Talk:Alameda, California

How to edit?
Wondering how to edit this U.S. City Entry? The WikiProject U.S. Cities standards might help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rambot (talk • contribs) 01:54, 29 July 2003 (UTC)

Coast Guard City
Added reference that Alameda has been named a Coast Guard City. Lzb 20:05, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

More Arts
I'd like to see more about the arts and culture for this city. Does anyone know of famous landmarks or organizations to start with? PatHaugen 08:24, 9 December 2005 (UTC)pathaugen

MikeJ
The addition to the geography section about MikeJ has been twice reverted. Just an FYI for other editors. Cashcraft 04:05, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Geography
I've changed the lat/long location to a location with many fewer significant figures. It's ridiculous to locate to tenths of a second of arc a city whose land area spans more than four minutes north-south and more than six minutes east-west. Unless someone can tell me that the location given was the geographic center of Alameda, or comes up with coordinates for the center or City Hall, they should stay more approximate, and only use minutes-of-arc precision. Argyriou 20:03, 27 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Another geography-related issue is maps. As usual for wikipedia, the maps are horrible and barely show one where the city is.  Please find a map.  Even one a century old, now in the public domain, might be better than the current ones.  24.27.31.170 (talk) 03:04, 27 February 2012 (UTC) Eric

"Alemeda"
Google shows the (somewhat phonetic) misspelling "Alemeda" represents about 0.2% of the number of hits on Google that "Alameda" gets (50.6K/24.5M). It's a non-notable mistake, not an 'alternate name' that was suggested by User:Maxman280. I live and work in the SF bay area (SF/Oakland/Berkeley), and have never seen this usage.  Erielhonan  talk |  contribs  仕方が無い   23:45, 6 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Correct. All that means is that some people have fat fingers on the keyboard or are poor spellers. We shouldn't be trying to cover every possible misspelling on Wikipedia.  Let the fuzzy logic algorithms of Google and other search engines sort it out for them. &mdash;QuicksilverT @ 19:10, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Size in kilometers?
Why are the area dimensions listed in kilometers? People living in the US generally use miles. User:Anonymous 21:39, 29 July 2006 (PST)


 * Because Wikipedia is not as parochial as you are. Most of the world now uses kilometers for distance and kilograms for weight.  The metric system has been legal for trade and all other purposes in the United States since 1866 (Metric Act of 1866 &mdash; Public Law 39-183).  Get with the program! &mdash;QuicksilverT @ 19:10, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Quickie, it is not nice to be rude when somebody asks a simple question. A soft answer turneth away wrath. Yours, GeorgeLouis (talk) 06:43, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Neptune Beach
I started work on a Neptune Beach page before I realized you had done the work on this page. I hope you don't mind but I borrowed the text. Now i can't figure out how to disambiguate the Neptune Beach California page from the Florida page, any help much appreciated. {{unsigned2|16:56, 14 February 2007|Hank chapot}
 * Hank - create the article on Neptune Beach under the title Neptune Beach, Alameda, California (I think - check the Manual of Style), then stick the appropriate otheruses template at the top of the Neptune Beach, Florida article. Αργυριου (talk) 15:13, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Alameda high Animatrix.jpg
Image:Alameda high Animatrix.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 04:37, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Famous residents section
A few comments about the famous residents' section: Steve Brye was born in Alameda but his family moved away when he was a very small child and he is proud of his Oakland roots. When I spoke with him about including his baseball cards and photos in my Alameda Museum show about athletes from the island, he strongly suggested he's strictly an Oakland guy. Oscar Westerberg was a major leaguer who was born in Alameda and graduated from Alameda high. If "honorary Alamedans" who were born but not raised here are to be included, there are others such as MLB player manager Bill Rigney and 80s SF Giant Bernie Williams [not the later Yankee]. Did Shirley Temple Black ever live in Alameda? I've never heard of that before, and I know Alameda pop culture history fairly well. Could well be true, but I'd like to see a reference. I believe that both Don Perata and Benjamin Jealous have now moved out of town. Perata is widely viewed as soon to be a candidate for mayor of Oakland. chiwito (talk) 05:42, 9 September 2009 (UTC)chiwito


 * Cooper Teare, competitive distance runner, graduated from Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School. Jnricketts123 (talk) 01:51, 27 April 2022 (UTC)
 * This is my first time editing a Wikipedia page. I would like to add Cooper Teare to the famous residents section.
 * Cooper Teare, competitive distance runner, a resident of Alameda who graduated from Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School. Jnricketts123 (talk) 02:05, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

Kewpie on Neptune Beach
the bit about the Kewpie doll suggests it was invented at Neptune Beach to someone who doesn't know it was invented in Germany -- the first instance of being handed out for prizes was at Neptune Beach. Maladroitmortal (talk) 17:46, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

WikiSpot
The WikiSpot link is "old" so perhaps worth discussing - though there isn't much to discuss. They are a a blatant example of what should not be included within External Links. per WP:EL under Links normally to be avoided: ''12. Links to open wikis, except those with a substantial history of stability and a substantial number of editors. Mirrors or forks of Wikipedia should not be linked.'' The WikiSpot link currently in this article clearly violates this standard and should be removed Rklawton (talk) 21:01, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Origin of name "Alameda"
The article currently states:

"Alameda is Spanish for 'grove of poplar trees' or 'tree-lined avenue', and was chosen in 1853 by popular vote."

This is not entirely correct. Many words in Spanish that start with "al" or contain "al" are, in fact, borrow-words from Arabic. According to the Web log (Blog) page http://latinomuslims.blogspot.com/2007/12/arabic-contribution.html, Alameda, Spanish for paseo con arboles [~ walk with trees], is borrowed directly from the Arabic al-muwatta, which means "the well-trodden path," or the "clear path." &mdash;QuicksilverT @ 19:48, 14 February 2011 (UTC)


 * The people who named the city of Alameda did not go so far. They only looked to Spanish.Binksternet (talk) 20:28, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

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Incorrect incorporation date?
The article currently says the incorporation date is: April 19, 1854. The statement is backed by a weak ".doc" link, albeit from a ".org" site. The url link has since been deprecated and removed from its website and archived on the internet.

My question is, is the incorporation date of Alameda correct?

This book states that the incorporation date is on March 7, 1872, on page 327:


 * Title	Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume 1
 * Author	Joseph Eugene Baker
 * Publisher	S.J. Clarke, 1914
 * Original from	the New York Public Library
 * Digitized	Feb 7, 2008
 * Length	594 pages

https://books.google.com/books?id=cBgVAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Past+and+Present+of+Alameda+County,+California,+Volume+1&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY1IfRsoXZAhVplVQKHS5ZAM0Q6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=incorporation&f=false

p327

"On March 7, 1872, 'An act to incorporate the town of Alameda' received the Governor's approval, the first section of which ordered as follows: 'The people of the township of Alameda, in the county of Alameda, are hereby constituted a municipal corporation by the name of the town of Alameda, and the boundaries of said town shall be the same as now form the said township of Alameda.'"

Can someone verify please?

WinterSpw (talk) 19:59, 1 February 2018 (UTC)


 * Your source seems legit and is consistent with the Alameda Museum, and certainly better than that Word file by CALAFCO. Thank you, I made the corresponding changes. Would you know of a good source for the June 6, 1853 date? --denny vrandečić (talk) 16:15, 2 February 2018 (UTC)


 * Thanks for making the corrections!


 * The following is some random information:


 * According to this book, the first exploration of the areas now known as Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties occurred occurred in March 1772. Father Crespi documents the travel. On March 27, 1772, the first sighting of Alameda may have occurred from the hills of Oakland. However, later on in the text, there is no mention of anyone founding Alameda (the city) since at that time it was surrounded by water.


 * pp3-4


 * https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yDIuDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=alameda+founded&ots=n0Eh3lNoDn&sig=-iPMZ90nBeH2APNjyxDpVgB-D3A#v=onepage&q=alameda%20founded&f=false


 * As for the June 6, 1853 founding date, that is interesting. I would like to know, where that date was obtained? Thanks. WinterSpw (talk) 21:12, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

I have no idea where the June 6, 1853 date came from. It is mentioned in a few places on the Web, but I am always wary they just copied that from Wikipedia, so a good source would be really appreciated. Yet, I am wary of just removing it, as it is corroborated on a few external pages.

Regarding the text about Father Crespi - that is interesting, and we should add something to the History section. What confuses me - why would it be surrounded by water? Alameda only became an island much later. --denny vrandečić (talk) 17:06, 9 February 2018 (UTC)