[OSM-talk] Mapping everything as areas

[Anthony]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 8:11 AM, Jean-Marc Liotier <jm at liotier.org> wrote:
> Mapping the crossing of two roads, four cycleways and four sidewalks all
> as surfaces requires about twenty times as many nodes as mapping the
> crossing of two linear roads. That is a hefty increase in complexity,
> especially when having to deal with the modification of existing ways.
> Should that be put forward as a best practice ?

Isn't it better in most situations to have both (ways and areas)
rather than just one or the other?

At an intersection, yes, there is one squarish section of road that I
am capable of traveling on in any spot in any direction.  But the
actual paths of travel through that intersection form intersecting
lines, not areas.