Understanding OpenStreetMap, auto-fill API and saving cities (locationss)

Hi Alex, I started with OSM, but as for now, there are just some locations and listings in the DB. Because the website is of a non-profit organization and just for a single business branch like kundalini yoga and not a business with a lot of financial win :), I think, maybe I will go with OSM and thank you for your information in the other thread.

At least I have to find more information about the usage limits of Google Maps API for non-profit organizations. I found the exceptions for the usage limit and how to apply as a non-profit organization. Because we will have otherwise costs, since the old website has a good Google position in the whole German state Baden-Württemberg and since each visitor will load at least 10 times the google maps, just through accessing the homepage, a search and opening some detail sites of the listings. I have first to clarify with the community and with Google about this decision.

I’m happy to hear, as you mentioned in the other thread, that if I’ll start with OSM I’ll have maybe some locations to merge or correct (CSV bulk geocoding) after all. This is cool, that GeoDirectory gives me this flexibility.

Hello Support Team,

do you have an idea on how can I find a solution for the second and third question. Since I can not change afterwards the location and the location/city selection from the OSM API is wrong for smaller and urban cities, I do have a problem and I do not know how to fix it.

Greetings, Marius

Hello Alex,

in my opinion, when adding a new listing the selected location from the OSM API for the field City is wrong. When the address is a village or even a village nearby and part of a bigger city, the suggested city is in a lot of cases the governmental district of the state, which is wrong. And the user cannot change manually the city, since OSM will replace it with the false one.

My Project is a local one, just for the state Baden-Württemberg, Germany. And keep in mind the format of the OSM answer: ‘street nr, street, village, municipality(rural city), rural district, governmental district, state, postcode country’

Example 1: village near big city Lahr

searching for: ‘Luisenstraße 5, Kippenheimweiler′

OSM will suggest the address: ’5, Luisenstraße, Kippenheimweiler, Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Lahr/Schwarzwald’

and the autofill value for the City field: ‘Regierungsbezirk Freiburg′
it should be: ‘Lahr′

Example 2: normal village

searching for: ‘Unditzstraße 6, Schutterzell′

OSM will suggest the address: ’6, Unditzstraße, Schutterzell, Ottenweier Hof, Neuried’

and the autofill value for the City field: ‘Regierungsbezirk Freiburg′
it should be: ‘Neuried′

So the suggestion is wrong, ‘Regierungsbezirk Freiburg′ is not a city/location it is a governmental district of the state with hundreds of cities/locations.

a. Can you confirm the bug?
b. Where and how can I change the call to the OSM-API? I need the files and some links to the docs for the calling params. I’ll try to work together with the German OSM community too.

Hi Stiofan, this is working now much better. The most of the cases are now OK.

As for

example 1: village near big city Lahr/Schwarzwald, which is actually a suburb of the city

searching for: ‘Luisenstraße 5, Kippenheimweiler′

OSM will suggest the address: ’5, Luisenstraße, Kippenheimweiler, Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Lahr/Schwarzwald’

and the autofill value for the City field: ‘Regierungsbezirk Freiburg′
it should be: ‘Lahr/Schwarzwald′

The suggested address does contain that part but there is no way for me to be able to reliably know what part of that string is a city/town.

1. I cannot see in the API return for #1 the field with the value ‘Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Lahr/Schwarzwald’. It is the city_district ?

2. Do you have a link to the OSM API docs for address autocomplete? Or do you have a list with all the name of the returned fields (state, state_district, etc.) ?