Talk:Tag:amenity=student accommodation

Dormitory vs. Student Accommodation

What is the difference between Tag:amenity=student_accommodation and Tag:amenity=dormitory? --Christoffre (talk) 02:23, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Good point, Christoffre. I was asking the same question in the OSM Community Forum.--Rene78 (talk) 09:40, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

This one is much more recent than dormitory, so I think we should likely deprecate it. JesseFW (talk) 12:46, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

The difference is the status, dormitory is in use, while student_accommodation is only proposed. They are similarly popular, but I have a tendency to keep student_accommodation, as its more clear. I don't see a need for both.

However, do these tags describe the area of a multi-building facility? As there's also building=dormitory for individual buildings, which is much more popular. Otherwise we wouldn't need both of them. --KrilleOSM (talk) 16:07, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

Just to be safe, don't forget about nodes for mixed-use buildings. The building that made me start this very thread contains both dormatories, apartments, offices and retail. Christoffre (talk) 10:59, 18 August 2023 (UTC)

Private student accommodation

The infobox text says "College or university dormitory for shared living of its students", implying that the university provides the accommodation. But a lot of purpose-built student accommodation is privately owned (example: Unite Students). Should we change the infobox text to make clear that the tag can be used for all student accommodation, whether university- or privately owned? Osmuser63783 (talk) 08:22, 5 May 2024 (UTC)

No reply in over a year, so I've checked on Taginfo that the tag is definitely also being used for private student accommodation (and not only by me!), and I've gone ahead and edited the description. Osmuser63783 (talk) 22:11, 24 August 2025 (UTC)