johnw <jo...@mac.com> writes: > A factory that manufactures IKEA furniture is industrial. > > Their Main distribution warehouse seems “commercial” > > Their shops are retail. > > Their big distribution buildings are zoned “industrial” though… I guess I’m > wrong. > https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/34.9845/-118.9416 > <https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/34.9845/-118.9416>
These words don't really have intrinsic meaning, so really it's up to OSM to define the boundaries. In US zoning (at least massachusetts), there is generally a distinction between industrial and light industrial depending on how much heavy equipment is around, but it's still a place where workers go and customers and the public does not. Commercial is used to describe things that are more office-like with the notion the the public or customers come and go. An example would be an insurance agency, a bank, or the office of a landscape company (but not the place where they keep their trucks - that's industrial). Retail differs in that there is selling of goods and generally even larger amounts of coming and going. So while I see your point about commerce, I find that in zoning law, the division is about the effect of the operation on the surroundings. Big trucks coming and going definitely makes it industrial. But, OSM has to have a definition and use it, and what people think the words mean in other contexts isn't really all that important, except that it's confusing when there is a mismatch. As always, I think OSM should look to established fields of study and adopt their terms, not try to make it up.
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