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Invalid PPLs  XML
Forum Index -> Discussion of GeoNames Toponyms
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intrepidweb



Joined: 09/03/2009 21:06:02
Messages: 3
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Hi there.

I just did a findNearby query for a PPL, PPLC or PPLA near the coordinates 40.7184530 / -73.9859414 (near Meatpacking district in New York City).

The result was Henry Street Settlement, NY (#6332503).

Apparently it's categorized as a PPL, but Wikipedia says it's just a settlement home: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Street_Settlement

The nearest PPL for that location should be New York City.

I've encountered similar errors using findNearby; often it returns neighborhoods, ghost towns and historical entities that are incorrectly listed as PPL. The problem seems especially common in big cities like New York and London.

How do I report/correct errors such as this? And is there a more reliable, accurate way to find the nearest official locality for a given set of coordinates?

Thanks!
Leif
intrepidweb



Joined: 09/03/2009 21:06:02
Messages: 3
Offline

By the way, the webservice query URL was:

http://ws.geonames.org/findNearby?lat=40.7184530&lng=-73.9859414&style=FULL&featureCode=PPLA&featureCode=PPLC&featureCode=PPL
marc



Joined: 08/12/2005 07:39:47
Messages: 4412
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Sure, your help is welcome. Updating entries is very simple:
http://www.geonames.org/manual.html

Thanks for your help.

Best

Marc

[WWW]
intrepidweb



Joined: 09/03/2009 21:06:02
Messages: 3
Offline

Thanks, Marc. I'll definitely do that in the future.

But going back to the original issue: Is there a way to control the creation of PPLs? In New York City, there are quite a few non-PPLs (housing projects, neighborhoods, etc.) categorized as PPL. I'm sure this is the case in other cities as well.

Maybe the edit form could provide a link to http://www.geonames.org/export/codes.html , or even to a page with a more user-friendly page with descriptions and examples of each feature type.

Just an idea...

marc



Joined: 08/12/2005 07:39:47
Messages: 4412
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Leif

You are right. I have added a link from the edit form to the feature code page.

Best

Marc

[WWW]
erixon



Joined: 13/10/2006 13:47:56
Messages: 6
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Allmost every city I check there is city sections tagged as PPL. It's very annoying because with coordinate lookup you don't get the "city/village" as expected.

Is there any better way than correct one by one?

It's seems to be a quite big problem, have it been like this from start?

Examples:
Tudor city, New York
Taylor Junction, Los Angeles
Taling Chan, Bangkok
Balmain, Sydney
etc

kind regards
Tomas
marc



Joined: 08/12/2005 07:39:47
Messages: 4412
Offline

Hi Tomas

I know this is a problem. There is unfortunately no easy and simple solution to fix it. The University of Stuttgart are trying to extract this relation between cities from Wikipedia. However, this will take some time and it will not be complete.

Best

Marc

[WWW]
 
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