[OSM-newbies] Tagging for service areas

[Mark Williams]

ael wrote:
> Several residential areas that I have been mapping have quite large
> "squares" - typically surfaced polygonal areas enclosed by housing
> providing access to garages, back gardens, rear entrances and the like.
> They usually have a single access road which I usually mark with
> highway=service, as the best approximation. It is not clear that
> highway=residential is not equally appropriate, but I tend to reserve
> that for the usually wider roads giving access to the front doors.
> 
> My problem is how to tag these areas. What I have done usually is mark
> the outlines as highway=service and then add area=yes. According to the
> wiki, "service" cannot be an area, so this is formally wrong as things
> stand. And osmarender just shows a looping service road as you would expect.
> 
> How should I tag these areas? Is there something better that what I am
> doing? If not, should "service" allow an area tag with the renderers
> doing something better?
> 
> ael
> 

Round my way these are mostly used as parking, and get tagged as such
(but no node). That's not really right either, of course, and I get the
impression it's not true of your areas?

Mark