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Meet Your Mappers: A tool to find OpenStreetMap contributors near you

92 points by mvexel 8y ago

mattlondon 8y ago
I couldn't get it to work for the three towns I tried near me ("no relation found with that ID"). I am assuming it is US only.
- overeater 8y ago
  Same. I couldn't figure out a working relation ID. This is too hard to use.
- arctux 8y ago
  It seems to be somewhat particular about relation IDs. I have it working for Palo Alto, with relation ID 1544955. If you want to try this for your city, I recommend zooming in the city on openstreetmap.org, clicking the "Query features" button on the right side of the map (it's the cursor with a question mark icon), and clicking within the boundaries of you city. On the left side, a list of features will appear. Scroll down to enclosing features, and click on the appropriate entry. A relation name and number will be displayed at the top, with the OSM data below. I hope this stays within the Overpass API server's usage limits. Processing Palo Alto caused the page to download ~85 MB from overpass-api.de, which asks users to stay below 10k queries and 5 GB per day. The OSM wiki lists other servers, some of which allow heavier usage.[0] [0]: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API
  - mvexel 8y ago
    That is a good way to find the boundary relation and one I had not thought of. As for the Overpass API limits -- yes, if folks start to actually use this on any kind of scale, this will croak. I should perhaps do some logging, https://github.com/mvexel/meetyourmappers/issues/3 https://github.com/mvexel/meetyourmappers/issues/3
  - incompatible 8y ago
    My city boundaries were not available, only a state level, which was too big for this tool.
- mvexel 8y ago
  It works worldwide as long as the ID entered is an OSM boundary relation. Do you have an example you tried that failed?
- Symbiote 8y ago
  The note says "It must be small-ish (admin_level 6 or higher)", which caught me out at first. I can't use Copenhagen, which is too large a city, but I can use "Copenhagen Municipality" (2192363). This can be found with the pointer-? icon at the bottom of the set on the right, and looking for enclosing areas with a high enough admin_level.
SEJeff 8y ago
I'm getting "data processing failed" after following the instructions from arctux on how to find my relation ID. HN hug of death perhaps?
- mvexel 8y ago
  Probably not the same cause but the disk ran out of space just now because I neglected to properly purge temp files.
  - SEJeff 8y ago
    It seems to work now, thanks!
- gruez 8y ago
  works fine for me without checking "Download raw OSM data, too "
Kagerjay 8y ago
I was digging through openstreet map and I only found 3 mappers in my area 50 miles out. I live in a pretty busy city so I was kind of surprised the numbers were so low Only 10-20% of major landmarks were mapped in my city
- ris 8y ago
  Sounds like you've got some work to do, then.
- Moru 8y ago
  I live in a relatively small town in northern Sweden and found hundreds of contributors. Sadly the tool clears the result list after yaskswitching on my phone and have to download the data again. Not sure how happy the server is about the usage...
- rmc 8y ago
  Oh to have an empty area to map!
mockingbirdy 8y ago
Works like a charm, thanks! Maybe I buy some of the local contributors a beer.
jotaen 8y ago
I’m curious about this and would love to explore it, but since I rarely use OpenStreetMap I couldn’t figure out what an OSM relation id is and how I retrieve one. Can anyone provide more explanation on this?
- mvexel 8y ago
  Sure, author here. The OSM data model does not have a concept of areas, or polygons. A line feature ('way' in OSM parlance) that shares the same point ('node') for its start and end is usually considered to be an area. This works well for simple area features like, say, a building. More complex area features, like ones with holes, large areas, or ones that share edges with other features, are commonly modeled using relations. A relation in OSM is an ordered list of nodes, ways and other relations, or any combination of those. https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/198770 https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/198770 is an example of a boundary relation consisting of several ways. The tagging type=boundary and admin_level=6 define the relation as an administrative boundary, and set its level in the administrative hierarchy. You can find any administrative boundary relation by going to osm.org, entering its name into the search box, and clicking on the relevant result. The info box should say something like "Relation: Salt Lake City (198770)". The integer in brackets is the relation ID. Note that some places are only defined as points in OSM, they won't work in this tool, since it queries for data that lies fully inside the boundary. There has to be a way to make this easier, but in the time I was prepared to spend on this, I couldn't come up with one.
  - fireattack 8y ago
    Suggestion to the website: when pressing "enter" in relation textbox, it should trigger "Go".
sbarg 8y ago
Took a bit of poking around but I got this working. Sweet little project!
peterburkimsher 8y ago
A few years ago I wrote a fast parser for OSM data. I know that using parsed data would soon become out of date, but I guess mvexel's server could handle it better. If you want me to export the whole world's contributors as CSV or SQLite, I'd be happy to help. The tool is interesting for me because I'm looking for a job in NZ/Australia/Canada. I've had more success contacting people rather than sending job applications - most job listings require me to already have a visa. I think that collaborating on open-source projects is a good way to make industry contacts, demonstrate my skills, and also benefit the community.
- mvexel 8y ago
  If you're looking for something OSM related, be sure to join the OSM US Slack channel and join #jobs there. It's formally for OSM US but people hang out there from all over. Join here: https://osmus-slack.herokuapp.com/ https://osmus-slack.herokuapp.com/
- daurnimator 8y ago
  Are you familiar with GovHack? https://www.govhack.org/ https://www.govhack.org/ There are also some local groups around it e.g. https://www.meetup.com/Open-Knowledge-Melbourne/ https://www.meetup.com/Open-Knowledge-Melbourne/
tomkinson 8y ago
Cool tnx

92 points by mvexel 8y ago

I couldn't get it to work for the three towns I tried near me ("no relation found with that ID"). I am assuming it is US only.

overeater 8y ago
Same. I couldn't figure out a working relation ID. This is too hard to use.
arctux 8y ago
It seems to be somewhat particular about relation IDs. I have it working for Palo Alto, with relation ID 1544955. If you want to try this for your city, I recommend zooming in the city on openstreetmap.org, clicking the "Query features" button on the right side of the map (it's the cursor with a question mark icon), and clicking within the boundaries of you city. On the left side, a list of features will appear. Scroll down to enclosing features, and click on the appropriate entry. A relation name and number will be displayed at the top, with the OSM data below. I hope this stays within the Overpass API server's usage limits. Processing Palo Alto caused the page to download ~85 MB from overpass-api.de, which asks users to stay below 10k queries and 5 GB per day. The OSM wiki lists other servers, some of which allow heavier usage.[0] [0]: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API
- mvexel 8y ago
  That is a good way to find the boundary relation and one I had not thought of. As for the Overpass API limits -- yes, if folks start to actually use this on any kind of scale, this will croak. I should perhaps do some logging, https://github.com/mvexel/meetyourmappers/issues/3 https://github.com/mvexel/meetyourmappers/issues/3
- incompatible 8y ago
  My city boundaries were not available, only a state level, which was too big for this tool.
mvexel 8y ago
It works worldwide as long as the ID entered is an OSM boundary relation. Do you have an example you tried that failed?
Symbiote 8y ago
The note says "It must be small-ish (admin_level 6 or higher)", which caught me out at first. I can't use Copenhagen, which is too large a city, but I can use "Copenhagen Municipality" (2192363). This can be found with the pointer-? icon at the bottom of the set on the right, and looking for enclosing areas with a high enough admin_level.

SEJeff 8y ago

I'm getting "data processing failed" after following the instructions from arctux on how to find my relation ID. HN hug of death perhaps?

mvexel 8y ago
Probably not the same cause but the disk ran out of space just now because I neglected to properly purge temp files.
- SEJeff 8y ago
  It seems to work now, thanks!
gruez 8y ago
works fine for me without checking "Download raw OSM data, too "

Kagerjay 8y ago

I was digging through openstreet map and I only found 3 mappers in my area 50 miles out. I live in a pretty busy city so I was kind of surprised the numbers were so low Only 10-20% of major landmarks were mapped in my city

ris 8y ago
Sounds like you've got some work to do, then.
Moru 8y ago
I live in a relatively small town in northern Sweden and found hundreds of contributors. Sadly the tool clears the result list after yaskswitching on my phone and have to download the data again. Not sure how happy the server is about the usage...
rmc 8y ago
Oh to have an empty area to map!

mockingbirdy 8y ago

Works like a charm, thanks! Maybe I buy some of the local contributors a beer.

jotaen 8y ago

I’m curious about this and would love to explore it, but since I rarely use OpenStreetMap I couldn’t figure out what an OSM relation id is and how I retrieve one. Can anyone provide more explanation on this?

mvexel 8y ago
Sure, author here. The OSM data model does not have a concept of areas, or polygons. A line feature ('way' in OSM parlance) that shares the same point ('node') for its start and end is usually considered to be an area. This works well for simple area features like, say, a building. More complex area features, like ones with holes, large areas, or ones that share edges with other features, are commonly modeled using relations. A relation in OSM is an ordered list of nodes, ways and other relations, or any combination of those. https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/198770 https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/198770 is an example of a boundary relation consisting of several ways. The tagging type=boundary and admin_level=6 define the relation as an administrative boundary, and set its level in the administrative hierarchy. You can find any administrative boundary relation by going to osm.org, entering its name into the search box, and clicking on the relevant result. The info box should say something like "Relation: Salt Lake City (198770)". The integer in brackets is the relation ID. Note that some places are only defined as points in OSM, they won't work in this tool, since it queries for data that lies fully inside the boundary. There has to be a way to make this easier, but in the time I was prepared to spend on this, I couldn't come up with one.
- fireattack 8y ago
  Suggestion to the website: when pressing "enter" in relation textbox, it should trigger "Go".

sbarg 8y ago

Took a bit of poking around but I got this working. Sweet little project!

peterburkimsher 8y ago

A few years ago I wrote a fast parser for OSM data. I know that using parsed data would soon become out of date, but I guess mvexel's server could handle it better. If you want me to export the whole world's contributors as CSV or SQLite, I'd be happy to help. The tool is interesting for me because I'm looking for a job in NZ/Australia/Canada. I've had more success contacting people rather than sending job applications - most job listings require me to already have a visa. I think that collaborating on open-source projects is a good way to make industry contacts, demonstrate my skills, and also benefit the community.

mvexel 8y ago
If you're looking for something OSM related, be sure to join the OSM US Slack channel and join #jobs there. It's formally for OSM US but people hang out there from all over. Join here: https://osmus-slack.herokuapp.com/ https://osmus-slack.herokuapp.com/
daurnimator 8y ago
Are you familiar with GovHack? https://www.govhack.org/ https://www.govhack.org/ There are also some local groups around it e.g. https://www.meetup.com/Open-Knowledge-Melbourne/ https://www.meetup.com/Open-Knowledge-Melbourne/

tomkinson 8y ago

Cool tnx