should be discussed here, the moderator team would like to share the following guidelines.

What threads are On-Topic?
The General US forum is for questions that are both not specific to any ONE state or city AND not covered by the other City-Data forums. For instance, if you are looking for cities with sidewalks or cities that support artists, this is the place to post.

General US is the best place to post threads seeking informational comparisons between two or more areas. If you are deciding between a move to Portland, Maine and a move to Portland, Oregon; General US is the one forum at City-Data where you can get feedback on both areas. (Since cross-posting the same thread in two or more forums is against City-Data's Terms of Service, that is your only option within the rules for such comparison threads!)

The City vs. City subforum of General US is the best place to post competitive comparisons. If you want to enthusiastically tout the merits of your city in comparison with another city or cities, post it in the subforum. If you want to ask which cities are the best in some subjective category that doesn't matter to folks who are relocating, ask it in City vs. City.

Thread titles should be descriptive. Titles that don't describe their thread's topic may be changed to match the messages in the thread.

What Threads are Off-Topic?
This forum is NOT the place to discuss politics, transportation, automobiles, businesses, food and other topics covered by the General forums at City-Data. Many City-Data forums exist to discuss these issues, so any thread that covers those subject areas will be moved to the forum which covers that topic. To avoid having your thread moved unexpectedly, check out City-Data's extensive list of general forums before starting a new thread in the General US forum. If a thread is not appropriate for any C-D forum, it will be closed and/or deleted!

Topics that deal with ONE location should be posted in the local forum for that area. City-Data has forums for every state and many cities within states. If the section for a state doesn't include a forum for the city you wish to discuss, post in the forum for the state that the city is located in.

What are the Rules?
This is a moderated message board. City-Data's Terms of Service apply to all posts here and it is the moderators' responsibility to make sure posts stay within the Terms.

If you see a post that violates the Terms, use the Report Post () button to notify the moderator team. If you reply to trolls or insults with more of the same, you'll also be guilty of breaking the rules. Let the mods handle those problem posts.

When posting photos: Please do not post full resolution photos - resize them to around 800 pixels in size, more or less a few. Please do not post tons of photos in one post - try to limit them to around 5 or 6 so as not to bog down the thread for those with slower broadband. Due to copyright issues, never post photos that you have not taken yourself, unless the person who took it has given you permission to use their photos or they come from a site that specifically says they are free for public use - otherwise, they are subject to removal. Posts that are over saturated with too many and/or too large shots are subject to be deleted.

What makes a good thread title?
If you are looking to move to a new place, it is far more important to list the things you are looking for in the title of your thread than the place you are coming from. That helps members know whether they can answer your questions before they take the time to open your thread. Compare the following two example titles for the same hypothetical thread and decide which one tells you whether you can help before you open the thread.

"Looking to leave my state!"

"Moving from Idaho... Looking for a place with snowy winters, friendly people and good schools."

More detail makes a better title!

[atlantagreg30127]

Ok, folks, I think it's time that everyone takes a quick refresher as to exactly what type of room this is.

Posting sticky for this room: http://www.city-data.com/forum/gener...eneral-us.html

We're getting far too many of these alternate reality, fantasy, "what is this happened" type of posts in here (or just crazy stuff in general that really has nothing to do with a legit General U.S. type question), where folks are just making up wild scenarios and creating threads about them. ALL of them. Not the place for it. If you all want a "what if this...." type room, then I'm sure the powers that be might consider it if it's put into the suggestion box, and if one is created, we can post this stuff until you're blue. Likewise, the "what is your favorite State flower?" stuff falls into this same category. It's not relevant to the General U.S. theme, so let's not just make stuff up for the same of asking anything, ok? Thanks.

If it's a general U.S. topic, fine. But let's stop making up wild stuff and posting it just to do it in this room, ok?

Thanks