[OSM-talk] Some more shops and amenities for the map features page ...

[Stephen Hope]

2008/12/21 D Tucny <d at tucny.com>:
>
> What makes an optician's a shop whereas a dentist is an amenity? NHS?
> Opticians selling sunglasses?
>

Because an opticians tend's to look a shop, and I can go in, buy
something (new frame, glasses case, cleaning materials) without an
appointment or seeing an optician at all?  I've never seen a dentists
place that looked like a shop.


2008/12/21 Dermot McNally <dermotm at gmail.com>:
>
> It's "doctors" that puzzles me. Why not "doctor"? I know that you are
> reporting reality here, but maybe we have a chance now to document a
> more consistent set of tags and perhaps the (possibly few) mappers
> already using "doctors" would be prepared to retag.

It's a shortened form of "doctor's (surgery/office)".  It's common
English usage, so I can see why people would start using it. Whether
or not it should be encouraged, however is another question.

I think if we are going to get serious about POI's we need to come up
with a tagging scheme for things that are businesses but are not
shops.  Just thinking about things in the immediate vicinity of where
I work, there is a business park (named, and known by the name), a
state tax office, several office buildings, various other government
departments. I'm not sure amenity or shop really works for any of
them.

Stephen