Locales: West End
There are lots of discussions to be had about the locales of London and how to define them. Some (e.g. Mayfair) are easier than others. I have many to ask about, but to make a start, the West End. We've already removed "West End" as a locale because it's fairly meaningless, but here are the other RGL locales that could be considered part of the West End:
Aldwych, Baker Street, Bloomsbury, Bond Street, Brunswick Centre, Charing Cross, Charing Cross Road, Chinatown, Covent Garden, Embankment, Fitzrovia, Goodge Street, Green Park, Holborn, Leicester Square, Marble Arch, Marylebone, Mayfair, Oxford Street, Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, Soho, St James's, Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall
This brings up a number of pertinent issues related to locales named after stations, squares, streets and thoroughfares.
These are not, strictly speaking, areas of London after all. However, they can be useful for finding shops, pubs and services which have pages in RGL, especially where they fall on the border of traditional areas -- for example, Oxford Street (between Mayfair and Marylebone, and between Soho and Fitzrovia) or Piccadilly (between St James's and Mayfair), or even Leicester Square (which doesn't quite fit into Soho, Chinatown, Covent Garden or Strand).
Some of them seem redundant however.
1. Who wants to make a case for "Charing Cross" when we already have "Trafalgar Square" and "Strand"? And are you anyway referring to the historical area (and named street) at the intersection of Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Northumberland Avenue, or to the Station (which is on the Strand)?
2. Is "Aldwych" really useful when it lies so close to the "Strand", with "Covent Garden" and "Holborn" to the north?
3. And why do we need "Green Park" when it lies entirely within "St James's", with "Piccadilly" along its northern stretch, and when the Park itself doesn't contain a shopping precinct (like, say, "Brunswick Centre").
4. Is "Whitehall" not in "Westminster", with the pubs and shops at the top part of "Trafalgar Square"?
5. Can "Embankment" not be included in "Strand" or "Trafalgar Square" or is it quite separate?
Those are the ones I'm picking on. You can also debate how to define the other areas: for example, does "Soho" include the area south-east of Piccadilly Circus (some entries in that area are tagged "Soho"), or is that why we have the "Piccadilly Circus" locale in the first place? But perhaps that's too much discussion for one post.
I'm going to rephrase the question (since my interest in areas of London is perhaps more academic). Should there be Locales named after every Tube station, not just perhaps in the West End but in Central London as a whole?
And what about where the station replicates the name of the area (for example, there used to be a "Notting Hill Gate", but surely with a "Notting Hill" already defined, that was of limited use)?
And if the "West End" locale is useful, it could be applied to the locales themselves (much in the way that, say, "Central London" is), and if so, are the ones I've picked out above the West End? What defines it?
Aldwych, Baker Street, Bloomsbury, Bond Street, Brunswick Centre, Charing Cross, Charing Cross Road, Chinatown, Covent Garden, Embankment, Fitzrovia, Goodge Street, Green Park, Holborn, Leicester Square, Marble Arch, Marylebone, Mayfair, Oxford Street, Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, Soho, St James's, Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall
This brings up a number of pertinent issues related to locales named after stations, squares, streets and thoroughfares.
These are not, strictly speaking, areas of London after all. However, they can be useful for finding shops, pubs and services which have pages in RGL, especially where they fall on the border of traditional areas -- for example, Oxford Street (between Mayfair and Marylebone, and between Soho and Fitzrovia) or Piccadilly (between St James's and Mayfair), or even Leicester Square (which doesn't quite fit into Soho, Chinatown, Covent Garden or Strand).
Some of them seem redundant however.
1. Who wants to make a case for "Charing Cross" when we already have "Trafalgar Square" and "Strand"? And are you anyway referring to the historical area (and named street) at the intersection of Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Northumberland Avenue, or to the Station (which is on the Strand)?
2. Is "Aldwych" really useful when it lies so close to the "Strand", with "Covent Garden" and "Holborn" to the north?
3. And why do we need "Green Park" when it lies entirely within "St James's", with "Piccadilly" along its northern stretch, and when the Park itself doesn't contain a shopping precinct (like, say, "Brunswick Centre").
4. Is "Whitehall" not in "Westminster", with the pubs and shops at the top part of "Trafalgar Square"?
5. Can "Embankment" not be included in "Strand" or "Trafalgar Square" or is it quite separate?
Those are the ones I'm picking on. You can also debate how to define the other areas: for example, does "Soho" include the area south-east of Piccadilly Circus (some entries in that area are tagged "Soho"), or is that why we have the "Piccadilly Circus" locale in the first place? But perhaps that's too much discussion for one post.
I'm going to rephrase the question (since my interest in areas of London is perhaps more academic). Should there be Locales named after every Tube station, not just perhaps in the West End but in Central London as a whole?
And what about where the station replicates the name of the area (for example, there used to be a "Notting Hill Gate", but surely with a "Notting Hill" already defined, that was of limited use)?
And if the "West End" locale is useful, it could be applied to the locales themselves (much in the way that, say, "Central London" is), and if so, are the ones I've picked out above the West End? What defines it?