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A comment on OpenStreetMap gets new, easier to use in-browser editor. Parent comment

Re:OpenStreetMap gets new, easier to use in-browser editor by rmc on Friday August 23, 2013 @05:51PM (#6266447)
Well remember OSM is an international project, so trying to find one definition of "city" and "border of a city" is hard. Some places (like USA) seem to use "city" as a hard solid thing, other places (eg UK / ireland) don't.
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Re:OpenStreetMap gets new, easier to use in-browser editor by JamesChevalier on Friday August 23, 2013 @06:55PM (#6266689)
Yeah - OSM goes a long way in categorizing different levels of "area in which people live" based on population density. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:place
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Re:OpenStreetMap gets new, easier to use in-browser editor by rmc on Saturday August 24, 2013 @01:35PM (#6269219)
Except that the place tag isn't always based on population size. In some places, (e.g. UK), a common cultural definition of a "city" is archaic, and depends if the place has a Cathedral and/or charter from the monarch.

I give you the "city" of St. David's: http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/node/3216768 It's in Wales, UK, and is tagged as "place=city". It's a small town of ~2,000 people. It has a charter from the monarch, and a cathedral. The "note" tag in OSM says: "the "city" is on paper, what's on the ground is a small town".

Humanity is complicated. :)

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Re:OpenStreetMap gets new, easier to use in-browser editor by huxley on Saturday August 24, 2013 @05:57PM (#6269948)
UK isn't the only place with weird "cities".

Greenhorn, Oregon is designated as a city but has a 2010 census population of zero. Though now unicorporated, Tenny, Minnesota, was a city and had a peak population of 180 people in 1910 but now is down to 5 (2010 census).

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Re:OpenStreetMap gets new, easier to use in-browser editor by JamesChevalier on Saturday August 24, 2013 @05:39PM (#6269883)
heh, true!

I've been playing with place names & http://overpass-turbo.eu/ ... I seem to be getting the best results with "city|hamlet|metropolis|town|village", although some states like Alaska & Hawaii still don't return much with this scope.

In Alaska, a lot of places are labeled as County. In Hawaii, a lot of places are labeled as Other.

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