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On 08/31/2011 06:03 AM, Martin Koppenhoefer wrote:
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cite="mid:CABPTjTD9OPnaJZjb38d3rxzFof4Ga8JMWyKg_o5fyB0MfiknBA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">2011/8/31 Greg Troxel <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:gdt@ir.bbn.com"><gdt@ir.bbn.com></a>:
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<pre wrap="">I thought the issue was that there are two distinct concepts:
boundaries, where there is some legal distinction and a precise edge</pre>
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<pre wrap=""> place names, which have more or less indistinct boundaries.
</pre>
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<pre wrap="">
just because they have no legal status does not mean there aren't
distinct limits. Usually / often there are. There can be natural
limits (cliffs, rivers, lakes, woods, ...) and man_made limits (big
streets and motorways, railways, ...), the limits might also be soft
or social / cultural / ethnic / economic / structural / typological /
historic, ...
</pre>
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<br>
It is very typical is to have<i> just one clear edge</i> (e.g.
shantytown is definitely "west of the railroad tracks"). The rest
is a matter of perspective and interpretation, which is not a very
firm foundation for mapping.<br>
<br>
That leaves:<br>
<ol>
<li>registered administrative boundaries (as legally defined:
often co-incident with an existing boundary (e.g. the City and
County and State borders are all the same)).<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>non-administrative places as nodes (with indistinct or at
least undefined edges)<br>
<br>
</li>
<li>non-administrative places as areas (which I think is more rare
than this discussion has been suggesting).<br>
</li>
</ol>
The main goal should be so the name search box gets you to the right
area?<br>
We want to capture all the alternative names, so that when someone
searches with OSM they get a better result than commercial maps?<br>
<br>
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