it’s funny to me that the US is so fucked in pedestrian mobility that if you look at a map, the roads are not guaranteed to have pavements that you can walk on.
I’m From European and it’s not uncommon here either sadly, especially in the country side (old roads used around agricultural fields and farms for example).
But there is hardly any traffic on these roads so walking there is safe
Plenty of villages where I live that are absolutely unsafe for anyone to walk around. There is no requirement for a road outside urban limits to have a sidewalk, even if it is a major 90 km/h (55ish mph?) road that happens to be the only way to get from village A to the school in village B.
Cycling through the countryside, I have straight up trespassed through someone’s property because there was no legal way to get from point A to point B, walking or biking, and not die.Obviously not comparable to the US where even city centers are majorly unsafe, but still. Most rural areas are fully car-dependent.
Oh there are lots of cars and people drive like maniacs on them. And we also have quite a few roads in cities outskirts without sidewalks.
In my experience, Europeans certainly have streets without sidewalks and areas with poor transportation infrastructure. So I understand why some can relate.
However, it’s truly on another level in many North American cities. Like in the heart of many densely populated cities, it can be nearly impossible to go to the grocery store without a car. Entire suburbs housing hundreds of thousands without a single sidewalk. High speed limit stroads, filled with full size SUVs and pickup trucks which carry twice the inertia and ability to kill and maime as a smaller car.
Is there a great way to contribute from mobile?
Absolutely! StreetComplete is incredibly easy to use and doesn’t require any knowledge about mapping or the inner workings of OpenStreetMap. At this point, it’s a very polished app with a great UI and many useful features.
Shame it’s not on iOS. I’ve corrected a few things on local maps directly on Google’s platform (hilariously, it keeps rejecting some of them which are clearly visible from the satellite image), but I’ve always wanted to fix up the local OSM map. It’s just really intimidating as someone with only a very surface level understanding of how GIS works.
Apparently they’re working on an iOS version as well:
https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421
Oh this is so cool
OSMAnd is good for adding POIs, Streetcomplete for updating a lot of data
Another handy option for adding POIs is EveryDoor.
In addition to StreetComplete I also find Organic Maps great for mapping (in addition to navigation and maps in general of course). If you’re interested in micro-mapping, check out Every Door (on F-Droid).
Wow thank you for sharing this. I am in love with this Organic Maps app. Normally loading a map and trying to find find my way in my phone is a chugging along, but somehow this is silky silky smooth.
Probably because it’s not running a profile service and selling my conversation to an ad bidder looking to take me on a marketing journey.
It’s just a map
<3
I enjoy mapping in openstreetmaps. Does that make me weird?
No, it makes you cool. 😎 Thank you for your contributions!