Addresses on building rather than nodes via StreetComplete or others

[peternewman]

Is it preferred ultimately in NZ that the node is on the main house/building, or should the address technically be part of the parcel of land, rather than a specific building? I see you've got:

linz-address-import/src/conflate/processWithRef.ts

Lines 105 to 107 in 8fbc318

	// The node in question is perfect, but there might be other OSM features with the
	// same address but no ref. Some common examples include:
	// - (address node with linz ref) + (address on building) added by StreetComplete user

To handle it.

But if StreetComplete users are doing a bad thing, you could get the quest disabled in NZ to stop it happening more. See for example streetcomplete/StreetComplete#714 where that was request in Italy.

If addresses should be on buildings then would moving the node be the easiest short term compromise? It would correctly locate the address/identify the building and silence StreetComplete without requiring the two bits of data to be explicitly merged. Or would the new LINZ import overwrite that moved location of the address node and undo the hard work?

[k-yle]

Hey Peter! A few years ago, I asked the StreetComplete devs if they could make their code slightly smarter; by deleting the nearby address node when someone adds the same address to a building.

but they weren't keen on the idea, and told us to make the NZ algorithm smarter instead.

[...] if StreetComplete users are doing a bad thing, [...]

my personal opinion has changed a bit, now that this conflation algorithm is so smart.

I wouldn't call any other mapping style "bad", I'd like mappers to be free to add/edit/delete addresses however they want. Ideally, the conflation algorithm just keeps an eye on things and standardizes a few tags, while respecting as many possible mapping styles.

Or would the new LINZ import overwrite that moved location of the address node and undo the hard work?

nope :) we definitely respect addresses that have been moved by other mappers, the system only moves addresses if:

1. LINZ updates the position in their dataset; and
2. OSM mappers have never moved the address.

Is it preferred ultimately in NZ that the node is on the main house/building

coming back to your original question, I'll leave this for the community to decide, but as a general comment: many mappers are helping merge addresses with buildings (or move them within the outline), with 5% now merged into buildings in NZ. and I haven't heard any opinions against this yet.

If you want more opinions, feel free to ask this question on the #oceania channel on discord