User:Probiscus12/Parks Recreation Grounds and Commons

Here's my take on how I think three different tags should be used, at least as far as places in New England in the USA goes.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:leisure%3Dpark http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:landuse%3Drecreation_ground http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:leisure%3Dcommon http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:landuse%3Dvillage_green

Parks

The park tag should be used on areas of land that have been set aside and designated for enjoyment by the public.

Recreation Ground

If there really is a need for this tag, then I believe it should be used for what are basically outdoor sports complexes. These are areas where there are a number of sports fields (pitches) in close proximity.

These areas are generally built and used primarily for organized sports and competitions. When not in use for games or practice these areas may be used by individuals or informal pick up games. Usually people would go to these to play or watch a competition, rather than to take a casual stroll or jog

I don't like the landuse key for this though. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:leisure%3Dsports_centre

Massachusetts

I have done a fair amount of mapping in Massachusetts (MA), where this tag was used by some MassGIS imports, and is thus on a bunch of objects. In my experience, in MA, most of these objects should actually be leisure=park, or some other tag.