Places: Difference between revisions View history

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(→‎When to use Area or Point: "Add > Gas Station" produces an area. see Places wiki forum topic)
imported>DwarfLord
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| Many gas stations also have convenience stores and ATMs. Remember to use "Gas Station" as the primary category and the add any others which are relevant.
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==Parking Lot==
== Parking Lot ==
:''The decision to map a parking lot landmark is covered here, and the decision to map a parking lot road is covered in the [[Road_Types_(USA)#Parking_Lot_Road|Road type article for mapping parking lot roads]].''
 
:''The decision to map a Parking-Lot '''Place''' is covered here, and the decision to map a Parking-Lot '''Road''' is covered in the [[Road Types (USA)#Parking Lot Road|Road type article for mapping parking lot roads]].''
 
:''The forum discussion thread for the Parking-Lot Place is separate from the general Place thread, and is located [https://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=276&t=87595 here].''
 
The '''Parking Lot''' Place marks a well-defined area constructed for off-street public parking, including parking structures and garages as well as at-grade lots.
 
=== Area or Point ===
 
As of this writing, the primary application of the Parking-Lot Place is as an Area. Future additional applications of the Parking Lot as a Point are under consideration (see [[#The_Parking-Lot_Point_Place|The Parking-Lot Point Place]]).
 
=== Principles ===
 
Three principles govern whether a given lot, structure or garage warrants a Parking-Lot Area Place:
 
;General Public Use
:The Waze map must '''never''' show a Parking-Lot Area Place where a naive driver could risk towing, ticketing, or violating community norms. All Parking-Lot Area Places must be legally and locally condoned for at least short-term use by the general public. There are no exceptions.
;General Purpose Use
:Drivers who leave cars in a Parking-Lot Area Place should be entitled to walk or take other transportation to any destination of choice, and this should be a common occurrence. The sole exception is for public waiting lots where drivers are required to remain with their vehicles, such as airport cell-phone lots.
;Distinctive and Significant
:Overuse of Area Places quickly leads to map clutter. A Parking-Lot Area Place must mark a parking facility that would be distinctive and significant to passing drivers, including those not seeking parking.
 
Parking that does not satisfy these three principles shall not be marked with the Parking-Lot Area Place.
 
=== Implementation ===
 
==== Interpreting 'distinctive and significant' ====
 
For the purposes of the Parking-Lot Area Place, the 'distinctive and significant' principle means a facility or lot fully dedicated to parking and no other activity. An otherwise compliant parking garage that is part of a multi-use structure does not satisfy this principle. However, should the structure warrant an Area Place for other reasons, it is acceptable to add "Parking Lot" to its category list provided its parking satisfies both general-public and general-purpose principles.
 
==== Extent ====
 
Parking-Lot Area Places should be mapped to the property boundaries (the "fence line"). If those are unclear, map to the extent of the lot, structure, or garage.
 
In situations where a compliant Parking Lot is located within the boundaries of another Area Place, it may be best simply to add "Parking Lot" to the larger Area Place's category list. Compliant parking located within a much larger Area Place, such as an airport, should still receive its own separate Area Place within the larger Area Place.
 
==== Naming ====
 
If a parking facility or area has a documented identity, such as "Beach Street Garage", "18th Avenue/Geary Lot", "City Lot #7", "Short-Term Parking", "Cell-Phone Lot", etc., its Area Place should reflect that name to facilitate searches. Generic park-and-ride lots should be named consistently according to local custom, for example as "Park & Ride".
 
If a Parking-Lot Area Place is contained within a larger Area Place, do not repeat the larger Area's full name; for example if the Domestic Garage is contained within the "SFO San Francisco International Airport" Area Place boundaries, it need not be named "SFO San Francisco International Airport Domestic Garage", "Domestic Garage" is sufficient (unless the neighboring region has a number of other Places whose names incorporate the words "Domestic Garage", in which case "SFO Domestic Garage" may be more appropriate).
 
Some municipal parking facilities have no separate documented identity; for example, general-purpose public parking adjacent to a hospital may not have its own explicit name. Area Places for such parking should leave the name field blank unless local Waze convention dictates otherwise. In particular, '''never use hopelessly generic names such as "Parking" or "Public Parking" for unnamed parking facilities'''. Also to be avoided are names such as "St. Mary's Hospital Parking" that suggest that the parking is dedicated.
 
As with all Area Places, do not use mapping abbreviations for any part of a Parking-Lot Place name.
 
==== Free versus paid parking ====
 
As long as parking satisfies the three principles of general public, general purpose, and distinctive and significant, it is eligible for a Parking-Lot Area Place regardless of whether it is free or paid.
 
==== Suppression of automated problem reports ====
 
Like the Gas Station Area Place, Parking-Lot Area Places suppress Waze's automated "Map Problem" reports such as for missing roads; thus '''the Parking-Lot Area Place should never be drawn over or attached/snapped to roads bearing through traffic.'''
 
=== Special cases ===
 
==== Airports ====
 
Airports typically distinguish between parking for different terminals, for short or long term, and for cell-phone/waiting. As common navigation destinations, such parking deserves to be marked with Parking-Lot Area Places and named according to the airport's documented nomenclature, even if it means creating Parking-Lot Area Places within a larger Airport Area Place.
 
==== Bus and train stations ====
 
Bus and train stations are often located within city centers and may offer convenient public parking. At some stations, such parking may be intended and commonly used for general purposes. At others it may be illegal, inappropriate, or simply pointless to park if one doesn't intend to use that transit facility. Thus whether to mark bus- or train-station parking with a Parking-Lot Area Place depends on the local situation. Regardless, if by local Waze convention the entire station complex would be marked with a Area Place, the boundaries of this Area Place may include its associated parking.  In this case, provided the parking is compliant, the Parking-Lot category may be added to the complex's Area Place.
 
==== Privately operated public parking ====
 
Private businesses often provide public parking in dense urban centers and near airports. Privately operated parking facilities that support short-term general-purpose parking for the public may receive Parking-Lot Area Places subject to the 'distinctive and significant' principle as interpreted above. Private facilities intended only for long-term parking are special-purpose and inappropriate for the Parking-Lot Area Place.
 
==== Rental-car return ====
 
With the availability of the new "Car Rental" Place, rental-car facilities and returns, including at airports, should now be marked with that Place category rather than with the Parking-Lot category.
 
=== Examples ===
 
The Parking-Lot Area Place is '''always appropriate for''':
 
*Generic Park & Ride and similar municipal commuter parking.
*General-purpose short-term public parking lots, structures or garages dedicated to parking only and independent of any particular mall, complex, campus, or other final destination.
*Named municipal public parking serving an airport.


Few parking lots deserve to be landmarked.  Landmark-worthy parking must be something of a destination in itself, either having a well-known and documented name, or serving multiple unrelated POIs.
The Parking-Lot Area Place is '''NEVER appropriate for''':


In nearly all situations parking associated with any other landmark, such as a shopping mall or train station, '''should NOT be landmarked separately using the Parking Lot type.'''  It is sufficient simply to include such parking within the boundaries of the other landmark.   In the rare case of named parking that drivers might wish explicitly to seek, such "double landmarking" of parking within a larger landmark may be acceptable, for example a cell-phone Parking Lot landmark within the boundaries of an Airport landmark.
*Street parking, whether parallel, angled, or right-angled.
*Parking intended, either legally or by community convention, to serve a single non-transit-oriented destination such as a business, store, office, church, park, city hall, library, hospital, gym, school, museum, restaurant, campground, etc. Do not mark such parking with the Parking-Lot Area Place even if some locals use it as if it were general purpose.
*Unnamed transit-center parking if dedicated for transit-center patrons.
*Employee, student, resident, visitor, or guest parking.
*Parking for attendees of events, services, or performances.
*Parking associated with campuses, cemeteries, parklands, shopping malls, theme parks, stadiums, private installations, and office parks or complexes of any size or purpose.


Defining the boundaries of Parking Lot landmarks requires care.  Like the Gas Station landmark, Parking Lots suppress Waze's automated "Map Problem" reports such as for missing roads; thus '''the Parking Lot landmark should NEVER be drawn over or attached/snapped to roads bearing through traffic.'''
=== Including noncompliant parking within larger Area Places ===


While Waze provides a Garage landmark type, the Parking Lot landmark should be used, when appropriate, for parking structures and garages both above and below ground as well as for ordinary lots at ground level.
Some neighborhoods enjoy abundant but dedicated parking for shopping malls, office parks, theme parks, stadiums and the like. Parking lots for exceptionally large venues may even have distinct, named identities such as "South Lot", "Green Lot", etc. Such parking is typically not intended as general purpose and thus '''should NOT be marked with a Parking-Lot Area Place.'''


The Parking Lot landmark is '''always appropriate for''':
If an entire complex warrants an Area Place, any associated parking may be included within its boundaries; for example, a Shopping Mall Area Place with dedicated parking could include all stores and parking associated with the mall.  Be sure this complies with local editing conventions before doing so.  Even if this is done, however, the larger Area Place remains ineligible to include the "Parking Lot" category if the parking involved is dedicated and therefore special-purpose.
* Generic Park & Ride and similar municipal commuter parking not otherwise landmarked with a transit-center type. Always name these "Park & Ride", or whatever generic designation is used locally, to facilitate searches.  Mapped at the fence line.
* Municipal general-purpose or transit-oriented public parking that has a unique and documented identity, such as "City Lot #7", "Hourly Lot 3", "Domestic Garage", "Long-Term Parking", "South Lot", "Cell-Phone Parking", etc.  Map to the extent of the lot or structure and assign the given name.  If the lot is contained within a larger landmark, do not repeat that landmark's name; for example if the Domestic Garage is contained within the "SFO San Francisco International Airport" landmark boundaries, it can simply be labeled "Domestic Garage" not "SFO San Francisco International Airport Domestic Garage".
* Rental car return located on airport property, provided all on-airport vendors share the same car return area (to avoid having to label separate return areas by commercial vendor), named "Rental Car Return".


The Parking Lot landmark is '''NEVER appropriate for''':
=== The Parking-Lot Point Place ===
* Parking for a single non-transit-oriented destination, whether public or private, such as a business, office, church, park, city hall, library, hospital, gym, school, museum, restaurant, campground, etc.  Do not use the Parking Lot landmark for these even if apparently supported, and widely used, as general-purpose parking; Waze cannot imply that drivers should, for example, park in the City Library Lot in order to visit a café or go shopping, even if locals often do so.
* Employee, student, resident, or guest parking.
* Parking for attendees of events or services.
* Parking associated with campuses, parklands, shopping malls, theme parks, private installations, and office parks or complexes of any size or purpose.
* Generic unnamed/unidentified parking lots associated with an already-landmarked complex such as an Airport, Train station, or Bus Station/Bus Terminal.


A gray area exists between the "always appropriate" and "never appropriate" categories above. Indeterminate situations include, for example:
As of this writing the client display of Parking-Lot Area Places versus Point Places remains unclear. In the future, the Parking-Lot Point Place may be useful for identifying parking in certain situations that would not be appropriate for the Area Place, for example campus, park, stadium, or theme-park parking zones, privately operated long-term public parking, or parking located within a multi-use structure.
* Unnamed municipal general-purpose public parking.
* Privately-operated but publicly-available general-purpose or offsite transit-related parking.
At this time, landmarking indeterminate situations like these is not encouraged, but may be appropriate in some circumstances and handled on a case-by-case basis.


<!-- The parking lot landmark is currently being discussed in detail in [https://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=276&t=79199 this forum]. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. -->
Until more clarity emerges, new Parking-Lot Point Places should not be created. &nbsp;Existing '''named'''&nbsp;parking that does not comply with Parking-Lot Area Place guidelines may be converted, provisionally, to Point Places. &nbsp;'''Unnamed''' parking that does not comply with Parking-Lot Area Place guidelines should not be marked with the Parking-Lot category.

Revision as of 03:14, 24 April 2014

Template:Construction

Places is the Waze Point of Interest (POI) system. Places supports two types of POIs: Point and Area.

Point

The Point type of Place is rendered with the following icons:

Standard Point marker pin is purple-ish

The currently selected Point marker will turn blue

Any Point markers which have been edited and not yet saved by you will turn an orange-pink color, just like Area Places and segments.

Location Details

  • The Point marker for a Place should be located on or nearest to the segment to which the driver should be navigated. The Point Marker is the stop point.


Area

The Area type of Place is rendered as a polygon. Just like a segment, you can adjust the shape by using the geometry handles. All Area Places in the editor show in pink when not selected and blue-green when selected:

Location Details

  • The Area type has a target which is the navigation stop point.
  • The target stop point can be moved anywhere within the shape and also a short distance outside the actual Area shape
  • The stop point target should be placed on or nearest to the segment to which the driver should be navigated.


Client Rendering

As of this writing, we do not have any details on how Point places may be rendered within the Waze app.


Setting the stop point for a Place

Point placement

The Point Area is to be placed on or nearest to the segment to which the driver should be navigated. Here is an example of a gas station Point located directly on a parking lot segment.

Area placement

Here is an example of an Area (a large park in this case) which has an entry road on the east side. The second image is zoomed in on the target to show how this type of Area should have its navigation stop point set.

Large Area Place
Stop point detail zoom

Area+Point Combinations

There are some situations where it will be appropriate to mix both Area and Point Places. For example, shopping centers and shopping malls where the mall itself could be considered a navigation destination, but there are also individual stores which are also valid for being marked.

A simple shopping center, when mapped in this manner, would look like this:


Multiple categories

  • A Place can be assigned to multiple categories
  • The Primary Category for a Place must be the first one you enter
  • The Primary Category is displayed in a darker shade of blue than the others
  • The Primary Category is used to determine whether to use a Point or Area for the Place


Place address detail

Every Place, whether Point or Area, should have as much detail completed as possible. This includes a name, proper categorization, and full street address, city and state. If any Place doesn't have a City or Street, you will need to check the None checkbox.

Here is an example of a Gas Station Area with its details completed:

Additional fields to allow entry of more detail will be coming in future editor releases. (One field available in previous editor releases but not available at this time, is phone number.)


When to use Area or Point

Here is the global guidance on selecting Area or Point for Places in the Waze Map Editor.

The Primary Category for a Place is used to determine whether to use a Point or Area.

Parent Category Type Comments
Car Services Car Wash Point
Car Services Charging Station Point
Car Services Garage / Automotive Shop Point
Car Services Gas Station Area Many gas stations also have convenience stores and ATMs. Remember to use "Gas Station" as the primary category and the add any others which are relevant.
Car Services Parking Lot Both There are very few parking lots which should be mapped at all. Please see the Parking lot section on this page.
Transportation Airport Area Special-handling
Transportation Bridge Area
Transportation Bus Station Point
Transportation Ferry Pier Point
Transportation Junction / Interchange Area
Transportation Seaport / Marina / Harbor Area Size-dependent.
Transportation Subway Station Point
Transportation Taxi Station Point
Transportation Train Station Point
Transportation Tunnel Area
Professional and public Cemetery Area
Professional and public City Hall Point
Professional and public College / University Area
Professional and public Conventions / Event Center Area Size-dependent
Professional and public Courthouse Point
Professional and public Embassy / Consulate Area
Professional and public Factory / Industrial Both Size-dependent
Professional and public Fire Department Point
Professional and public Government Point
Professional and public Hospital / Medical Care Area
Professional and public Information Point Point
Professional and public Kindergarten Point
Professional and public Library Point
Professional and public Military Area
Professional and public Offices Both Size-dependent
Professional and public Organization or Association Point
Professional and public Police Station Point
Professional and public Prison / Correctional Facility Area
Professional and public Post Office Point
Professional and public Religious Center Point
Professional and public School Area
Shopping and services Arts & Crafts Point
Shopping and services ATM Point
Shopping and services Bank / Financial Point
Shopping and services Bookstore Point
Shopping and services Car Dealership Point Size-dependent
Shopping and services Car Rental Point
Shopping and services Convenience Store Point
Shopping and services Currency Exchange Point
Shopping and services Department Store Point
Shopping and services Electronics Point
Shopping and services Fashion and Clothing Point
Shopping and services Flowers Point
Shopping and services Furniture / Home Store Point
Shopping and services Gifts Point
Shopping and services Gym / Fitness Point
Shopping and services Hardware Store Point
Shopping and services Jewelry Point
Shopping and services Laundry / Dry Cleaning Point
Shopping and services Market Point
Shopping and services Music Store Point
Shopping and services Personal Care Point
Shopping and services Pet Store / Veterinarian Point
Shopping and services Pharmacy Point
Shopping and services Photography Point
Shopping and services Shopping Center Area
Shopping and services Sporting Goods Point
Shopping and services Supermarket / Grocery Point Standalone could be an Area, but a Point if it is part of larger shopping mall/center.
Shopping and services Swimming Pool Point
Shopping and services Toy Store Point
Shopping and services Travel Agency Point
Food and drink Bakery Point
Food and drink Bar Point
Food and drink Coffee shop Point
Food and drink Dessert Point
Food and drink Fast Food Point
Food and drink Food Court Point
Food and drink Ice Cream Point
Food and drink Restaurant Point
Culture & entertainment Art Gallery Point
Culture & entertainment Casino Area Large hotel-casinos perhaps could be Area Places.
Culture & entertainment Club Point
Culture & entertainment Game Club Point
Culture & entertainment Movie Theater Point
Culture & entertainment Museum Point
Culture & entertainment Music Venue Point
Culture & entertainment Performing Arts Venue Point
Culture & entertainment Racing Track Area
Culture & entertainment Stadium / Arena Area
Culture & entertainment Theme Park Area
Culture & entertainment Theater Point
Culture & entertainment Tourist Attraction / Historic Site Point Size-dependent
Culture & entertainment Zoo / Aquarium Area Size-dependent
Other Construction Site Area Not necessary to be mapped.
Other Residence / Home NONE Not to be mapped
Lodging Bed & Breakfast Point
Lodging Camping / Trailer Park Area Size-dependent
Lodging Cottage / Cabin Point
Lodging Hostel Point
Lodging Hotel Point
Outdoors Beach Area
Outdoors Golf Course Area
Outdoors Park Area
Outdoors Playground Point
Outdoors Plaza Point
Outdoors Promenade Point Unsure about mapping these at all
Outdoors Scenic Lookout / Viewpoint Point
Outdoors Ski Area Area
Outdoors Sports Court Point
Natural features Farm NONE
Natural features Forest / Grove Area Only map official state/national forests, not every stand of trees.
Natural features Island Area
Natural features River / Stream Area
Natural features Sea / Lake / Pond Area

Parking Lot

The decision to map a Parking-Lot Place is covered here, and the decision to map a Parking-Lot Road is covered in the Road type article for mapping parking lot roads.
The forum discussion thread for the Parking-Lot Place is separate from the general Place thread, and is located here.

The Parking Lot Place marks a well-defined area constructed for off-street public parking, including parking structures and garages as well as at-grade lots.

Area or Point

As of this writing, the primary application of the Parking-Lot Place is as an Area. Future additional applications of the Parking Lot as a Point are under consideration (see The Parking-Lot Point Place).

Principles

Three principles govern whether a given lot, structure or garage warrants a Parking-Lot Area Place:

General Public Use
The Waze map must never show a Parking-Lot Area Place where a naive driver could risk towing, ticketing, or violating community norms. All Parking-Lot Area Places must be legally and locally condoned for at least short-term use by the general public. There are no exceptions.
General Purpose Use
Drivers who leave cars in a Parking-Lot Area Place should be entitled to walk or take other transportation to any destination of choice, and this should be a common occurrence. The sole exception is for public waiting lots where drivers are required to remain with their vehicles, such as airport cell-phone lots.
Distinctive and Significant
Overuse of Area Places quickly leads to map clutter. A Parking-Lot Area Place must mark a parking facility that would be distinctive and significant to passing drivers, including those not seeking parking.

Parking that does not satisfy these three principles shall not be marked with the Parking-Lot Area Place.

Implementation

Interpreting 'distinctive and significant'

For the purposes of the Parking-Lot Area Place, the 'distinctive and significant' principle means a facility or lot fully dedicated to parking and no other activity. An otherwise compliant parking garage that is part of a multi-use structure does not satisfy this principle. However, should the structure warrant an Area Place for other reasons, it is acceptable to add "Parking Lot" to its category list provided its parking satisfies both general-public and general-purpose principles.

Extent

Parking-Lot Area Places should be mapped to the property boundaries (the "fence line"). If those are unclear, map to the extent of the lot, structure, or garage.

In situations where a compliant Parking Lot is located within the boundaries of another Area Place, it may be best simply to add "Parking Lot" to the larger Area Place's category list. Compliant parking located within a much larger Area Place, such as an airport, should still receive its own separate Area Place within the larger Area Place.

Naming

If a parking facility or area has a documented identity, such as "Beach Street Garage", "18th Avenue/Geary Lot", "City Lot #7", "Short-Term Parking", "Cell-Phone Lot", etc., its Area Place should reflect that name to facilitate searches. Generic park-and-ride lots should be named consistently according to local custom, for example as "Park & Ride".

If a Parking-Lot Area Place is contained within a larger Area Place, do not repeat the larger Area's full name; for example if the Domestic Garage is contained within the "SFO San Francisco International Airport" Area Place boundaries, it need not be named "SFO San Francisco International Airport Domestic Garage", "Domestic Garage" is sufficient (unless the neighboring region has a number of other Places whose names incorporate the words "Domestic Garage", in which case "SFO Domestic Garage" may be more appropriate).

Some municipal parking facilities have no separate documented identity; for example, general-purpose public parking adjacent to a hospital may not have its own explicit name. Area Places for such parking should leave the name field blank unless local Waze convention dictates otherwise. In particular, never use hopelessly generic names such as "Parking" or "Public Parking" for unnamed parking facilities. Also to be avoided are names such as "St. Mary's Hospital Parking" that suggest that the parking is dedicated.

As with all Area Places, do not use mapping abbreviations for any part of a Parking-Lot Place name.

Free versus paid parking

As long as parking satisfies the three principles of general public, general purpose, and distinctive and significant, it is eligible for a Parking-Lot Area Place regardless of whether it is free or paid.

Suppression of automated problem reports

Like the Gas Station Area Place, Parking-Lot Area Places suppress Waze's automated "Map Problem" reports such as for missing roads; thus the Parking-Lot Area Place should never be drawn over or attached/snapped to roads bearing through traffic.

Special cases

Airports

Airports typically distinguish between parking for different terminals, for short or long term, and for cell-phone/waiting. As common navigation destinations, such parking deserves to be marked with Parking-Lot Area Places and named according to the airport's documented nomenclature, even if it means creating Parking-Lot Area Places within a larger Airport Area Place.

Bus and train stations

Bus and train stations are often located within city centers and may offer convenient public parking. At some stations, such parking may be intended and commonly used for general purposes. At others it may be illegal, inappropriate, or simply pointless to park if one doesn't intend to use that transit facility. Thus whether to mark bus- or train-station parking with a Parking-Lot Area Place depends on the local situation. Regardless, if by local Waze convention the entire station complex would be marked with a Area Place, the boundaries of this Area Place may include its associated parking.  In this case, provided the parking is compliant, the Parking-Lot category may be added to the complex's Area Place.

Privately operated public parking

Private businesses often provide public parking in dense urban centers and near airports. Privately operated parking facilities that support short-term general-purpose parking for the public may receive Parking-Lot Area Places subject to the 'distinctive and significant' principle as interpreted above. Private facilities intended only for long-term parking are special-purpose and inappropriate for the Parking-Lot Area Place.

Rental-car return

With the availability of the new "Car Rental" Place, rental-car facilities and returns, including at airports, should now be marked with that Place category rather than with the Parking-Lot category.

Examples

The Parking-Lot Area Place is always appropriate for:

  • Generic Park & Ride and similar municipal commuter parking.
  • General-purpose short-term public parking lots, structures or garages dedicated to parking only and independent of any particular mall, complex, campus, or other final destination.
  • Named municipal public parking serving an airport.

The Parking-Lot Area Place is NEVER appropriate for:

  • Street parking, whether parallel, angled, or right-angled.
  • Parking intended, either legally or by community convention, to serve a single non-transit-oriented destination such as a business, store, office, church, park, city hall, library, hospital, gym, school, museum, restaurant, campground, etc. Do not mark such parking with the Parking-Lot Area Place even if some locals use it as if it were general purpose.
  • Unnamed transit-center parking if dedicated for transit-center patrons.
  • Employee, student, resident, visitor, or guest parking.
  • Parking for attendees of events, services, or performances.
  • Parking associated with campuses, cemeteries, parklands, shopping malls, theme parks, stadiums, private installations, and office parks or complexes of any size or purpose.

Including noncompliant parking within larger Area Places

Some neighborhoods enjoy abundant but dedicated parking for shopping malls, office parks, theme parks, stadiums and the like. Parking lots for exceptionally large venues may even have distinct, named identities such as "South Lot", "Green Lot", etc. Such parking is typically not intended as general purpose and thus should NOT be marked with a Parking-Lot Area Place.

If an entire complex warrants an Area Place, any associated parking may be included within its boundaries; for example, a Shopping Mall Area Place with dedicated parking could include all stores and parking associated with the mall.  Be sure this complies with local editing conventions before doing so.  Even if this is done, however, the larger Area Place remains ineligible to include the "Parking Lot" category if the parking involved is dedicated and therefore special-purpose.

The Parking-Lot Point Place

As of this writing the client display of Parking-Lot Area Places versus Point Places remains unclear. In the future, the Parking-Lot Point Place may be useful for identifying parking in certain situations that would not be appropriate for the Area Place, for example campus, park, stadium, or theme-park parking zones, privately operated long-term public parking, or parking located within a multi-use structure.

Until more clarity emerges, new Parking-Lot Point Places should not be created.  Existing named parking that does not comply with Parking-Lot Area Place guidelines may be converted, provisionally, to Point Places.  Unnamed parking that does not comply with Parking-Lot Area Place guidelines should not be marked with the Parking-Lot category.