I’m very new to the OSM community. I signed up a few days ago and have focused primarily on where I grew up (Klamath County, Oregon) and where I live now (Eugene, Oregon) and it is surprising how little is accounted for throughout Lane County and Eugene given the population base.

I have the privilege of working at the University of Oregon and in close proximity to the department of Geography. I asked a couple colleagues there about their opinions on OSM and some affiliated products like Mapbox. Their responses to me were–in short–not very positive.

Their response made me wonder why: Why is it that the map is so incomplete? Do people want to have a say about their areal knowledge? Do they even know this project exists? As someone who has a natural affinity toward cartography and accuracy within the field, I never knew how easy it was to impart that knowledge to the world until a couple days ago; so I answered my own question. It seems like the large, resource-rich companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and others produce a product that is good enough for most. Perhaps I’m more pedantic in cartographic precision–and as much as I like how Google and Bing Maps have progressed–I’m not fully satisfied; local knowledge of place is key to add and it is essential for making maps more meaningful to all involved in creation and consumption.

Upon logging on this evening, I came across marczoutendijk’s post which grieved over the same sentiment. Accuracy and prominence of places within the project are still hazily defined if at all and this project is far from being user-friendly. Soon, I hope it can improve. It must improve.

I’m excited to continue to work on this project to the best of my ability and I wish to learn from the greater community about how to improve my skills specifically and the project more generally.