[OSM-newbies] Pedestrian Street

[Joe Early]

> From: Vic Morgan <vic.morgan at ntlworld.com>
> Subject: [OSM-newbies] 
>
>  Another variation I've just come across is a large area
> of residential footpaths with a single name (e.g. Sedgefield), all
> service roads share that same name but no one actually lives adjacent to
> a road. In that case I'm tagging the area and not even showing the
> residential footpaths because it would end up a mess. 
>
>   
That it is a mess is another reason to map it and not omit it.  Some may
see it as documenting the folly.  There is not much reason to not map a
way and many good reasons to do so.   But the single best reason is that
we do not know what possible uses this data may be put to.  If the data
is there we can hope someone's imagination will run with it.
I submit, as an example, a route calculator for people with a prams,
pushchairs or in a wheelchair who need a route to those locations.  That
would need these ways mapped.  How it renders is a renderer issue not a
data issue.

To answer the original question; if the footpaths have the same name
they are conceptually the same street and so, like other 'reclaimed'
streets, I tag as highway=pedestrian, foot=whatever, bicycle=whatever
and others like 'surface' and 'width' to taste.  I suppose some might
argue for 'highway=footway' but it's up to you.

Joe