Talk:Auburn (Maine)

Merge with Lewiston (Maine)?

I'm thinking the articles should be merged. From aerial images: Lewiston and Auburn look more like more like one city with a river flowing through it, then like two cities. More importantly: The articles heavily overlap, and I think it'd be more piratical to cover them both on a single article (that's not unprecedented, we cover quite a few twin cities with a single article: see Twin towns#Twin cities). Here's a draft of the merged article. Emmette Hernandez Coleman (talk) 10:08, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

We discussed this a little on my user talk page. I brought up the question of the extent to which these two towns have a separate identity (the answer to which I don't know); Emmette made the point that that doesn't matter nearly as much as what would best serve the traveler. Is there anyone who knows these places who could comment? Ikan Kekek (talk) 21:42, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia says:

"Auburn and Lewiston (directly across the Androscoggin River from each other) are known locally as the Twin Cities or Lewiston–Auburn (L–A)."

It has an article on W:Lewiston–Auburn, which notes that they share an airport and a transit system. Voters rejected a proposal to merge the two cities in November.

I think it would be more useful to the traveller to merge the travel articles, even if the cities remain separate. Ground Zero (talk) 22:33, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

Moving on

@Ikan Kekek: @Emmette Hernandez Coleman: This discussion has been open for seven months now. Should we compete the merger, or remove the merge tag? Either choice can be reversed later if someone with local knowledge becomes along, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Ground Zero (talk) 11:34, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

You have the basis for merging the articles if you want to do it. Emmette proposed it in the first place, and I merely asked a question. I don't think further discussion is essential. Ikan Kekek (talk) 11:56, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

There's actually no basis for a merger here. The fact that neither Lewiston nor Auburn is currently at a high level of completeness has no bearing on the question of whether a merger is appropriate; they are both in fact sizable cities on their own which could easily sustain their own articles. The river as an obvious natural barrier separating the articles' purview is the icing on the cake. -- AndreCarrotflower (talk) 12:26, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

No-one has argued that the articles should be merged on the basis of being incomplete. The discussion has been about it being more practical for travellers because they are "more like more like one city" and "they share an airport and a transit system". London, Paris, Rome, Moscow have big rivers flowing through them and are viewed by travellers as single cities, so the question should be whether the river forms a natural barrier. We can't presume that it does just because it's a river. Ground Zero (talk) 12:48, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

I've never been there but I agree it's complicated. Istanbul is in fact divided by a strait, and considered to be one city. Likewise, Hong Kong is considered one city even though Kowloon and Hong Kong Island are separated by the sea. On the other hand, we consider Tokyo and Yokohama to be separate cities even though they actually form one continuous conurbanation. The dog2 (talk) 14:42, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Side point, but isn't Kawasaki between them, such that the continuous conurbation would be Tokyo-Kawasaki-Yokohama? Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:24, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Yes, you're right about that. What I meant to say is that Tokyo and Yokohama form part of the same conurbation, as do Saitama and arguably, even Chiba. And since you lived in Malaysia, you probably know that Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Putrajaya, Subang Jaya, Puchong and Klang are all part of one continuous conurbation, even though WV refers to them as separate cities. I don't think defining the scope of what a "city" is is within the scope of this discussion (but perhaps it would be in the pub), but it's true that it's often hard to determine what would be an appropriate way to draw the boundaries of a city. The dog2 (talk) 19:02, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

So unless @Andrecarrotflower: is willing to change his mind, I would say that we don't have consensus, and I'll remove the merge tag. Ground Zero (talk) 19:14, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Google Maps says Auburn and Lewiston are 0.9 miles or 2 minutes away from each other. The North Bridge connects them. I support a merger. If Albury-Wodonga is one article this should be too. Coincidentally Albury and Wodonga are in different states with the Murray River being the town and state border but for all practical purposes, the traveller sees the towns as one conurbation like they would here. Gizza ^(roam) 04:46, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

I also support a merger to a general Lewiston-Auburn article, and the two towns becoming redirects. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 15:35, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

I think we do have consensus to merge now, as only @AndreCarrotflower: is opposed. Ground Zero (talk) 16:08, 5 May 2019 (UTC)