OpenStreetMap
OK, so I didn't walk away just yet. :)
I saw a response to one of my first diary entries, talking about footpaths. I think that's what we call sidewalks. I added a whole bunch around my neighborhood. I remembered that one of the new developments here has a traffic circle (roundabout?). How do I enter those in? See the Yahoo! view of tagged map location, to see it.
Discussion
Comment from 42429 on 28 February 2009 at 16:16
Sorry, a public footpath is something different than a sidewalk. A footpath is a pedestrian shortcut which can be used by walkers, but not by cars. Urban planners intended these footpaths to encourage walking in urban areas.
Here is one example from Germany:
osm.org/?lat=53.23715&lon=8.79461&zoom=16&layers=B000FTF
And here are two examples from California:
osm.org/?lat=37.81909&lon=-122.23962&zoom=15&layers=B000FTF
osm.org/?lat=37.95082&lon=-121.98281&zoom=16&layers=B000FTF
There is still a controversy whether and how to map sidewalks.
Big roundabouts a drawn as separate circular street, together with junction=roundabout, small roundabouts are marked at the crossing point.
Yours FK270673
Comment from MacDude72 on 28 February 2009 at 21:42
Oh boy. Looks like I did a lot of work for nothing then...
Comment from 42429 on 1 March 2009 at 01:51
Well, you can still reuse these sidewalk lines for residential areas by simply renaming them.
Finally, the footpath along Chicago River looks fantastic. There aren't many cities with such a great riverside walking opportunity.
osm.org/?lat=53.07527&lon=8.80142&zoom=17&layers=B000FTF
Your mapping makes Chicago attractive for visitors.
Yours, FK270673
Comment from MacDude72 on 1 March 2009 at 21:47
Thanks, FK270673. I've already mapped out the residential areas. Should I really go ahead and delete those ways, or maybe wait and see where the "controversy" ends up?
Comment from alv on 2 March 2009 at 07:51
Again I'd say leave them in. They're of little use in the beginning when all there is are the street shapes and names, but in some years they can be. At least in places with all the buildings and house numbers and with out-of-the-ordinary street shapes, they start to make the highest zoom levels more informative than any simple-to-use tagging scheme could. With them it's easier to enter the pedestrian crossings and their reachability without compromising the accurate connections to some footways in the parks, or such.