Template talk:Regions of the United States

This page is part of WikiProject U.S. regions space. 

For a region to be included on this template, a region must be composed 
of at least two entire states, and portions of at least two others. 
Please see: WikiProject U.S. regions for more information.
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Which regions to include

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Some in the template now are of questionable relevance, particularly Coastal and Atlantic Northeast. Coastal is not considered to be a coherent region, and it is debatable whether people include the Gulf Coast states, as it seems to often be a shorthand for liberal Northeast and West Coast states. Atlantic Northeast is just not used that much.

Suggestions for regions that do have currency and should be included on the template are welcome. --JWB (talk) 16:21, 5 September 2008 (UTC) I think some of the recent undiscussed additions are excessive or obscure. They have expanded the template to 3-4 times its original size and buried the original intent. --JWB (talk) 22:40, 15 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2008-09-05T16:21:00.000Z","author":"JWB","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-JWB-2008-09-05T16:21:00.000Z-Which_regions_to_include","replies":[]}}-->

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Colour of list item "Northeast"

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Blue-on-blue is very hard to read, near impossible on my screen. I tried to edit it but don't know the syntax. Movis78 (talk) 17:48, 28 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2009-09-28T17:48:00.000Z","author":"Movis78","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Movis78-2009-09-28T17:48:00.000Z-Colour_of_list_item_\"Northeast\"","replies":[]}}-->

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Too long, confusing, off-topic?

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To me, this template seems overly long, complicated, and confusing. Here's a quick list of things I found strange or confusing:

  • The "agency" link in the title, to United States Geological Survey. Why the USGS and not, say, the Census Bureau, or any number of other agencies? Why link to an agency at all? It's not like the USGS is in charge of US regions.
  • The "mgmt" section name, of which the "mt" part links to United States Secretary of Homeland Security#Order of succession. The "₥mgmt₥" subheader itself, 4 links in 6 characters, none of them obvious from the subheader's name.
  • The bolding of some links for reasons I don't see.
  • The high island link under "physiographic" (not a region).
  • The "ecology" section includes non-links, like "Marine Forest" (whatever that is), and a link to Mediterranean Sea, of all things.
  • The "watershed" links, many going to the map already shown in the template. Atlantic Seaboard is linked to three times, once with the name "Atlantic Seaboard", twice piped to different text.
  • The "continental divides" and "escarpments" sections (these are not "regions").
  • The "indigenous people" section (also not "regions").
  • The "expansion", and "Old West" sections are very confusing. Many links are to trails, expeditions, boundary surveys, pages like 1867 in the United States, 1845 in the American Old West, California Gold Rush, etc. These are not regions.

In short, there must be an enormous number of "regions" in the US, taking a broad definition of region. This template includes things like Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. What's to prevent it from also including, just off the top of my head, Wine Country (California), Atlantic District (LCMS), Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Tennessee's 1st congressional district, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, etc etc etc?

Navigation templates are supposed to be helpful, but this one seems mostly confusing, to me at least. Thoughts? Pfly (talk) 20:00, 8 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2010-11-08T20:00:00.000Z","author":"Pfly","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Pfly-2010-11-08T20:00:00.000Z-Too_long,_confusing,_off-topic?","replies":["c-Pfly-2010-11-17T11:02:00.000Z-Pfly-2010-11-08T20:00:00.000Z"]}}-->

Seeing no response here I'll go ahead, when and if I find the time, and rework this template, taking out non-regions and generally trying to trim it down to something less chaotic. Pfly (talk) 11:02, 17 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2010-11-17T11:02:00.000Z","author":"Pfly","type":"comment","level":2,"id":"c-Pfly-2010-11-17T11:02:00.000Z-Pfly-2010-11-08T20:00:00.000Z","replies":[]}}-->