OpenStreetMap
Added buildings for my work, cleaned up US-12 (Mannheim Rd), IL-64 (North Ave), Grand Ave, and Wolf Rd, as well as a few residential streets in Northlake and Melrose Park, IL. Made a few TIGER corrections (as well as removing a non-existent service road, per last diary entry).
One thing I've noticed: The maps for the Chicago area are woefully inaccurate and incomplete. In fact, as they stand now, they aren't just poor, they are dangerous! This is a metroplex of millions, over 100 square miles. It seems like a pretty daunting task for me to attack alone. I see a few (maybe a dozen) other mappers in the Chicago area, but I haven't run across any of their work yet.
It seems like the UK is really well-covered. Are there any plans to try to recruit more people in the States to start mapping? It would take multiple lifetimes to get Chicago's map accurate, never mind looking as sharp as London's.
I'll keep plugging away, putting in the areas I've been driving for the last 7 years, but to what end???
Discussion
Comment from hankcurt on 17 February 2009 at 06:22
Hi MacDude. Just wanted to let you know that sometimes I share your frustration. It seems that too few people are aware of the OpenStreetMap project in the United States. I am in Omaha, NE, and while it is not nearly the size of Chicago, I only see 11 people who have signed up with the project and only one of those, besides myself, has done any mapping at all.
Instead of getting discouraged, I just added things around my work, and started checking the TIGER data in neighborhoods that I regularly travel as I have time. I also am adding public parks, tourist attractions, bodies of water, and some public buildings as I go. This adds color to the map and makes it look more interesting. To try to get others involved, I show my additions to people I know and encourage them to do a little area around their own neighborhood.
It seems like it would take forever to get the map accurate, but in reality, if only 20 people would map regularly, in a year or two, the city of Omaha would be looking pretty good. With that in mind, I just try to have fun with what I'm doing right now and hope others will eventually join in.
:)