Talk:Tigard Transit Center

Renaming to long name unwarranted

I believe this article renaming – to Thomas M. Brian Tigard Transit Center – is unwarranted. Although that is now the official name of the article's subject, Wikipedia naming conventions say that article titles should use the most common name for the subject. I have nothing against Tom Brian (I'm pretty sure I've even voted for him), but in my opinion "Thomas M. Brian Tigard Transit Center" will never be a common (let alone the most common) name for this facility. I imagine that TriMet willl change to the long version in some of its media (such as maps), but certainly not all; it is highly unlikely that the destination signs on the fronts of buses ending there (lines 45, 64X) will be revised, or that the stickers on all of the bus stop signs for those routes will be changed, and certainly in conversation 99% of people will continue to refer to this facility simply as "Tigard Transit Center" or Tigard TC. The new name, honoring Thomas M. Brian, should be mentioned in the first sentence (in bold) as the formal name [since 2011], but the Wikipedia article's title should be changed back to just Tigard Transit Center. SJ Morg (talk) 06:34, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

I actually agree, but in the past (you and others) have seemed to support only the official names for TriMet stops. Whether that be your station correction on Hillsboro Intermodal Transit Facility or the move of PGE Park to the new name. I personally think most MAX station articles need to be moved, such as simply Gateway Transit Center, Willow Creek Transit Center, Hillsboro Central, and the like. Honestly, who adds the street name to Orenco Station, Quatama, or Elmonica in casual conversation? Just start typing Elmonica and Google's suggestions don't bring up Elmonica / Southwest 170th Avenue. Aboutmovies (talk) 07:11, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Nope, I've never taken a position of the subject of how to name WP articles on MAX stations, and personally I'd be very content with shorter, more common names. However, in the case of those examples you mentioned, all signage on light rail cars and buses, and stickers on bus stops, give the numbered street along with the name, so it's really only in conversation that the numbered street is usually omitted (and not always; 185th is a major street and much better known than "Willow Creek", a name that 98% of westside residents had never heard of before TriMet used that name for its MAX station, so quite a few people do refer to that station as the "185th" station or transit center). In the HITF article, I only changed "Government Station" (which I assumed was an unintended error on your part) to "Government Center Station". SJ Morg (talk) 07:31, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Click on TriMet's website for the transit centers, then click on the one for 185th and tell me what the caption to the map says and what the first sentence to the paragraph says. Then for Gateway the only two news hits omit the street. Regardless, now it looks like you are going against your earlier post, as you seem to be indicating that we should go by the signage, though you admit earlier that we should go by what the conversation name is. Lastly, as to the HITF, no it was not an error, that's why the link was correct. Much like here, I was shortening it. Had the link been incorrect, that would have been an error. Aboutmovies (talk) 04:53, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

My comment on the absence of familiarity of the name "Willow Creek" before 1998 apparently created some confusion, so to clarify, I was saying that if I were ruler of Wikipedia I'd probably name that article "Willow Creek/185th Avenue Transit Center" (possibly without "Avenue"), not just "Willow Creek" and not just "185th Avenue" either. (If this facility were only a light rail station, I might well even be content calling it "Willow Creek/185th", but it's not just a light rail station; it's also a transit center, and I'm sure some people make bus-to-bus transfers there, or use the park-and-ride lot to catch a bus, rather than to catch MAX.) I was not suggesting that it be called only 185th.... But I'm moving this discussion to your talk page, because it has quickly expanded well beyond the subject of the Tigard TC article and because you and I are the only ones in this conversation, so far. SJ Morg (talk) 08:32, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

Just to weigh on only the TTC issue: it's really probably too early to tell whether this station's name will catch on. When replacing geographic names with names of people, sometimes names catch on and sometimes they don't. I sort of like the way the SJ airport article treats the name as official in the headings and infoboxes, but uses the generic name as the main page for the article. I'd be happy with that arrangement, but really, we can't know for a while. I'd say let it lie as is for six months and revisit the issue. --Esprqii (talk) 20:13, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

Count me as very skeptical. This is not a case where a person's name replaced a geographic name but rather it has been added to a geographic name, so I predict that everyone wil just keep calling it Tigard TC, just like most people say "Waterfront Park"' (in speech), not Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Placenames this long (five words, not counting the M.) just don't ever become commonly in use, at least in conversation. I'd be quite content with the treatment given to the San Jose airport article; at least then the long-and-unused (my prediction) version wouldn't appear in category lists. Also, it's worth noting that Norman Mineta (San Jose airport namesake) and Tom McCall were officeholders at a much higher level of government and have much wider name recognition than Tom Brian (no disrespect to Mr. Brian). Still I'm willing to wait for awhile, and maybe we'll see some additional comments here. SJ Morg (talk) 04:21, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Color me skeptical too. But people were skeptical that anyone would adopt the Reagan National name and that has stuck. Could be we're calling it Brian Tigard soon. Depends on how much TriMet wants to push the name, probably. --Esprqii (talk) 17:07, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Diridon Station is a good example of a station named for a minor political figure where the name has stuck. --Esprqii (talk) 18:02, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

I have now moved the article back to Tigard Transit Center. It has now been almost three years, and there is no evidence that anyone is using the name "Thomas M. Brian Tigard Transit Center" (or any shorter variants that still include "Brian"). Even TriMet doesn't use the long name. Out of respect for other editors, I patiently waited to see whether anyone would use the longer name, but it was time to move it back. Other than at the time of the 2011 renaming ceremony, I've never once seen it used by local media, and when I do an Internet search and screen-out any hits that are Wikipedia mirror sites or are about the May 2011 announcement of the honorary naming, there's nothing left. No disrespect to Mr. Brian, but the name Thomas M. Brian Tigard Transit Center is not only not in common use, it's not in use at all. SJ Morg (talk) 15:45, 28 March 2014 (UTC)