[Talk-us] TIGER 2022 PLACE dataset

[Bill Ricker]

On Tue, Jan 17, 2023 at 8:22 AM Aleksandar Matejevic (Hi-Tech Talents LLC)
via Talk-us <talk-us at openstreetmap.org> wrote:

> I have a question regarding TIGER 2022 PLACE dataset (
> https://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2022/PLACE/).
> Is it OK with the community to add these polygons to the OSM?
>

Can you point to the description of what these PLACE polygons represent and
what meta-data comes with each polygon?

What are they in OSM terms? Are they Admin boundaries?

(Do we even consider US Census CDP, Census Designated Place, a mappable
entity?)

I saw there were some imports of the previous datasets in the past years,
> but lot of polygons are still missing,
>

Can you provide (an) example(s) of what's missing from OSM but in TIGER
2022 PLACE that would be beneficial in OSM?

and license looks to be compatible with the OSM one.
>

I expect so from history, but for the record of the conversation, it would
be good to link and quote it here.

> I am not talking about mass import of the data,
>

Ok good , that's a very different discussion.

> but using polygons and adding them one by one if they are not already
> added and improving geometries of the existing ones.
> What is the opinion on this effort?
>

Using individual polygons of compatible license to improve existing
polygons or to start a missing but useful polygon of a sort we are trying
to curate seems (almost*) unobjectionable.

*Provided that there isn't a better source of compatible license easily
available for the polygon in question.
(E.g. if a specialist agency has lakes, forests that are more refined than
Census's, we'd prefer theirs.
US Census studies settlements for purposes of the enumeration - notoriously
did not record One Way direction as Enumerators walk their blocks in cities
- not uninhabited wildlands, so will likely have fewer points in a polygon
that indicates "no one lives here", while having excellent polygons for
"this is an incorporated place, inhabitant count rolls-up to entity # NNNNN
named YOUR PLACENAME HERE† at level LL" (we use these as Admin boundaries?)
and "this is an unincorporated place and the census definition is this"
(maybe we don't, as there's no Now Entering CDP imaginary boundary
signage?).)

(OTOH if the better source is not easily available - or will require a high
level negotiation to get a compatible license statement from their agency
management!  - starting with the CENSUS polygon makes sense, even if it's
coarser than we'd ideally prefer.)

† "Your State's Name Here <https://youtu.be/96Wtcpje0uE>" - Lou & Peter
Berryman - A Generic Folk-Song praising whatever state they're visiting and
performing in today.
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