[OSM-talk] Proposed Amenity Reorganization

[gregory at arenius.com]

The amenity key is currently used for so many different things that it has
no meaning.  It has become a catch all category for everything that
doesn't have a place elsewhere.  I'm proposing breaking it up into more
keys to help make things more organized.

Proposed keys:

*Amenity
*Death
*Education
*Entertainment
*Financial
*Government
*Healthcare
*Sustenance
*Transportation
*Waste

With their tags:

Amenity:
*BBQ
*Bench
*Drinking_fountain
*Emergency_Telephone
*Fountain
*Shelter
*Telephone
*Toilet

Death:
*Graveyard
*Crematorium
Maybe also things like tombs, catacombs, mortuaries, funeral homes, etc.
Could probably also replace landuse=cemetary

Education:
*School
*College
*Library
*University

Entertainment:
*Arts_centre
*Brothel
*Cinema
*Nightclub
*Theatre
*Studio

Financial:
*ATM
*Bank
*Bureau_de_change
Maybe also check cashing, brokerages, stock exchanges, commodity
exchanges, etc

Government:
*Baby_hatch
*Courthouse
*Embassy
*Fire_station
*Police_station
*Post_office
*Post_box
*Public_building
*Prison
*Townhall
I think a lot of other types government buildings could be added here as
well.

Healthcare:
*Dentist
*Doctor
*Hospital
*Pharmacy
*Veterinary
This key has been proposed and passed a vote (15-4) but no further work
has been done with it because the proposer doesn't have time.  I'd move it
along but I think it should be part of a larger reorganization of amenity.
 There are a lot of other tags that could be put in this category so I
think its an especially important one.

Sustenance:
*Biergarten
*Cafe
*Fast_food
*Food_court
*Pub
*Restaurant

Transportation:
*Bicycle_parking
*Bicycle_rental
*Bus_station
*Car_rental
*Car_sharing
*Ferry_terminal
*Fuel
*Parking
*Taxi_stands
I think there has been discussion about a key somewhat like this but
nothing has been officially proposed.

Waste:
*Recycling
*Waste_basket
*Waste_disposal
Maybe also things like dumps, recycling baskets, etc.

That leaves us with a few stray tags which I think can be better placed
elsewhere.

Hunting_stand can go in leisure.
Marketplace can go in landuse.
Signpost can go in the proposed information key.
Vending_machine can go in the shop key, or failing that, its own key.

Which leaves place_of_worship.  Maybe in a new spiritual key with things
like holy_site, etc? It really doesn't fit well in amenity though.

I've copied this proposal into the wiki at
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_Amenity_Reoganization
which I'll be working on improving.

What do people think?  I know that there are a bazillion amenity tags
already in use but I think that going forward a better organized system
will be worth the effort of implementing it.

Cheers,
Greg