[Tagging] landuse=residential and named residential areas which belong together (neighbourhoods/subdivisions?)

[Nathan Edgars II]

On 8/31/2011 8:35 AM, Greg Troxel wrote:
>
> I thought the issue was that there are two distinct concepts:
>
>    boundaries, where there is some legal distinction and a precise edge
>
>    place names, which have more or less indistinct boundaries.
>
>
> In my area, towns have boundaries, and there are village centers that
> have names like "West Acton" which have as far as I know no actual
> boundaries and no legal standing.

There's a third possibility - the unincorporated suburb or exurb that 
nevertheless has a defined boundary, since it's planned or controlled by 
one company. I think Columbia, Maryland is this way; closer to me is The 
Villages, a huge retirement community that is its own Micropolitan 
Statistical Area (and where our governor goes when he needs tea bags).

In New England, don't you have the concept of a 'thickly settled' area 
where lower speed limits apply? Could this be used to form boundaries of 
village centers?