I have to mapping projects I’m doing here. The first one, the one that has most of my focus is my home community of Fairview, California. The other is Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. For both projects I rely on a variety of tools:

• the Bing visual
• Google maps
• County GIS records

While Google has good data most of the time, I have spotted a couple dozen errors since I’ve started on these projects. When I can easily submit a correction to them, I do. When I can’t, I make sure my work better reflects what the county map tells me.

https://accda.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=2045711bf8a44a109d83d31300e5f5ed

Ashland, Cherryland, Hayward Acres and Fairview all used to have “Hayward” as their city for their addresses. The U.S. post office reverted their names to their historical place names. I am taking care of Fairview (I live here) but if anyone wants to help with the other communities, please jump in.

I started mapping my community last month. Looking at how the map is filling in, I think I’m about 1/4 to a 1/3 done with getting Fairview on the map. I’m focusing on homes, property boundaries, trees, pools and other out buildings.

Tonight I also worked on sidewalks and crossings.

Flickr is how I learned about Open Street Map. They use OSM data for their maps. Places that haven’t been worked on can only be found via coordinates. It’s frustrating.

Parma, Ohio, for example could use some love and attention.

I worked a little more on Crowder. It may be a small town compared to my home town but it takes a lot more concentration. I don’t know the area and there isn’t as much on line information meaning I have to be slow and deliberate with how I map. I want to do right by Crowder.

I worked on two city blocks.

Fairview is comprised of smaller former real estate ventures. When a new area was built it was given a name by its developers. I am slowly researching those development names and adding them to OSM as I go. My neighborhood, for example, was called Hill-N-Dale. Tonight I’m working on Hayward Heights, which still displays its sign where it branches off from East Avenue.

I’ve lived in this unincorporated neighborhood since 2004. Earlier this year, the U.S. Post Office with feedback from the Fairview Municipal Advisory Council (and surveys sent to residents) reverted our place name from “Unincorporated Hayward” to Fairview while leaving the zip code the same: 94541.

Twenty-one years of living here I’ve learned that you either know about this area and how it works or you’ve never heard of it. I was originally of the “never heard of it.” In 2010 I worked as a census enumerator sent to addresses that hadn’t mailed in their census packet. That’s when I really got to learn how Fairview works and how to use local data to better understand the area.

Now I am slowly working through my neighborhood in OSM to map it. I started with my house (my second residence here) and I’m working my way out. I am learning by doing (and reading the wiki).