GreenBay/Fox Cities sub-forum? (Green Bay, Eau Claire: suburbs, commuting, population)

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

1. The CD Forums prefer only a total of two sticky's per general forum, thus, (sorry Josh!) I am going to un-sticky this. We currently have four, which is way too many per CD Forum guidelines.

2. No, the GB / Fox Cities should not have a separate forum in my opinion. There is a Pandora's Box that the CD Forum in general tries not to open by creating way, way too many subforums per each particular state. While some states have tons of subforums, they typically are states with larger populations (I realize that there are a few exceptions).

Wisconsin - a population of only 5 million - already has a Milwaukee subforum (metro population of 1.5 million) and a Madison subforum (metro of what, 500K?). That is nearly half the state already.

I think we are fine as we are. This would ultimately be the Administrator's decision, however of course. This is just my personal vote.

Colorado has four sub-forums, they are Denver (2.5 million people), Colorado Springs (600,000 people), Fort Collins (300,000), and Boulder (300,000 which is really part of Denver). Colorado only has 4.8 million people whereas Wisconsin has 5.6 million. Tennessee has several sub-forums as well, in fact they have five of them. Their state also has 6 million people (like Wisconsin) and their two largest metro areas (Memphis, Nashville) are both smaller than Greater Milwaukee.

Wisconsin has way more urbanized areas like Green Bay/Appleton/Oshkosh (700,000), Racine/Kenosha (400,000), Eau Claire (200,000), Fond Du Lac (200,000), Wausau (200,000), Janesville/Beloit (200,000), Sheboygan (over 100,000), and La Crosse (over 100,000). Perhaps not all of them warrant creating their own sub-forum, but definitely Green Bay/Appleton/Oshkosh deserves it.

[BacktoNE]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

1. The CD Forums prefer only a total of two sticky's per general forum, thus, (sorry Josh!) I am going to un-sticky this. We currently have four, which is way too many per CD Forum guidelines.

2. No, the GB / Fox Cities should not have a separate forum in my opinion. There is a Pandora's Box that the CD Forum in general tries not to open by creating way, way too many subforums per each particular state. While some states have tons of subforums, they typically are states with larger populations (I realize that there are a few exceptions).

Wisconsin - a population of only 5 million - already has a Milwaukee subforum (metro population of 1.5 million) and a Madison subforum (metro of what, 500K?). That is nearly half the state already.

I think we are fine as we are. This would ultimately be the Administrator's decision, however of course. This is just my personal vote.

That is why I am the lone "no" vote in the poll. I don't think the Fox Valley is a large enough area to warrant it's own sub-forum.

[FormerCaliforniaGirl]

I'm neutral. Whatever everybody else wants is fine with me.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

With the two metro areas of GreenBay and the Fox Cities population totaling close to 700,000, does this area need its own sub-forum in Wisconsin Form?

Whatever the population of the area is, I just don't see that it gets enough traffic here to warrant its own sub-forum. Going back 30 days, there are three threads out of nearly 60 dealing specifically with the Fox Valley region, one of which only seeks driving directions from downstate, and one of which is this poll. If you count Door County as part of the Fox Valley area, there's exactly three substantive threads in the last 30 days that are specific to the area, two of which are about Door County. So if we did create a Green Bay/Fox Valley region thread and even expanded it to include Door County, it would probably be about the least trafficked thread on all of city-data.

Furthermore, as for a lot of the little bumblesnot towns some are suggesting be a part of the Fox Valley region thread (Omro, Ripon, Chilton, New Holstein, Winneconne, Weyauwega, etc.), how many outsiders seeking information about these places would even know to look or post in a region-specific forum rather than in the general Wisconsin forum? My guess is very few.

[ccjarider]

I like that word - bumblesnot. Can I use it Drover?

[ScranBarre]

Am I to understand from the way that this poll is assembled that this would be ONE sub-forum covering both Green Bay AND the Fox Cities? It is roughly 73 miles from Green Bay to Fond du Lac. I have been campaigning for many months now for a new South Central Pennsylvania sub-forum to encompass the areas of Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Carlisle, Lebanon, Gettysburg, etc., and have been unsuccessful because the Administrator does not plan to add any more "regional" sub-forums at this time. This proposed sub-forum would just cover far too massive of an area.

I'd propose forming a new Green Bay sub-forum if there is enough interest, and then perhaps once forum activity continues to pick up start a fourth sub-forum for either the Fox Cities or Lake Winnebago (with Appleton/Oshkosh/Fond du Lac being referenced in the sub-heading). I love talking about cities, so I say "the more sub-forums the merrier," but sadly my opinion is often discounted on this front. What I can tell you all though is that once I successfully championed for a Northeastern Pennsylvania sub-forum to be created on the PA forum we saw a tremendous boost in membership from that specific area---so much so that in 2010 I might petition our Administrator to see if separate Pocono Mountains and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre sub-forums might need to be considered as we are now around the 30th-busiest sub-forum on City-Data, overwhelming our busy moderator. The Lehigh Valley forum that I also helped to launch has been off to a much slower start, but newer members continue to join each week to post their inquiries there as well.

What you need is one "spark" member in each new sub-forum to get the ball rolling. TooBusyToday has been keeping the Lehigh Valley sub-forum alive and kicking. I poured my heart and soul into the NEPA sub-forum to get it to be the busy place it is today. I'm confident that a Harrisburg or South Central PA sub-forum would be carried rather well with danwxman as my nomination for moderator. We all know our pal Go Ne boosted forum interest in Omaha. Censusdata does his fair share for the Louisville forum. rainrock carries the Philadelphia sub-forum. Katiana does a great job with the Boulder sub-forum. When a sub-forum lands one of we "power-posters," then more activity is bound to follow. Is there any member here on the WI boards in particular that would get the ball rolling if a new Green Bay forum were created?

[Drover]

I guess I always thought of the C-D forums as a place to gather, share and exchange information rather than as a place to be a tireless cheerleader for a particular city or intra-state region. With all due respect Mr. ScranBarre, I just don't understand putting that kind of effort into sustaining a regional sub-forum. If it isn't self-sustaining, it probably shouldn't have been created in the first place.

Whatever peoples' passions are about the Green Bay-to-Fond du Lac corridor, we simply don't get nearly enough volume about that region to justify a sub-forum, and I don't see any reason to try to actively cultivate sufficient volume just for a sub-forum to justify its own existence. If we start getting enough volume concerning that region as a proportion of overall Wisconsin inquiries, then by all means let's create a sub-forum for it. But to create a sub-forum and then try to generate sufficient volume to justify its existence after the fact seems like a backward approach to me.

[gallon]

I could see a forum called 'North Country'.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by gallon

I could see a forum called 'North Country'.

Once again I will reiterate that new regional sub-forums will not be created. I was told this quite bluntly by the Administrator himself because he was tiring of me trying to "rally the troops" to support the creation of a South Central PA sub-forum. A sub-forum would never be created to cover such a massive area.

[yo vanilla]

I was hesitant but I voted yes. I'm not so sure that there's enough specific green bay or appleton quesitons to make its own forum (and keep it active daily); however i agree with what someone said above - some of the questions for small towns in the northwestern boonies get lost in the mix. I'd hold the idea in the future possibilities folder for the time being.