[Talk-us] .... finding areas that are underserved

Mark Wagner mark+osm at carnildo.com
Mon Nov 14 06:05:04 UTC 2016


On Sun, 13 Nov 2016 22:22:06 -0500
Russ Nelson <nelson at crynwr.com> wrote:

> Markus Fischer writes:
>  > I am new to this and the area where I live is very well mapped
>  > (probably due to high density of tech workers). Where do I go to
>  > start mapping areas that are less well mapped (me aimlessly poking
>  > at this does not sound like a good approach)?  
> 
> Oh, and you can always do some work in Pennsylvania. Here, let's pick
> a place at random, Thompson,
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=12/41.8666/-75.5154
> 
> Look at Willow Street against Bing aerial imagery. It's badly aligned.
> Look at Main Street. Also badly aligned.
> Look at the cemetery west of Main. It's not on the map.
> Jefferson, East Jackson, Water, all badly aligned.
> Four bodies of water north of the village, all missing.
> A little creek coming in from the west and going into a mill pond.
> 
> There's LOTS to do, and you don't need to have ever gone to the
> place. You can just see it from the air. You can even see where an
> intersection has traffic lights -- the aerials are that good.

I wouldn't recommend pure armchair mapping as a starting point for
someone just getting in to OSM.  There are too many "gotchas": to take
your traffic light example, there are patterns of street lights that
look similar to traffic lights if you're just judging from the shadows
they cast.  Or looking at Thompson, you missed the fact that Starrucca
Creek proceeds to exit the millpond, flow west through Thompson, and
loop around to the north and east, to join with the Susquehanna River
about ten miles away.  Or to take an example in my area, most of the
small bodies of water are seasonal and turn into patches of
dried mud in the late summer, something you'd never figure out from
looking at Bing.

I'd recommend starting by simply verifying things in your immediate
area.  It will give you a feel for how things on the ground match up to
what you see from the air, and you'll probably find some businesses or
roads that need updating.

-- 
Mark



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