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 _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
