[OSM-talk] is_in and similar tags

[David Earl]

Shaun McDonald wrote:
> 
> On 28 Jul 2009, at 13:43, John Smith wrote:
> 
>>
>> Is there a real need for is_in tags or have admin boundaries replaced 
>> the need?
>>
> 
> Admin boundaries are the new way of doing this. The is_in tag was the 
> early way of trying to show a hierarchy of admin areas.

It is still *very* helpful to have is_in present though. It is much 
easier to present this information in a search than to do polygon tests 
which requires a whole new algorithm (desirable though that is), and of 
course, boundaries are nowhere near complete, and you often know in 
which region a place is without knowing the exact boundary.

David