Hiya.

 

X had messaged me on OSM earlier today and thought UO maybe interested in OSM. Both of us are OSM editors/mappers.

 

OpenStreetMap is a crowd-sourced, global platform of geographic data. Generally, if it exists and is a fixed thing, it can be added to OpenStreetMap.

 

Lamp posts? power lines? bars? restaurants? monuments? a-ok.

That friend's secret hideout in the woods when you were teenagers - nope ;)

 

Tired that your edits to google maps aren't reflected in the map? your edits to OSM will appear on the map within minutes.

 

Want a map that has all of the latest updates of new construction in Cleveland; you can keep track of that on OpenStreetMap - check out it here http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/15rv

(there's probably plenty of construction projects that are missing from OSM and can be added!)

 

It's not unlike google maps but it has licensing and collaborative nature of wikipedia; so any changes that you made or updates you make, you can download them yourself, and reuse them how you'd

(want all of the taco bells in the area? - here ya go  )

GIS nerds can download the data, make maps, analyze however you want (admittedly, it's not the easiest to export large amounts of data from there but this tool is actually a good start - https://export.hotosm.org/en/v3/)

 

How do I add stuff to the map on openstreetmap.org ?!

Sign up for an account (free);

follow the quick tutorial;

begin mapping!

This guide from learnosm.org is pretty helpful.

Start out with whatever you're interested in, would be my suggestion.

There are still so many things to add! Some areas of town (CWRU) have most buildings but its data (businesses, etc) may not be really current; other areas (Old Brooklyn, Lakewood) are more up to date and comprehensive for businesses.

 

and

The tl;dr rules of OSM:

don't copy from google maps (or streetview or google's aerial imagery) or other copyrighted things (your own photos are a-ok);

it's okay if your data is imperfect (e.g. if you don't know the name of a park, you can just add the park and leave the name blank).

 

Another pro tip:

 

 

Edited March 26, 20214 yr by skorasaurus
added link to construction

Thanks for posting this, skorasaurus!  I'm going to chime in with a few ideas later, but I'm pretty beat for tonight.  For now, I just want to say that adding to OSM is really a great way to explore a neighborhood- to really see it- the businesses, the buildings, the infrastructure- all in a deeper way than you would just taking a casual stroll around.  For city geeks like us, what could be better?

 

 

 

Another OSMer and I added the newest parts of the Towpath Trail to OSM- along Clark Park and where University Ave was in Tremont

(there is a small bridge that is not accessible but you can easily get off trail via University Court and then a path from Literary back onto the trail, right next to the Electric Gardens site.

 

OSM has several different map layers featured on its website - https://openstreetmap.org same data, but displayed differently

 

 

https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/41.4817/-81.6906&layers=Y

Edited March 22, 20214 yr by skorasaurus

If anyone is interested in participating, but maybe intimidated because you don't have technical mapping skills, let me introduce you to the easiest way to contribute to OpenStreetMaps, StreetComplete:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.westnordost.streetcomplete&hl=en_US&gl=US

 

StreetComplete is an app available for Android from the Play Store (or FDroid for open source software enthusiast) that gives you an easy, gamified route for filling in missing information for OpenStreetMaps.  All you do is search for "quests" in the app, which are really just simple questions.  Answer the questions, and voila, you are helping to fill in missing information about your neighborhood!  The quests can be anything from finding the name or open hours of a business, the kinds of food that a restaurant serves, the paving material of a road or the presence of sidewalks or streetlights.

 

No mapping or GIS skills necessary, and a fun way to explore your neighborhood- or any neighborhood!