Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Keys of the City in the United States

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was KEEP. postdlf (talk) 14:47, 26 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

List of Keys of the City in the United States[edit]

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

Most of the recipients are not notable. Sources are merely promotional or incidental local coverage. Doesn't seem like a notable topic. Contested prod. Ten Pound Hammer • ^{(What did I screw up now?)} 02:25, 16 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I contested the prod because I had concerns with the deletion rationale, and my opinion hasn't changed. At least half of the recipients are notable. While there are definitely non-notable people and/or cats on the list who could (should) be removed, there are more than enough notable people to still have a decent-sized list. Likewise I am sure the sourcing can be improved, because events of this type are often covered by local media. I think the concept of "keys to the city" is widespread enough both in real life and as a fictional trope to probably be notable, and it is probably worth listing those notable recipients of such honors. This content could be moved to Freedom of the City, but that article is already rather long. Now, all that aside, I can see a potential WP:OR/SYNTH deletion argument being advanced due to the list being a loose grouping of unrelated awards (though they are fundamentally similar) that have not been discussed together in reliable sources. So for now I will stay neutral to see what others think. Camerafiend (talk) 03:17, 16 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Lists-related deletion discussions. 09:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC) I, Jethrobot ^{drop me a line} (note: not a bot!) 09:40, 16 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Regardless of the notability of the recipients, this seems like a rather quixotic venture of very limited value. If an individual being granted a key is deemed notable, mention it in his or her article. --BDD (talk) 20:00, 16 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Keep as a reasonable WP:SPINOFF article from the Freedom of the City article. Northamerica1000^(talk) 07:07, 17 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, TheSpecialUser ^TSU 01:51, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Keep It doesn't matter how many individuals on this list are notable, but whether the underlying concept of a list of "Keys to the City" recipients is notable. Google turns up several such lists, so I'd argue that it is. And if it weren't for this list, I'd never have known that Saddam Hussein had the key to Detroit. DoctorKubla (talk) 08:28, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Keep It's a useful adjunct to Freedom of the City, which is a notable topic, and this article could be considered a breakout for reasons of length from that article. Only mentioning in the individual people's articles isn't so useful for navigation. --Colapeninsula (talk) 10:11, 23 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.