[OSM-newbies] marking residential areas

[Andy Robinson (blackadder)]

Tom Evans wrote:
>Sent: 12 January 2008 10:55 AM
>To: newbies at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: [OSM-newbies] marking residential areas
>
>I've noticed there seems to be some inconsistency in whether
>landuse=residential areas are used in different areas, and wasn't sure
>what to do myself.  I'm near Cambridge and round here just the other
>landuses are applied.  Looking elsewhere, Isle of Wight seems to have
>them all marked, bits of London not (where I looked, anyway).  Is this a
>historical thing, or an ongoing issue of some kind?
>
>What's the reasoning here?  And what do other people do?
>
>Is there an assumption that the area immediately around a
>highway=residential road is residential, so they don't need to be marked
>with landuse too?
>
>I'm having a slight practical problem in that, just surveying on the
>ground,
>I have to guess at the outline.  I know where the fronts of houses are but
>I've got to sketch the outer edge of a village by pure guesswork.  (don't
>have good Yahoo photos here)  Is this guessing better than nothing, or
>worse?
>
>Is this just personal taste, and nobody really wants to start disagreeing
>with other mapmakers?
>
>Would it be rude to go and add residential landuse areas to somewhere
>that somebody else has already otherwise mapped fully?

No hard and fast rule because there are various options available. The
landuse tag is probably the most applicable but as you say it's not always
easy to get it right, although it's ok to have a good guess and be happy
with that until someone else comes along with better info. Having said that,
if you really don't understand the extent of the area it's probably best to
leave that area until there is more info.

There is also an abutters=residential tag which we used originally to show
the extent of residential and other area types before ways as areas was
implemented. That works quite well too if you are rendering yourself but is
no longer used in the two default render engines. Many of us still apply the
abutters tags because they provide extra information about a street.
So, the reality is that it's very much personal taste at the moment. And
since it's a wiki map you are quite entitled to add it to areas done by
others if you like, however for Cambridge you might want to contact David
Earl and get his suggestions too so that the city can have a unified look.

>
>And why does osmarender mark residential areas so faintly that I can't
>even see it on some monitors?
>
>Thanks,
>Tom
>
>
>


Cheers

Andy (blackadder)