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There are a few post boxes here which still exist physically and are kept for historical purposes. They are useful as landmarks but I don't want to give the impression that people can post items there.

I was thinking amenity=post_box | disused=yes

but this will cause it to get rendered indifferently as the renderers don't seem to take any notice of disused. Also, it means that anything that parses the data will have to take disused into account.

Is amenity=disused | disused=post_box and then all the other tags that you'd otherwise use, the correct way ?

What to do for a postbox that was there, is still on the official list, but has been removed for a short time, to allow building work:

  1. If I treat it as disused, that will imply that it's still physically there, which it isn't.
  2. If I leave it there, when it isn't in reality, someone will come along and remove it, leading to 3.
  3. If I remove it, and it's still on the official list, some one will spend ages trying to find it, when it is actually nowhere.

Can I say amenity=removed | removed=post_box ? This looks weird.

asked 05 Sep '10, 23:52

rmw's gravatar image

rmw
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accept rate: 0%

edited 09 Sep '10, 21:58

Jonathan%20Bennett's gravatar image

Jonathan Ben...
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For permanently removed postboxes which are still physically there you should tag amenity=disused, disused=post_box which appears to have gained popularity as a method of tagging these things. You could also consider historic=post_box or historic=memorial, memorial=post_box depending on the situation

For a temporarily removed postbox, leave it as is and simply add a note describing the situation and the information you have (e.g. Postbox removed for building work, site manager says it will be put back when they finish). If you include your reasoning and information in the note then any mapper who comes after you will be able to make an informed decision.

permanent link

answered 06 Sep '10, 12:01

twain's gravatar image

twain
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accept rate: 40%

edited 06 Sep '10, 14:29

Jonathan%20Bennett's gravatar image

Jonathan Ben...
8.3k1785108

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question asked: 05 Sep '10, 23:52

question was seen: 6,414 times

last updated: 09 Sep '10, 21:58

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