Ask HN: how do I trace routes in a geospatial db?

3 pointsTravis14y ago4 comments

I had an idea for a little app that would make my friends' lives a little better. I live in a location with street parking, if you know where to park (and when the rules apply; e.g., you can park in commercial zones on Sundays, etc.)

I would like to build dataset of the streets near me with the different parking areas noted.

The problem is that I'm not sure where to begin. I'd like to be able to build something pretty easily in a weekend, and would prefer to not rely on google maps or other hosted solutions.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

4 comments

4 comments · 4 top-level

rekky12314y ago

Look into: - PostGIS - Mapnik - OpenStreetMap

And prepare to spend more like 20 weekends on this -- it's not a trivial problem. Or, use Google maps and cut that time investment way down.

mapster14y ago

Connecting the db to maps is easy, but building and maintaining such a db is costly, but doable.

quadlock14y ago

try leaflet, and if you have a limited amount of data points you may just want to load them with one chunk of json/geojson and forget geospatial querying

Mz14y ago

GIS is fairly complicated. I have a certificate in it, though I never managed to get a job in GIS due to a health crisis. If you genuinely just want something local to help a few friends, you would probably be better off trying a simpler approach, like a static map with pop up info on when you can park there or something.

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