[Talk-us] TIGER 2022 PLACE dataset

[Brian M. Sperlongano]

I personally wish we would stop re-defining perfectly working dictionary
words.  I understand that sometimes the word used in a *tag* has to include
a broader or narrower concept to make mapping work.  But a boundary that
comes from an authoritative data source is perfectly VERIFIABLE.  It is not
OBSERVABLE on the ground, and let's not mix those things up.  A boundary is
a boundary because some political authority or authorities say it is.

On Thu, Jan 19, 2023 at 2:57 AM stevea <steveaOSM at softworkers.com> wrote:

> Nice, Elliott.  +1 to everything!
>
> Things in OSM get mapped because "they are real enough to verify."  NEARLY
> ALL of the time, that's because "well, everybody can see them."  (Including
> the mapper who did).  With boundaries, no, we must wave our hands in the
> air a bit here.  We must talk about these in terms of "already agreed upon"
> so that we can "well state them, like on a map."  Today, we find that
> reality really very good, even excellent, but it has its real-world "can't
> do that, border is in dispute" or "despite our best efforts since 1905
> (pick a date), the two (maybe more) countries cannot seem to come to
> agreement about exactly where a or the boundary line is."
>
> Census boundaries are not that, they are "wobbly, numerically-defined
> things" that change, and rapidly.  They are essentially stale as quickly as
> they are published.  They exist for a reason, as they are a snapshot of a
> something.  Very much depending on local variability and reasoning (and the
> reasons change everywhere we go) a census boundary might or might not be
> "agreeable" to remain in OSM (sometimes for reasons closer to OSM,
> sometimes for reasons closer to "the people on the land who say so").
>
> This a social process, where sometimes "local rules dictate" and sometimes
> "that's the method the rest of the world uses."  Where and how that unfolds
> seems to be a constant saga in OSM.  Certainly more often than not, a
> harmonious method is found and applied.
>
> Realize:  "deep rabbit holes exist" and "sometimes people disagree" and "I
> stand corrected, I regret my error" and "that's how that should be tagged
> around here" and "that's how the rest of the world tags" and "well, that's
> true, but there are exceptions..." are all true.  At the same time.  It's
> not rancor or disharmony, it is discussion.  More often than not, it
> becomes harmonious.  Really, we are harmonious.  There are skirmishes on
> edges, yes, and we grow.
>
> And a great many people say "that's a pretty good chunk of map data we
> have here, OSM," nodding our heads.
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