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What is the reason you started this, as oppose to contribute to http://ideditor.com/ http://ideditor.com/ or OpenStreetMaps? If people actually spend time on y

What is the reason you started this, as oppose to contribute to http://ideditor.com/ http://ideditor.com/ or OpenStreetMaps? If people actually spend time on your site, they would be wasting it, as your data will not carry over to OSM based datasets, unless you spend more time converting the data into usable format for OSM. In which case, they probably should have been using http://www.openstreetmap.org/ http://www.openstreetmap.org/ to draw to begin with.

berodam 14y ago
I actually built something similar idea wise just because it seemed like a fun project to play with (http://roofmapper.com http://roofmapper.com). However my implementation was very simplistic in comparison.
- Demiurge 14y ago
  That's cool, although I wouldn't rely on the Google map draw tools. It's cool to learn and have personal projects, but advertising yet another data collection tool without a clear idea for where the data is going or if it's even usable seems counter-productive to me, since we have a project like OSM.
mapmeld 14y ago
I'm a contributor to OpenStreetMap, and last year I helped Code for America import thousands of buildings. OSM is rightfully skeptical of uploads. Even when cities give specific permission to OSM, it's up to the community whether a large import is helpful or risks drowning out local mappers. If anything, this site would be helpful to download a subset of the city's buildings as KML and use JOSM to upload. This site exists as a custom mapmaker. It's easier for a non-GIS user to get data out and make custom maps compared to OSM APIs and tiles.
- tmarthal 14y ago
  It's interesting that you mention custom mapmaking. Google provides a similar service - creating a KML file hosted from a Google Spreadsheet. Here is the newest version: http://www.google.com/earth/outreach/tutorials/spreadsheet.html http://www.google.com/earth/outreach/tutorials/spreadsheet.h... I've recommended it to a non-technical family member (he's a realtor) and they were able to create and host their own kml-based maps within an hour's time. Note that it does not use polygon based building markers, but rather addresses (and coordinates), which are simpler for non-GIS people to use.

berodam 14y ago

I actually built something similar idea wise just because it seemed like a fun project to play with (http://roofmapper.com http://roofmapper.com). However my implementation was very simplistic in comparison.

Demiurge 14y ago
That's cool, although I wouldn't rely on the Google map draw tools. It's cool to learn and have personal projects, but advertising yet another data collection tool without a clear idea for where the data is going or if it's even usable seems counter-productive to me, since we have a project like OSM.

mapmeld 14y ago

I'm a contributor to OpenStreetMap, and last year I helped Code for America import thousands of buildings. OSM is rightfully skeptical of uploads. Even when cities give specific permission to OSM, it's up to the community whether a large import is helpful or risks drowning out local mappers. If anything, this site would be helpful to download a subset of the city's buildings as KML and use JOSM to upload. This site exists as a custom mapmaker. It's easier for a non-GIS user to get data out and make custom maps compared to OSM APIs and tiles.

tmarthal 14y ago
It's interesting that you mention custom mapmaking. Google provides a similar service - creating a KML file hosted from a Google Spreadsheet. Here is the newest version: http://www.google.com/earth/outreach/tutorials/spreadsheet.html http://www.google.com/earth/outreach/tutorials/spreadsheet.h... I've recommended it to a non-technical family member (he's a realtor) and they were able to create and host their own kml-based maps within an hour's time. Note that it does not use polygon based building markers, but rather addresses (and coordinates), which are simpler for non-GIS people to use.