[OSM-talk] Post code areas

[Brian Quinion]

On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 10:49 AM, Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org> wrote:
>    we're thinking about importing post code areas in Germany. Are post
> code areas being mapped in other countries already, and if so, using
> what tagging schema?
>
> I was thinking of creating multipolygon boundary relations with
> boundary=post_code_area or so.

I don't think there is much consistency on anything postcode related
(beyond addr:postcode & postal_code nodes) so my feeling would be that
implementing a nice solid spec would help everyone.

Can I ask you to take into account that postcodes/zipcodes apply at
different levels of details in different countries, and in some cases
there are multiple levels of details even within the same country.  As
such perhaps something like either:

boundary=street_postal_code | district_postal_code | city_postal_code
street_postal_code = 425253

or

boundary = postal_code
postal_code = 425253
postal_code_level = street | town | city | county

or even

boundary = postal_code
street_postal_code = B35 1RT

Otherwise data users have to guess the level of detail based on the
content of the postcode and the country.

--
 Brian