Open source tools to query OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab)

(wcedmisten.fyi)

115 pointswcedmisten1y ago9 comments

9 comments

Author here! Happy to answer any questions you all have about this article.

I think another option to consider would be running your own overpass server with a local copy of the data subsets you want, then using something like python's osmnx to do "native" queries.

wcedmistenOP1y ago

osmnx looks like a cool library, I haven't seen that one before!

As for self hosting overpass, I have considered it, but the installation steps seemed a bit tedious to me compared to a lot of tools which are dockerized.

stigaard1y ago

Whats your take on protomaps?

wcedmistenOP1y ago

I'm a big fan! I use it for most of my OSM projects. It's pretty easy to download an OSM extract and process it into base tiles.

Protomaps also provides a free set of base tiles that you can download and rehost yourself if you don't want to process the data locally.

mft_1y ago

Funny just popped up; I just learned of the existence of overpass-turbo via a geoguessing video on Youtube [0] just this week. Thanks for an interesting article!

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl2Q9xH8e7M

kaveet1y ago

Has anyone else run into big gaps in OSM data? I’ve tried to cobble together a store locator with Overpass Turbo, and even though the queries look correct I’ll still get fewer results compared to Google Maps. Sephora and Walmart locations in the US, for example.

butz1y ago

Someone has to add those stores to OSM. It is usually done by local volunteers, so data for businesses could be lacking. On the other hand, in some regions, the quality of road and building data on OSM usually surpasses Google Maps.

kaveet1y ago

Makes perfect sense. Would it be frowned upon to contribute these POIs using automated scrapers? Or does OSM prefer hand-collected, seen-it-in-person data?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

9 comments

wcedmistenOP1y ago

Author here! Happy to answer any questions you all have about this article.

cmcconomy1y ago

I think another option to consider would be running your own overpass server with a local copy of the data subsets you want, then using something like python's osmnx to do "native" queries.

wcedmistenOP1y ago

osmnx looks like a cool library, I haven't seen that one before!

As for self hosting overpass, I have considered it, but the installation steps seemed a bit tedious to me compared to a lot of tools which are dockerized.

stigaard1y ago

Whats your take on protomaps?

wcedmistenOP1y ago

I'm a big fan! I use it for most of my OSM projects. It's pretty easy to download an OSM extract and process it into base tiles.

Protomaps also provides a free set of base tiles that you can download and rehost yourself if you don't want to process the data locally.

mft_1y ago

Funny just popped up; I just learned of the existence of overpass-turbo via a geoguessing video on Youtube [0] just this week. Thanks for an interesting article!

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl2Q9xH8e7M

kaveet1y ago

butz1y ago

kaveet1y ago

Makes perfect sense. Would it be frowned upon to contribute these POIs using automated scrapers? Or does OSM prefer hand-collected, seen-it-in-person data?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse