On Sep 23, 2020, at 10:51 AM, Brian Stromberg <brian.stromb...@gmail.com> wrote: > A short question of a lengthy response: What is the history behind that > definition of 'suburb'? Is it a result of the term being used that way in > UK/Europe/elsewhere? Seems like an odd usage, since "suburbs" have had a very > clear definition in the United States for decades now, and it has nothing to > do with neighborhoods.
I believe it is UK-derived, as are many OSM "definitions" (usually / often clarified in wiki for that key). I don't know that I agree with "suburbs have had a very clear definition in the United States for decades." To wit, some would say that a "suburb" can be an incorporated city that is smaller than, but "associated with" (and maybe even sharing a partial contiguous boundary with) a larger city, of which it "is a suburb." (For example, Bellevue to Seattle, or El Cajon to San Diego). These are quite precisely defined as incorporated cities with rather exact boundaries. Some say that a "suburb" is a subset of an incorporated city, like a district of that city. (For example, Magnolia to Seattle, or Mid-City to San Diego). These are often amorphous and imprecisely defined, though there might be agreement at a rough "center" or "town square that defines the central character of this suburb," but not always. At least in the USA, I think many would nod our heads and say "yes" (both). In short, both "definitions" (or really, "understandings") of "suburb" are correct, perhaps depending on context or a given region / locality. I don't think that (at least these two, there may be more) this is a "very clear definition in the United States." The "definition" of "neighborhood" in the USA is even less clear, though it is possible to draw the beginnings of a rough box around it. We could spend some time trying to refine this, but I believe it would be difficult and possibly contentious, but it could also bear fruit for purposes of better tagging here. SteveA _______________________________________________ Talk-us mailing list Talk-us@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us
