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Any advice on how I might tag RV storage, i.e., a large parking lot with RVs parked for long period of time? I first tried amenity=parking, but decided that it was confusing. Nor is it amenity=trailer_park. Back when I first encountered it, I ended up just tagging the polygon with landuse=commercial and giving it a name=ABC RV Storage. Now that I am looking at my second RV storage, I am not sure that there isn't a better/more precise tagging option. There are 39 instances of amenity=boat_storage in Taginfo. Maybe I just start using amenity=rv_storage and see if it sticks?

asked 16 Apr '11, 08:31

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ponzu
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edited 16 Apr '11, 08:32


-1

May I? tourism=caravan_site

I would have never guessed, but fortunately I found one in the area.

You Brits make this guessing game a lot of fun. Two great nations separated by a common language, indeed! :)

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answered 16 Apr '11, 08:49

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ponzu
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"tourism=caravan_site" is analagous to a camp site or RV park; it's not really a storage place (although confusingly some caravan sites may offer storage facilities too). If I were you I'd probably go with amenity=rv_storage, actually.

(16 Apr '11, 11:08) SomeoneElse ♦

Although "RV" isn't in general use in the UK it probably is widely understood. The nearest UK equivalent is probably "Motorhome" (typically smaller than an RV, either a conversion or a development of a small delivery van, and not needing long term storage because they're quite small and in regular use throughout the year, so "Motorhome storage" would be unusual, whereas "Caravan storage" is quite common).

(16 Apr '11, 11:09) SomeoneElse ♦

I'm not sure it really qualifies as an amenity, since it's kind of a specialty item.

(16 Apr '11, 21:10) Baloo Uriza

It may be a specialty item, but I have found three within five minute's. Just something about my area that make everybody want to park their RV/caravan/motorhome. I am not saying it should be an amenity. I was happy with tourism=caravan_site, the wiki says "The tourism=caravan_site tag is used for special sites for recreational vehicles (RV park) where you can park overnight or for longer periods". I think RV storage qualifies as "special site for recreational vehicles where you can park...for longer periods", so not sure why SomeoneElse disagreed, or my my answer was voted down.

(17 Apr '11, 05:49) ponzu

I'm inclined to believe anything tourism= is going to be something someone from out of the area is going to want to check out, and amenity= is something of general interest to the public, and neither quite fit an RV storage lot.

(17 Apr '11, 06:02) Baloo Uriza

In theory, you are right, but in reality I think tourism, leisure, etc. keys are sometimes relative. It's not like a visitor to the area is going to say: "Hey, show me any places that are tagged tourism=" in OSM. In reality, they know little about OSM and less about tagging schema. More likely someone from the area will be like: "where can I store my RV? Let me do a search for RV storage". Which is where Nominatim comes in. I am just reluctant to invent a new tag for what, as you correctly pointed out, is not an overwhelmingly popular feature. Yet we have amenity=boat_storage. Go figure.

(17 Apr '11, 06:38) ponzu
1

A caravan site is a place where you park your caravan / motorhome / RV, then sleep in it / live in it. So it will usually have some facilities like toilets, or at least chemical disposal / a water supply etc.

Its (mostly) not a place where you would leave your caravan/motorhome unoccopied for a long period of time (though some caravan sites may allow this, often with a separate area for storage).

Maybe it would be helpful to use a more generic tag, eg amenity=storage, then use extra tags to specify what can be stored there (caravans, RVs, boats, self-storage etc).

(17 Apr '11, 13:33) Vclaw

@Vclaw, I realize amenity=storage+storage=rv would be great (also storage=self elsewhere in the area would come in handy), but is it a good idea to tag something that renderers and indexers will ignore? That's why I look to stretch an existing category. If you update the wiki for tourism=caravan_site with the language you used, I will not be tempted to use it any longer. I am just saying, the way it's written, it could probably be used for my case - and is indeed being used nearby for another RV storage and sales, not a campsite.

(18 Apr '11, 19:43) ponzu
1

@vclaw: I'd go ahead and put that as a new answer, it's worth it.

@ponzu: It's better to come up with a new tag that fits the situation best and fix the renderers, than to tag incorrectly to work around limitations in existing renderers.

(18 Apr '11, 20:55) Baloo Uriza

I have updated the wiki page for tourism=caravan_site so it should be a clearer definition / explanation now.

For amenity=storage (or similar), I would suggest you follow the tag proposal process, and/or discuss it on the Tagging mailing list. You could then request that it is shown by renderers etc.

(18 Apr '11, 22:11) Vclaw

@Vclaw that's exactly what I, cowardly, was trying to avoid - having seen the wasteland of well thought-out, well written, dead proposals. But I will look into it. Are you saying just editing the page for amenity=* will not fly? :)

(18 Apr '11, 22:27) ponzu
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question asked: 16 Apr '11, 08:31

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last updated: 18 Apr '11, 22:27

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum