On 2013-06-15 6:51 PM, Serge Wroclawski wrote:
On Sat, Jun 15, 2013 at 6:35 PM, stevea <stevea...@softworkers.com> wrote:
For the former, I don't need a painted line on the ground, just what the
City GIS department publishes on the open Internet, after these
lines/polygons/neighborhood boundaries were reached by public process.
There is a growing number of OSM folks in the United States (myself
included) who believe that government provided boundry data should be
used for data products such as rendered maps and geocoders, but do not
belong in OSM's core dataset (which is built around the idea of
improvements based on local, verifiable observation).
The result is that for data of the type you're talking about
(government provided polygons), I think they'd be best provided as a
third party service.
And for the more subjective neighborhood boundaries, by its nature, it
doesn't belong in OSM either.
But there's a third kind of neighborhood data: objective data that
doesn't come from a government database.
I've driven all over Cincinnati's northeastern suburbs collecting
subdivision names, the ones that adorn signs and gates at subdivision
entrances. I used to hear school bus drivers use the same names when
communicating their progress over the radio. These subdivisions are only
meaning of "neighborhood" that makes sense in an area with endless sprawl.
Upon returning to my armchair, I trace individual landuse=residential
polygons for each of these subdivisions. It's easy to discern the
boundaries because most subdivisions aren't connected. Where they are,
one can easily spot where sidewalks end, one cookie cutter architecture
gives way to another, or the pavement quality changes -- some cities
repave one whole subdivision at a time.
The result is a map that's actually informative at z14 (though still
incomplete due to time constraints). Here's Mason and Deerfield Twp., OH:
http://mc.bbbike.org/mc/?lon=-84.3252&lat=39.32121&zoom=14&num=4&mt0=mapnik&mt1=google-map-mapmaker&mt2=nokia-map&mt3=waze-us
In nearby Loveland, Google and Nokia copied names like "Historic West
Loveland" and "West Loveland North" out of the city's GIS. But those
names are only used by city planners, a pitfall of relying solely on
government sources:
http://mc.bbbike.org/mc/?lon=-84.28872&lat=39.27345&zoom=14&num=4&mt0=mapnik&mt1=google-map-mapmaker&mt2=nokia-map&mt3=waze-us
In Cincinnati proper, we've started to map admin_level=10 boundaries
corresponding to the city's community councils. (Not all cities are
large enough to have such an organized system.) They are a very relevant
form of administration, so it makes sense to map their jurisdiction
inasmuch as we already indicate the city limits.
Most of the boundaries are reinforced by an Interstate, steep hillside,
river, rail yard, or other obvious feature, or at least by a major
thoroughfare. Some correspond to villages annexed wholesale. Some even
pass the "welcome sign test". But not all match real neighborhoods as
residents understand them: "CUF" combines three neighborhoods, while
"The Heights" is a controversial legal fiction (centered around the
University of Cincinnati). We've decided to map place=neighborhood
independently of CUF's administrative boundaries and include non-UC
portions of The Heights in University Heights (one of CUF's three
neighborhoods).
Different cities developed in different ways. OSM should encourage
neighborhood data curated by locals aware of the city's history. Perhaps
this kind of data is more suitable for display, while algorithmic
solutions may be better for geocoding.
--
Minh Nguyen <m...@1ec5.org>
Jabber: m...@1ec5.org; Blog: http://notes.1ec5.org/
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