Talk:MetroWest

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The origin of the term "Metrowest"

The name "Metrowest Daily News" was chosen via a reader submission contest as the new name for what was then the Framingham News newspaper. This did happen back in the '80's but the reader who submitted the idea did not coin the term "Metrowest" and neither did the newspaper. Rather, the term Metrowest entered the local vernacular as a consequence of the various numbers of Real Estate Brokers using it in relation to "for sale" listings on MLS and in the newspaper. Suffice it to say, though some do confuse the Metrowest Daily News as being the progenitors of the term, they definitely are not. The term "Metrowest" was already in the common parlance locally before it was adopted by the newspaper. 98.118.62.140 (talk) 17:23, 31 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That is incorrect. It was the Framingham News → South Middlesex News → Middlesex News → Metrowest Daily News. The term was coined by the newspaper when it was known as the Middlesex News several years before the final name change, which is noted in the citation. --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 18:08, 31 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What you say about the name transition is correct "Framingham News → South Middlesex News → Middlesex News → Metrowest Daily News" but what you say about how the name was selected is not correct. I mentioned the old Framingham News name because that's who I always think of them as - I live nearby. Suffice it to say, I posted here to initate a dialog, because I have no citation to prove there was a contest, but there was. As for the some in the MLS using "Metro West" before the paper, it's true that some realtors did mention that in their listings. This I know, because I'm a Mass Real Estate Broker and have been for many years. And regarding the term "Metrowest", I am intimately familar with that as well because I helped run a sales office on Route 9 in Framingham for much of the mid-80's. The key here though, is to find someone who still has the old edition of the paper, or look in the microfiche at the Library. The only thing I might be misrembering is that it might have been an employee who won, not a reader. But I am certain that leading up to the last name change, the paper ran stories asking readers for name suggestions. Also, go read the Metrowest Daily News article, it says this: "The regional term MetroWest was promoted to the nameplate October 19, 1998". Well then, think about this: If the term "Metrowest" was coined by the newspaper in 1998, why do I have in my posession an original business license I took out in 1989 which has as part of my DBA name, "Metrowest"? What I am trying to tell you is that the Newpaper did not coin the term "Metro West". It was in the general parlance locally for about 3-5 years, stemming originally from some real estate listings, before the paper adopted it. Go read some of the old real estate classifieds on microfiche in the paper itself before the name change, and you'll find a form of the term(s) Metro-West, Metro-west, Metrowest or Metro West in some of the ads. 98.118.62.140 (talk) 04:33, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It was coined in the 1980s sometime, not 1998. The contest refers to the renaming of the paper in 1998, not the creation of the term. Every major news agency in the region acknowledges that the News was the one to coin the term. The reason you recognize it being used in MLS is because the agents adopted the term from the paper had that been using it for a decade or so up to that time. --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 06:23, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In case anyone still cares, since I'm the one who added the data about the origins of "MetroWest," I looked up the cite again today and here's what I've got, from the Boston Globe of October 18, 1998:

Are we Metrowest yet?

That moniker, which is only 15 years old, may still sound crinkly new to some ears in the west-of-Boston towns that encircle Framingham. But it will come closer to being the region's unofficial name when the Middlesex News changes its name tomorrow to the MetroWest Daily News.

Cynics scoff that the name was invented as a marketing concept during a publisher's name-that-region contest by the News in 1983, and they note that its borders are amorphous.

This seems pretty conclusive primary source evidence to me. MWDN adopted its current name in October 1998; its predecessor the Middlesex News sponsored the contest that coined "MetroWest" in 1983. _``` _W i k i _W i s t a h _``` 06:32, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That pretty much confirms what I was saying. Thanks for looking it up.--Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 08:46, 22 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with some of what you say, but the contest did not invent the term. There were some Realtors already informally using the term Metro West Area to refer to new developments West of Boston. 98.118.62.140 (talk) 02:25, 3 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What we need is verifiability, though. The Boston Globe seems to think the Middlesex News invented the term, as do the News editors quoted in the story. The story I cited goes on to mention that in the 1983 phonebook for the Framingham area, there are no listings for businesses with "Metrowest" in their names. Editor Joe Dwinnell is quoted as saying that the contest winner came up with it while looking at a map. The earliest mention I can find in the Boston Globe archives is from August 2, 1984: "HOW AREA CAME TO BE CALLED METROWEST" by R.S. Kindleberger:

[ ... ] there is something new under the sun after all, and out in the environs of Framingham, they're calling it MetroWest. The Middlesex News coined the term about a year ago to refer to the 27 cities and towns in its circulation area, according to publisher James W. Hopson. Although selling more newspapers was one goal, Hobson said, the main purpose was to forge a regional identity for the area. ...

_``` t o l l _` b o o t h _` w i l l i e _`` $1.25 PLEASE _``` 05:28, 3 March 2012 (UTC) (formerly Wiki Wistah)[reply]

The only place to find the information I am talking about, Real Estate Broker usage, would be in some old MLS listings or old Real Estate for sale photo classifieds. My guess is that a microfiche of older Boston Sunday Globe Real Estate Sections, would reveal 1st usage, better than anything. I do not know how to prove it, but I can assure you, having been an avid reader of the papers in question at the time, the 1st times I saw that term was in the Real Estate sections. 98.118.62.140 (talk) 04:24, 17 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]