Talk:Westport, Connecticut

Education under History

Shouldn't that be about the history of educational system in Westport?

Was The Swimmer shot in Westport?

If you want to argue a point, the standard way of doing it is to put your message on the discussion page, not on the article itself. As for whether The Swimmer was shot in Weston, that should go on the Weston page. If you know for a fact that not one part of it was done in Westport, I'd like to know. I've heard it was shot in a number of towns, including Westport. That's why I'm putting it back in for now, but if you can cite something or even if you have a certain memory yourself that no part of it was in Westport, I'll accept that. I'm putting a copy of this on your discussion page and on the Westport discussion page.Noroton 20:34, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Parts of The Swimmer were definitely shot in Westport. I am an eye witness to one of the scenes being shot there. As I was coming off the Merritt Parkway at Westport one day, in 1967 or 1968, I was greeted with a full fledged camera shoot for the film. NickP 12:55, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

I can also confirm that The Swimmer was shot in Westport. During the production of the movie it was the talk around my neighborhood and was posted in the Westport news. One pool scene was shot at a house located on Old Hill RD. and was clearly visible to us as we got off our school bus. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jsjwestport (talk • contribs) 20:15, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Ditto, grew up there while it was filmed -- pools I have always understood as among several towns; specifically the scene where Burt Lancaster is dazed and wandering along a fast-moving highway was filmed on the Sherwood Island Connector. In the background can be seen the old Nyala Farms buildings. The scene where he is hiking through fields with the babysitter I am fairly certain was filmed at what was the old Westport Sanitarium property, now a park owned by the town. David Eyes aka retroscribe 03:57, 31 March 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Retroscribe (talk • contribs)

Flooding in Westport

The deleted information about flooding in Westport is both accurate and important. I'm restoring the deletion.Noroton 02:06, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Flooding in Westport is not Westport specific and should not be a part of the article. The paragraph digresses into houses built up and flooded cars at the train station. That was the case in many coastal cities in Fairfield County and may be more suited to the article on Fairfield County. Therefore, it should be removed. I am removing it and requesting it be added to the Fairfield County article.AspenFlutter 16:42, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

The information in the Flooding section, now restored, is entirely Westport-specific and the subject is an important part of the subject "Westport, Connecticut". Flooding at the large train station is extremely important to the town. It is irrelevant that flooding happens elsewhere. Noroton (talk) 22:28, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

I’m not sure what to make of Westport’s Flood section. What's your read on it? Also, has the content been lifted from here, are these sites referencing Wikipedia or am I mistaken?:[[1] [[2]] WestportWiki (talk) 22:00, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

Judging from the ages on the documents (1998, 2000 respectively), I would say that the editors that cited them are guilty of plagarism since the Westport page was created in July 2003. IMO the section should probably stay as it is relevant to the town, but needs rewriting at the very least. Best, Markvs88 (talk) 23:00, 28 November 2011 (UTC)

Thank you Markvs88 that makes sense. I’d appreciate your thoughts on the below recommendation where I’ve attempted to remove the flattery such as “the town also has enacted tough regulations” ‘’resulted in no damage to the original seven elevated homes, although several dozen others, not elevated, were flooded again’’ which feels biased. Please let me know your thoughts, thank you:

• Change the title of the Flood section to Topology and include: Both the train station and a total of 26 percent of town residents live within the 100-year floodplain. The floodplain was breached in 1992 and 1996 respectfully resulting in damage to private property, the 1992 flooding of the train station car park and the implementation of flood mitigation measures that include town regulations that affect renovations or additions to building in the floodplain zone. WestportWiki (talk) 17:35, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

A total of 26 percent of town residents live within the 100-year floodplain, and homes and businesses located near the water can become flooded in extremely intense storms. Many other communities along the Connecticut shoreline have flood-prone areas, but Westport has been cited as an example of a town that has taken more action than others in mitigating the problem.

In one storm on December 11, 1992, when a Nor'easter struck the state, many cars parked at the Westport railroad station were immersed in water. "Very strong easterly gales of 55 mph (89 km/h) created by the storm caused severe coastal flooding in Westport and several other communities," according to the Association of State Floodplain Managers. "The Compo Beach and Saugatuck Shores areas of Westport were especially hard hit with virtually every building in both areas being inundated."

A total of 22 homes were raised higher starting in the mid-1990s with some help from state grants, and the town has taken other flood protection measures, including the installation of 16 combination staff gauges and evacuation signs, as well as the publication of a disaster preparedness brochure. These made Westport "the first community in Connecticut to have an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan" for flooding.

The town also has enacted tough regulations on home renovation and construction in flood-prone areas. Homeowners or businesses that build additions or renovations to their buildings in flood-prone areas must elevate the structure to one foot above the Base Flood Elevation if their renovations or additions exceed 50 percent of the fair market value of the property in any five-year period.

Another flood which hit the town on October 20, 1996, resulted in no damage to the original seven elevated homes, although several dozen others, not elevated, were flooded again. Ideas for preventing more flooding, such as construction of a berm near Compo Beach, were shelved in the mid-1990s, as they were considered too expensive. To this day, employees of the town's Guests Services division of the Parks and Rec office place sandbags along Soundview Drive twice a year to prevent any further flooding.

I believe that the article has to be updated to include the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and possibly Irene. I remember seeing those cars Miss water halfway up those at the parking lot before they made the changes and as dramatic is that was, after Sandy driving through Saugatuck Shores made the previous floods not even comparable.

whether it's titled floods or Topography, there is a definite need for that section to be updated Tapalmer99 (talk) 14:17, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

Schools

To say that Weston High School is superior to Staples High School in terms of its athletic programs is simply untrue.

Heh, I remember my junior year (1995), the freshman football team where much better then the Varsity team!

What does this have to do with anything?

Agerstein 13:00, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Donuts

When I stayed in Westport last summer, we went to this coffee and donut shop in Westport., and I remember seeing an issue of USAtoday on the wall, with an article about donuts, and the very coffee shop I was in being featured on the frontpage, and Bill Clinton allegedly saying that the donuts he had had there were "The best he had ever tasted". I thought this might be interesting to add to the Famous Places and Events section. Sadly, I can't remember the name of the shop, nor where it was, but if a resident knows the coffee shop I am talking about, would they please add it to the article? Phalanxia 09:37, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

This might be "Coffee And", which is well known in town.Agerstein 22:28, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Coffee An' on Main Street —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.207.114.171 (talk) 19:01, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

External Links

The following links were removed by DMCer - please see my comments for each after each link:

• Staples High School (student-run. computer science dept. project) - relevant, student run project FOR the high school
• Toquet Hall Teen Center - Teen Center operated by the Town of Westport
• Staples High School Alumni registry website - non-commercial, and it's intent is to get alumni back in touch with each other.

Community Organizations

• Westport Young Woman's League - relevant community group
• Westport Woman's Club - relevant community group
• Y's Men of Westport/Weston - relevant community group
• Y's Women of Westport - non-existant page, changing to:
• Westport/Weston YMCA - relevant community group

Arts

• Levitt Pavilion - relevant community group
• Westport Arts Center - relevant community resource
• Westport Community Theatre - relevant community group
• Westport Country Playhouse - relevant community resource

Science and nature

• Earthplace: The Nature Discovery Center - relevant community resource

Other

• Coastal Fairfield County Convention & Visitor Bureau
• Fairfield County Business Journal slideshow
• Westport Public Library
• Westport Historical Society
• Westport Weston Family Y
• Requiem for a Farm Essay by Robert Winkler on the passing of Wakeman's Farm in Westport
• Staples High School (student-run. computer science dept. project)
• Staples High School Alumni registry website

Based on the relevance of these links, I'm putting them back in again. Agerstein 13:43, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

These links were removed - some of them for the second time. And for the second time, I refer to the WP:External_links page:

"Adding external links can be a service to our readers, but they should be kept to a minimum of those that are meritable, accessible and appropriate to the article."

I can't speak to all of those links (listed as "Other" just above), but I know that at least some of them are relevant - they are resources available to the town or for people who live or lived in the town. A clear case of "spam" is the link to the Fairfield County Business Journal - while it may cover companies located in Westport, it's more of a resource - commercial, to be sure - for all of Fairfield County. The Coastal Fairfield County Convention and Visitor Bureau also appears to be a commercial link. Unless I hear differently, I plan on putting the other links back.

Agerstein 13:15, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree that some of the links should be restored. Someone who comes along and deletes several links, labeling all of them as spam when they're not, may have an ulterior motive, such as disgruntlement with the link providers or jealousy that certain organizations or individuals get exposure through Wikipedia. Many Wikipedia users have the distorted notion that every single link must have zero advertising. Commercial links are not excluded from Wikipedia--only overly commercial links. People who don't understand this nuance of Wikipedia's link policy often delete links to author Web sites because the author has the audacity to mention a book he or she has written and tell people how to get it. They rationalize the deletion by labeling it as spam, commerciality or self promotion. The real reason is pettiness: these people haven't written a book and probably never will, so they cut the author down to their small size by deleting the link. Not all users suffer from this inferiority complex, but it's a significant problem. We can't let users compensate for their personal failures by controlling Wikipedia's content. 69.0.16.51 14:43, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Please sign in before posting.-DMCer 17:59, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

The Coastal Fairfield County Visitors Bureau is a state agency, not commercial. Look, the policy is at WP:External links. I'd support changing the policy, but it is the policy. Best of luck with it. Noroton 23:42, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

To quote the WP:External_links page:

"This page in a nutshell: Adding external links can be a service to our readers, but they should be kept to a minimum of those that are meritable, accessible and appropriate to the article."

The above external links ARE a service to the readers - they link to various resources around town of Westport. People considering moving to the town would potentially find them useful as examples of what to do in the town, and people who live there might not even know some of them exist - for example, the Nature Center, which is well known in the school system due to field trips, but is rather hidden away (due to it's location and need to be out where "nature" is) so it's not something that everyone in the town might know about.

Agerstein 17:57, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Once again, I've added the external links back into the page. See WP:External_links yet again - the links are meritable, accessible and appropriate - they are all for resources in and around the time. I also re-jiggered the various comments about the external links so that they're no PART of the external links, and then put them in chronological order and indented as needed.

Agerstein 02:39, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Wealthiest art collectors

How are the "Wealthiest art collectors in town" notable? -- Rmrfstar 11:08, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to have to agree with this notion which is why I deleted it. If anyone can post a reasonable defense of this information and its inclusion, beyond the inflation of the ego of said collectors, I would be quite interested.Wambear1 05:50, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Sister Cities

I just added links to the three sister cities shown on the article. However, the link to the French sister city is to a disambiguation page, because I was not sure which one of the many different Marigny s was the sister city of Westport. Now, I remember reading in a book I have about Westport that it was adopted as a sister city after WWII as an effort to help rebuild the damaged French city, but I can't seem to locate the book (ostensibly it would be helpful in determining which one of the Marigny s is the one that Westport is twinned with). If someone is able to find out which one it is before I do, please adjust the link appropriately. Thanks!--Nkrosse 03:18, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

The Stepford Wives

If the novel The Stepford Wives is "based in Westport" (sic) as this article claims, then why did Ira Levin (the novel's author) write a letter to the editor of the New York Times claiming that the novel was based on Wilton, a town that he actually lived in during the 1960s? Levi, Ira (March 27, 2007). "Political Theater: A Banned Play on the War (5 Letters)". New York Times. 67.86.73.252 (talk) 23:32, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like that's what we should be saying. Noroton (talk) 04:27, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Here is a proposal to rewrite the list item for the film (I'll leave this a few days before adding it to the article): 67.86.73.252 (talk) 22:17, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

• The Stepford Wives (1975) portions of which were also filmed in nearby Fairfield, Wilton, Darien, Redding, and Norwalk.

The proposed rewording above has been substituted into the article along with an imdb reference for the filming locations of the 1975 version of the film. 67.86.73.252 (talk) 12:40, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Parking Content

Whose relevance to the Westport page is questionable given the page should be of an encyclopedic quality. If you think it's worth adding something back let's discuss it here, thanks.WestportWiki (talk) 05:23, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Movies filmed in Westport

• Tarriance (2005) - $5,000 short movie that doesn't have a following from what I can find WestportWiki (talk) 05:21, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
• Of Wanderlust (2003) - $5,000 short movie that doesn't have a following from what I can find.WestportWiki (talk) 05:27, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
• Monaco (1997) - Wikipedia is not a list of things; from what I've found Monaco isn't a significantly important film hence parking it here.WestportWiki (talk) 05:33, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Images

Postcard from 1912 showing Minuteman statue, looking towards the home of William Scribner ca.1854, still standing

Postcard showing trolley to beach in early 1900s and view with only house in area, today 1 Compo Beach

Postcard showing Main Street in 1913

Postcard showing Post Road in 1937

Postcard from 1920 showing trolley which ran between Compo Beach and the downtown

Postcard from 1912 showing swimmers at Compo Beach

Christ Church and rectory, from a postcard sent in 1907

Discussion

IMO, the postcards of the Minuteman and either Main Street 1913 or Post Road 1937 could be restored to the historical of the article as they're relevant there (but both streets would be a little much). Perhaps the Church as well. As for the others, there has been a tendency in the past to give undue weight in the article to Compo Beach and those three cards don't really seem to convey anything particular to Westport. Best, Markvs88 (talk) 12:28, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Good to know. Thank you Mark. Do you think a high quality photo of the Minuteman would be more helpful on the page? I could imagine including the main street postcard in a History of in a neighborhood section. Looking at the history of Christ Church perhaps it could be included in a religion section or a more detailed History of section? Is that reasonable? Thanks. Best WestportWiki (talk) 20:41, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

The Minuteman & Main Street postcard images are definitely Public Domain since they're pre-1923, but I didn't stop to think that the Post Road one might not be PD as its 1934. I'm fine with wherever those two (and the church) go in the article so long as it makes sense. If you'd like to take a picture of the Minuteman and post it that's fine too, but I don't really have an opinion of how much it would help vs the postcard image. Best, Markvs88 (talk) 21:20, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Sherwood Island State Park

On September 11, 2001, two Westport residents were killed in the terrorist attacks of that day: Jonathan J. Uman, 33, and Bradley H. Vadas, 37. Both were in the World Trade Center. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WestportWiki (talk • contribs) 00:25, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Prominent companies

• Bridgewater Associates, a global investment manager is the largest employer in Westport. The company has about 900 employees spread between its 1 Glendinning Place headquarters, a nearby building, the Nyala Farms Corporate Center, and a building on the Saugatuck River. Presidential candidate John McCain visited Bridgewater Associates on a campaign trip in 2008.
• Canaan Partners, a leading early stage venture capital firm focusing on IT and life sciences. Canaan is located on Riverside Avenue, less than 1-mile (1.6 km) from the Westport train station.
• dLife, a multimedia diabetes education (and marketing) company with a weekly television program on CNBC.
• Playtex Products Inc. (PYX) – used to have its headquarters at 300 Nyala Farms Road; the company is concentrating on feminine, infant, and skin care products, selling off brands that don't fit those categories; its brands include Playtex tampons, the No. 2 brand in the country behind Procter & Gamble's Tampax; brands acquired since 1994 include Banana Boat, Wet Ones, Mr. Bubble, Ogilvie, Binaca, Diaper Genie and Baby Magic; Douglas Wheat, the former chairman, owns about 33% of the company through his investment firm Haas Wheat & Partners, another 20 percent is owned by investors ed by merchant banker Richard Blum (husband of U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein); 1,250 employees companywide, 200 of them at the Westport headquarters; net sales of $643.8 million in 2005; CEO Neil Defeo (older brother of the Terex CEO Ronald M. DeFeo, whose offices are also in town).
• Terex, a Fortune 500 company that makes equipment for industries including construction, infrastructure, quarrying, recycling, surface mining, shipping, transportation, refining, utility and maintenance, and it offers financial services to assist in the acquisition of Terex equipment; 17,600 employees companywide, 91 in Connecticut; $6.4 billion in 2005 revenues; CEO Ronald M. Defeo (younger brother of the Playtex CEO Neil DeFeo, whose offices are also in town).
• Prominent companies once in Westport include Business Express Airlines which had its headquarters in town.

References

Discussion

parking 'Prominent companies' per wikipedia not being a place for these sorts of lists WestportWiki (talk) 15:36, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Actually, many other town/city articles have such lists in their economics section such as Boston or Seattle, though since they're so much larger they're broken off into sub-articles. IMO I'm for such lists as they do link other wiki articles related to the town or city in question. Best, Markvs88 (talk) 16:12, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. Added :) Best WestportWiki (talk) 23:41, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Nice job! Remember to add it to Wikipedia:WikiProject_Connecticut#New_articles... Best, Markvs88 (talk) 23:56, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Cool, didnt know about that. Thanks WestportWiki (talk) 00:19, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Comment: Westport's Infobox settlement

FYI: Westport, Connecticut before it was incorporated in 1835 was named Greens Farm and the Village of Saugatuck [3] These are former names for what is now Westport! The line entry for other name as specified in Wikipedia's webpage Template:Infobox settlement allows and is intended For places with a former or more common name like Bombay or Saigon. Please do not revert this edit as it contributes to the readability of the article making it more interesting. Secondly, all towns in Connecticut have the distinction of being a New England town. This ought to be recognized. Thank you for your co-operation! ——→StephenTS42 (talk) 17:47, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

There are significant differences, though. Bombay and Saigon are examples of cities that were well known by those names but then were renamed relatively recently. That is not the case for Greens Farm/Saugatuck. Additionally, those names existed prior to the settlement of the town in 1835. You don't see "New Amsterdam" on New York City's infobox because that was its name prior to incorporation. Westport's names before 1835 are irrelevant to the infobox. Having them in there does not contribute to the "readability" in any way. only (talk) 18:07, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

@Only: What part of former names do you not understand. It doesn't matter what is in another article's page. If former names are missing from the New York City article, what has that to do with the former names of the article Westport, Connecticut. I wouldn't follow the example of bad editing. You are entitled to your opinion about what readability is and I will defend your right to express it, but if adding interesting information to an article's infobox bothers you, fine. Objection noted.———→StephenTS42 (talk) 18:39, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

I'm not sure how "interesting information" = "readability." "Interesting information" = "trivia" to me. Again, the "former names" is meant for cities who were well established by those previous names, not "names for the town before its official existence." Are they appropriate for a narrative history section about the town? Certainly. Are they necessary for the infobox? Absolutely not. only (talk) 18:42, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

@Only: Please substantiate where in Wikipedia is it stipulated what you claim to be inappropriate is established, or is inappropriate an expression of opinion, as in yours?

I think this discussion can be easily closed. Per WP:TRIVIA, it shouldn't be added in. Done. —JJB^ers 18:44, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

To ALL: The official name for Westport, Connecticut is Town of Westport. It's in the official webpage, its on the official seal... why is that so difficult to look up? As a courtesy, I submit the following: [4]

Native name?

An unregistered user has added native name of the town (nigtopia). Can someone provide any sources for this? Seems like a mischievous edit, but with sources, it should stay. I'll remove it for now. GreaterPonce665 (talk) 18:19, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• Westport-tesla-model-3-police-car.jpg

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 02:23, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Editing against Census

User:158.123.153.250 you been cautioned not to edit against Census per [5] and you are now edit warring Untamed1910 (talk) 22:26, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

What is wrong with adding my one sentence re: westport being one of the most affluent communities in the US? It is absolutely correct and I do not see any reason why this needs to continue to be deleted. Its rediculous at this point... look at Weston's page, or Wilton's page... or New Canaan's page which all discuss neighboring towns of equivalent status. This should not be deleted and I simply do not agree with it being deleted. It is truth and describes Westport accurately. Stop deleting it. 158.123.153.250 (talk) 19:38, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

You are welcome to start a new RFC, but continuing to revert editors who are supporting a consensus is disruptive. Magnolia677 (talk) 19:54, 8 March 2023 (UTC)

Explain “editing against consensus”. Are you in control of this census?!? People of Westport want it to be accurately described in its wiki page and the one sentence about it being an affluent town is entirely accurate and further stated and backed up in the wiki page. There is no need for you to police this, as it’s accurate and not in any offense to anyone. Please move on to more important things. 2600:8805:9A9B:F700:2C0E:9481:A03A:EB05 (talk) 07:50, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

A consensus of editors have decided it is not encyclopedic to add those sorts of words to the lead section of US city articles. You are welcome to start a new discussion, where a new consensus might be reached, but continuing to add it back to the article because you disagree is not the way these sorts of disputes are solved on Wikipedia. Thanks for your understanding. Magnolia677 (talk) 09:37, 9 March 2023 (UTC)