{OSM} Mapping Roland Park Paths

8 views

Skip to first unread message

Elliott Plack

unread,

Jun 2, 2013, 8:43:11 PM6/2/13

to geo...@googlegroups.com

I went for a jog on Sunday morning in Roland Park, but my motivations were more than just exercise. I was on a mission to map some of the famous and seclude walking paths there. Those footways, with names like Briar Path, Laurel Path, and Tintern Path, are very hard to spot from air photos or even Google Streetview, so I had to hit the ground with my GPS, running shoes, and water bootle.

It turns out that a lot of the paths were already on OpenStreetMap, as TIGER imports, but their accuracy was quite poor. Using the GPX data from my workout GPS (iPhone), I was able to make corrections to the locations, as well as where there were steps, and when the paving ended. Most of the paths are narrow, 2 foot wide concrete walkways right in between houses, or behind them. I'm no expert, but I believe they were installed to allow residents easier access between hilly streets when walking to and from the streetcar tracks, long before cars were common. Now they are hidden away and known to few.

Here is the area on OSM. Scroll around and have a look: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=39.35658&lon=-76.64067&zoom=17&layers=M

Here are some photos I took along the way: https://www.everpix.com/public.html?id=_qkD7Mn6tk1yMOEr

This is just one example of some of the great data anyone can add to OSM.