[OSM-newbies] roads assocaited with towns.

[Trevor Hook]

I was mapping some footpaths yesterday and came across a situation which I
hadn't come across before and which lead me to think about how openstreetmap
actually works.

http://osm.org/go/eu6XfNE9--

I mapped the footpath coming from the East between the river and the village
of Woodford and heading out to the South.

This footpath briefly follows the route of the a residential road named
Church Street which is part of the village.

My question is; how does Openstreet map know the lane is part of the
village? I know my map is incomplete because I didn't map the connecting
roads between Church Street and the main road, which itself is not connected
to the POI Woodford. If I wanted to find a Church Street in Woodford how
would openstreetmap (or any map based of OSM data) be able to process that
request.

Checking OSM, I've never seen a place name connected in anyway to a street.

I can see 3 possible anwsers.
*1) Geographical Proximity* -   what happens when a road is the same
distance between 2+ place names
*2) A Relationship* - I've looked in the wiki but didn't find anything
appropriate for roads and place names, although it difficult to find stuff
in the wiki unless I already know the name of the thing I'm looking for.
*3) Place Boundaries* - Drawing a village boundary and everything inside is
part of that village, I never done that but it would seem logical

Should I be placing some sort of relationship/boundary on these roads?

Thanks
Trevor
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