[Talk-us] HI: Hawaii GIS Data

[Scott Atwood]

On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 4:22 PM, Dave Hansen <dave at sr71.net> wrote:

> On Sat, 2009-12-05 at 00:12 +0000, Shaun McDonald wrote:
> > Why oh why oh why do some people insist on wasting time trying to
> > import loads of data?
>
> Mapping is fun, but I personally think it is more fun when you're
> enhancing someone else's work rather than starting from a blank slate.
> Whatever floats your boat, I guess.
>

Personally, I find a blank slate a lot more intimidating and overwhelming
that improving some data.  Most of my mapping experience is in the south San
Francisco Bay Area.  By the time I started mapping, the area was pretty
thoroughly mapped, from TIGER imports and a fairly active local mapping
community.

I relish the opportunity to improve the quality of the local map.
 Sometimes, that means I get to add a whole neighborhood subdivision that
wasn't included in the TIGER import.  Sometimes that means I get to add
details that aren't part of TIGER and that are often over looked, like bike
lanes, parking lots, traffic calming devices, and railroad crossings.
 Sometimes, I even get to clean up TIGER data, for example by realigning it
to GPS traces or satellite images.

Perhaps I'm not a typical mapper, but I don't find the existence of bulk
imported local data to have been particular inhibiting in my activity level.


> Anyway, Scott, I'd encourage you to find some specific goals that you'd
> like to achieve with the import.  It may not be worth importing things
> just because they are available.  Is there something specific missing
> from or lacking in OSM that the import could help with?


I would be happy to just start small, with something like the water data:
 streams, waterfalls, canals, and dams, since these are import basic
landmarks, and in the context of Hawaii, very difficult to map any other
way.

-Scott


-- 
Scott Atwood

The hill isn't in the way, it is the way.
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