[Talk-us] More USGS Geonames imports

Alan Millar am12 at bolis.com
Sun Mar 29 05:38:05 BST 2009


I'm importing more points of interest from the USGS Geonames data.

Many of the remaining places in Geonames are simply listed as buildings,
with no particular type of place or use.  They include libraries, museums,
police and fire stations, etc.  There is no specific classification in the
data, leaving us to do it ourselves.

I'm assigning values to them based on names.  For example, if the place is
named "Beaverton Public Library", it's easy to guess it should be tagged
as "amenity=library".  Some just don't have a specific classification on
the Map_Features page (like office buildings or grange halls), so I'm
giving them "building=yes".  Some are unclear as to what they are, so they
get "building=yes" also.

Because of the subjectivity involved, I'm also tagging them with
"gnis:reviewed=no", like Tiger.  Many of them will require local knowledge
to know the proper categorization, and positioning too.

FYI, here are some example tags I am using for various names:

tourism attraction Historic Site
tourism museum Museum
amenity library Library
man_made water_works Pumping Station
man_made works Heating Plant
power station Powerplant
amenity arts_centre Center For The Arts
amenity bus_station Transit Center
amenity courthouse Municipal Court
amenity courthouse Courthouse
amenity courthouse Court House
amenity fire_station Fire Station
amenity fire_station Fire and Rescue
amenity doctors Healthcare
amenity doctors Eye Care
amenity doctors Chiropractic
amenity kindergarten Child Care
amenity kindergarten Day Care
amenity parking Parking
amenity parking Garage
amenity police Police
amenity police Sheriff
amenity police Highway Patrol
amenity prison Prison
amenity prison Correctional Center
amenity prison Correctional Facility
amenity prison Penitentiary
tourism information Visitor Center
tourism information Welcome Center
landuse military Armory
landuse military National Guard
amenity public_building County Building
amenity public_building State Building
amenity public_building Ranger Station
amenity public_building Federal Building
amenity public_building State Building
amenity theatre Theater
amenity theatre Auditorium
amenity theatre Playhouse
amenity townhall City Hall
amenity townhall Town Hall
shop books Book Store
landuse residential Apartments
leisure sports_centre Sports Complex
leisure sports_centre Sports Center
leisure sports_centre Athletic Complex
leisure sports_centre Athletic Center
leisure stadium Coliseum
leisure stadium Arena

and more :-)

There are many combinations of names, so my tags are a basic start, not
any authoritative answer.  I'm going state-by-state in no particular
order, and it will take a few days to finish.

Please take a look around for areas you know, and fix up anything you
find.  Thanks.

- Alan






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