Talk:Odessa, Texas

Serious Style and Tone Problems
I'm adding a {Story} style tag to the article. Has anyone actually read it? It sounds a lot like something you'd hear on a tour bus. Specifically, the History section is highly inappropriate, with lots of references to the contributor's own feelings and original research running rampant. There's a long list of landmarks, too, that makes it read like a travel guide- something Wikipedia is not. Wikipedia is also not a Soapbox. It can't be used as a promotion vehicle for the town. The History section, in particular, does not cite any sources or give any verifiable third-party references. At the moment, I'm a little busy, and in fact just stopped by briefly in connection to something else, but I hope somebody will PLEASE invest the time to fix the article. The tag will need to stay up until that's done.--Thecitrusking (talk) 22:24, 1 November 2009 (UTC)


 * I took a stab at correcting the history section, looks like we still need some more work before dropping the Story tag, but its a start anyway. I'll try to get some more done sometime soon.  --Bandit6789 (talk) 22:51, 10 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Made some more modifications, what do you think about dropping the {story} tag? --Bandit6789 (talk) 04:49, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

I'm from this town, from Permian High. It's a poorly written article, not at all encyclopedic, and full of editorializing. I made a couple minor changes to remove the editorial tone, which were reversed within a few minutes Ngener (talk) 19:31, 17 March 2010 (UTC)ngener
 * Now I understand why it is so important to you to express that what you see in the movie isn't real. Unfortunately, much of it is real (as illustrated in the reference I added.) -- &#124;  Uncle Milty  &#124;  talk  &#124;  20:47, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Actually, Uncle Milty, the negative views of the town and school are probably the most accurate, but it's still fiction, not documentary. The movie has a lot of *facts* wrong, which is why I think it should be marked as fictionalized. Just for instance, the season ended sooner than depicted in the movie. Just like the movie Ghandi is heavily fictionalized but people seem to think it is a faithful depiction of historical facts. Ngener (talk) 12:55, 18 March 2010 (UTC)ngener
 * Hopefully my most current rewording of the section takes both our ideas into account. -- &#124;  Uncle Milty  &#124;  talk  &#124;  14:21, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

The Bush family
they did live their so quit removing it that is considered vandalism. (Googleyii 17:26, 23 August 2006 (UTC))


 * WP:AGF content disputes are not vandalism. I will reword the entry. Odessaukrain 18:17, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


 * REWORD your just a liberal who is just being stubborn (Googleyii 16:45, 24 August 2006 (UTC))


 * P.S. I forgive you for being a liberal but for the stubborness you need to grow up a little (Googleyii 16:46, 24 August 2006 (UTC))

Perhaps it needs to have the actual dates, and a reference? Ngener (talk) 19:33, 17 March 2010 (UTC)ngener

Re-Categorization of the Education Section
I moved the Colleges and University subsection to the first of its section due to matter of importance since having a university or college adds more value to the city.--sglooney316 23:19, 22 June 2012 (UTC)

Untitled
As odd as it may seem, the Odessa High School mascot is spelled "Broncho", not "Bronco". Lone Odessan 11:24, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

the spelling is copywright if my information is correct, either way, I'm not sure what you mean by "gay". Look into seeing if it's possible to delete that phrase.Ereiyo (talk) 07:15, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Oil Show
I didn't see any mention of the Permian Basin Oil Show. It's a pretty big part of Odessa. -Paulhat33 21:20, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Local Music Scene
67.78.75.5 (talk) 15:22, 23 May 2008 (UTC)I may be moving out to Odessa due to a job offer and was wondering what the local music scene is like ..I am a musician in El Paso and while the scene is not the best, it still has some decent activity.

RBL

Crime in Odessa, Texas
It seems to me as if the current article on Odessa was written by the Odessa Chamber of Commerce. It's not that the content is questionable but it's sure lacking in strength if it can't include crime stats, art museums, newspaper circulations, controversial current events etc. Who wants to read an article about a city with no human conflict, no history of struggle and virtually no pulse? If anything it's simply dishonest and more of a tourist's brochure than a strong article about a vibrant city. Scarman2 (talk) 18:09, 14 July 2008 (UTC)


 * As long as you provide sources for verification, those topics would be welcome additions if you feel like writing about them. « D. Trebbien ( talk ) 23:48, 14 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Um, have you seen most of the articles here about other cities in the United States? They all seem to be written like that.  Jerodian (talk) 22:30, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

In Popular Culture
See WP:IPC. The template does not need to be there as the listing is not inappropriate. --Arperry (talk) 19:15, 10 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Hey, I like that listing! As a proud Odessan, I'm rather happy to know my city is known to other people besides its residents alone!  Jerodian (talk) 22:33, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Alternative lifestyle households
A recent entry stated "Of these 18% were alternative lifestyle households, including a small transgender community. Odessa had the highest per capita rate of non-traditional households in Texas for all municipalities with more than 50,000 residents." Since this seems to be a significant fact, it really needs a good citation. If none apperas in a few weeks, I will edit it.Wkharrisjr (talk) 01:36, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

city limits
I was just perusing the article, and noticed that the county/city graph is several years out of date. Odessa, TX has had several expansions since then. This should help.http://gis.odessa-tx.gov/ogis_internet/ --67.60.158.214 (talk) 14:18, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

parks legado town center
go here its bigger than i can describe. http://www.parkslegado.com/ --67.60.158.214 (talk) 14:59, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

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Roy Orbison on notable people list
An editor has added Roy Orbison to Odessa's notable people list. WP:USCITIES suggests that a person is notable to a city when they "were born, or lived for a significant amount of time, in the city". Orbison grew up in nearby Wink, Texas (p. 39), and is listed on Wink's notable people list. Orbison moved to Odessa to attend college in 1955 (p. 7). Orbison then moved to Nashville in 1956. I would appreciate the input of others about whether this counts as a "significant amount of time". Magnolia677 (talk) 00:01, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

' * * * * * *

I am the editor in question. Orbison could also be considered to be "notable" to Ft. Worth or to Vernon, Tx, where he was born. He moved around in his youth and grew up in several different places, landing in Wink, a tiny town about 50 west of Odessa, during his high school years. He left there to go to college in Denton for a year to study geology before moving back to play music with band mates from Wink that he mostly went to high school with. He also took coursework unrelated to music at the local community college, back home, which, in the case of Wink would have been in the regional urban center of Odessa, a town of about 60,000 at that time, that was where the music gigs also happened to be. It was in Odessa that he and his band began playing at various venues in and around the city, including regularly scheduled afternoon shows at local TV stations, eventually leading up to making their first recorded single at an Odessa recording studio that caught the attention of people able to get them a major contract in Memphis.

The definition of "notable" to a place is that someone must have been born there or must have spent a significant amount of time living there. But how long exactly is "significant"? Shouldn't significance have a qualitative as well as a quantitative component? It was about a year that he spent living there but it was certainly a significant time to him. And he didn't JUST go to school. If all he did was to go there to study geology for a few months and then moved away, then I'd agree, there would be nothing notable. That's not what happened and his significance is not to the college (he's not a famous geologist!), it's to the town. I would add also that Orbison's time in Odessa is discussed somewhat prominently in his own Wikipedia article as well as in his official biography on his website http://royorbison.com/roy-orbison-official-biography/ as the place where he started. He should certainly be mentioned somewhere in an article about Odessa. Where else would you put it, if not in the "Notable People" section? I'm open to suggestion. Wkgreen (talk) 02:29, 30 October 2017 (UTC)
 * We don't often list people who move to a city just for their school, especially if it's just for a year of it. Plus Odessa was only notable for Orbison's biography for small things in his early life, not things that add to his notability. In general as well, I would never list someone who lived somewhere for only a year as a notable resident. ɱ  (talk) · vbm  · coi) 03:00, 30 October 2017 (UTC)
 * The things that you mention are things that are significant to the subject of Roy Orbison that have to do with Odessa. That in and of itself does not make them significant to Odessa. If you have some secondary sources (not Mr. Orbison's fansite) that discuss his importance to the music scene in Odessa, then perhaps you could include him, along with others important to the music scene there, in a section on culture. However, under no circumstances would it be appropriate only with the source you mention, nor would it be appropriate without a more or less complete write up on the community's music culture. John from Idegon (talk) 08:16, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

Thank you, ɱ and John from Idegon for adding to the discussion. I can sort of hear where you are coming from, but I still believe that there should be some mention of him, if not as a notable resident then somewhere else. I don't know exactly why Orbison moved to Odessa. I was born there in 1956 about 2 weeks after he left and grew up in the '60s and '70s there. If you know anything about the area you would know that this part of the world is an empty wasteland, and 50 miles to anywhere is a relatively short distance. Wink is just one of several satellite communities that orbit around the Midland-Odessa hub, and Orbison mentions in his Rolling Stone interview that he used to drive to Odessa all the time. He went away to school in Denton at North Texas State University, which has always had a vibrant music scene of it's own, but for whatever reason did not study music there. His move to Odessa, was essentially moving back home. It was significant as a stepping stone to a wider world as a place where he could really begin to play in front of live audiences and to gain exposure, something that he would never have been able to do in Wink. He also played in many towns around the area with Odessa as the band's base of operation. A section on the community's music culture might be a good addition to this article. I don't have the time for it, and stuff was happening, or had happened, without me knowing about it. It was mostly a place where people passed through, such as Odessa "notable's" Larry Gatlin and Tommy Allsup. Gatlin lived there for part of his childhood, but didn't seem to play gigs there. There was, however, a somewhat notable recording industry in Odessa that included Orbison's label, "Je–Wel", which has a separate article and goes into some detail about him (see below). Allsup (who played with Buddy Holly and Bob Wills) also had a recording venture going on there in the '60s and produced the 1969 hit "In the Year 2525", an oddity from the one hit wonder team of Zager and Evans that was apparently recorded in a field outside of town. His article notes that he worked with Orbison in Odessa, although I don't know the details of that connection.

I would think that a fan site would be a good place to go as a gauge of significance, but more on Orbison's connection to Odessa can be found at these places:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je%E2%80%93Wel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Allsup http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/roy-orbison-1936-1988-19890126 https://www.sunrecords.com/artists/roy-orbison https://www.history-of-rock.com/roy_orbison.htm http://www.houstonpress.com/music/lonesome-onry-and-mean-roy-orbison-and-odessa-6522782

The Houston Press article is already a link that I've provided. Wkgreen (talk) 17:27, 30 October 2017 (UTC)

Bush family
Regarding the Bush family listed as notable people, WP:USCITIES suggests that notable people were "born, or lived for a significant amount of time, in the city". The Bush family lived in Odessa less than a year, see. Magnolia677 (talk) 10:41, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

Tourism
Hi all! I am new to Wikipedia editing. I decided to start off by editing my hometown page. Here's my suggestion: The jackrabbits placed all over town are a big part of Odessa, TX. Discover Odessa added a page called “Jackrabbit Jamboree” that shows a map where all the jackrabbit statues are located. I think this is essential to add to the Odessa, TX Wiki page. What do you all think? Brivalles244 (talk) 04:27, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

Context re: "Odesa"
I had added context to the area regarding the name of the city. As the namesake city in Ukraine is now romanized with a different spelling, I thought it a good idea to contextualize the reason that the current spelling of the Ukrainian city in English is different from the American city's spelling by linking the the CorrectUA/KyivNotKiev page. Another user undid this as being "tendentious." Why? Personally, while I find the policy partisan and a bit insecurely nationalistic, it *is* still a governmental policy and explains the difference in spelling to someone who might be unaware. So what's the issue? George Mucus (talk) 00:31, 9 June 2023 (UTC)
 * The fact that the city's name was historically romanized as "Odessa" is relevant to this page; the misleading WP:EASTEREGG wikilink to a political campaign is not. -Bryan Rutherford (talk) 15:20, 9 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Gotcha. Is there a page describing the wider effort to change English language romanization of Ukrainian toponyms? The KyivNotKiev page was the closest thing I could find. George Mucus (talk) 15:39, 9 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I'm not quickly finding a more neutral article on WP about the Ukrainian government's push to have romanizations reflect Ukrainian spellings/pronunciations rather than Russian ones, but making "Odessa" link to KyivNotKiev for context seems a bit like, say, having the word "capitalism" conceal a wikilink to Das Kapital: it points, as though authoritatively, to one partisan view of a disputed matter contested by multiple parties. -Bryan Rutherford (talk) 18:10, 9 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Understandable, I suppose. It's definitely a biased campaign. Perhaps an external citation would be warranted in this case. I'll see if I can't find something on a credible news source about English language sources switching the the Ukrainian spelling for the namesake city. George Mucus (talk) 21:49, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

Disambiguation
Hi everyone! I've decided to add the banner to distinguish it from Odessa, Ukraine, as it is more commonly and traditionally spelt by the same name. I acknowledge the fact that it has been re-romanised under a more Ukrainian transliteration instead of Russian for 'Odessa', however I believe Odessa is still a widely used, if not more than, as the name for the city in Ukraine. It also bears more significance however that is a subjective opinion. Activatedyeast (talk) 09:45, 11 July 2024 (UTC)