Project of the week/2010/Mar 21

Retail shops and services on Main Street

Few things demonstrate the character of a small town like the shops on the main street. Even as smaller towns suffer from urban sprawl, big-boxification and online shopping, some Main Streets survive and even thrive. Let's make sure that those Mom 'n Pop operations, the general stores and the barber shops that serve as the cultural hub of their community have the benefit of being on the map. The project of the week for Mar 21, 2010 is to map a block or more of retail shops.

Retail therapy

Map the shops and services on your favorite Main Street. Substitute a shopping plaza or mall should you not have a Main Street at your disposal. We're looking here for places that hang a sign with their operating hours and who expect folks to come walking in the door with a head full of dreams and a pocketful of money, and walk back out with a product. (Okay, services too.)

Add the cafe, the burger joint, the barbershop, the lawyer, the library, bank, general store, movie theatre and post office, ... all those places on Main, between Pine and Maple.

Tagging shops

Shops and amenities dot our main streets. Look for shops with products in Shops, http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features#Shop, and shops with services in Amenities. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features#Amenity This won't be perfect but should get you started.

Be sure to add the name=* for each shop.

Examples

A bank with an atm

amenity=bank
name=First Local Bank
atm=yes

A diner

amenity=restaurant
cuisine=diner
name=Flo's Diner

A convenience store

shop=convenience
name=Mac's Milk

A laundromat

shop=laundry
name=Coin Wash-o-mat