[OSM-newbies] Separating streets that don't join

[David ``Smith'']

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 6:02 AM, Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
<avarab at gmail.com> wrote:
> I thought there was consensus about not using these street
> abbreviations anywhere in the OpenStreetMap data. We've had bots
> transversing the planet changing these abbreviations to their full
> forms (mainly from TIGER data) and nobody's complained.

I'm not convinced that consensus represents the US point of view.  But
I wasn't around when this was decided.

> It's also documented e.g. here:
>
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:name#Abbreviation_.28don.27t_do_it.29

When I wrote my little essay on the matter, that section wasn't as
clear.  It essentially said, "use exactly what's on the sign, and
don't use abbreviations" which is contradictory for nearly all US road
signs.  So I assumed that the decision not to use abbreviations was
made without input from the US mapping community.

I still think it makes the most sense to use abbreviations when they
are commonly and consistently used in reality.  That said, the
abbreviations that came with the TIGER data aren't always the same
ones used on the signs.

The practice of expanding these abbreviations in OSM data creates (in
my opinion) problems which are not (yet) adequately addressed.  I'm
just trying to bring attention to these problems, so the issue can
eventually be resolved one way or another.

-- 
David "Smith"
a.k.a. Vid the Kid
a.k.a. Bír'd'in

Does this font make me look fat?