Some Reverse Geocode Nominatim API results does not include city, town or village - Example: Katy, USA

[janitdevelopers]

I have noticed that Nominatim API does not return any value for City, Town, or Village in some places like Katy and Fulshear in Texas US. However, these Cities are well defined in the system.

Example of Response with Issue.

Example 1 : Katy
APIs
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse?format=geojson&lat=29.68214&lon=-95.90450
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse?format=geojson&lat=29.82084&lon=-95.77044

Result: Platinum Inn, Peek Road, Harris County, Texas, 77493, United States
Expected Result: Platinum Inn, Peek Road, Katy, Harris County, Texas, 77493, United States

Example 2 : Fulshear
APIs
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse?format=geojson&lat=29.68214&lon=-95.90450
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/ui/reverse.html?lat=29.68214&lon=-95.90450&zoom=18

Result: 5372, Streamside Trail, Fort Bend County, Texas, 77441, United States
Expected Result: Streamside Trail, Fulshear, Fort Bend County, Texas, 77441, United States

Example 3: Houston - This has correct result with city included.

APIs
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse?format=geojson&lat=29.71593&lon=-95.61287
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/ui/reverse.html?lat=29.71593&lon=-95.61287&zoom=18

Result: 4023, Rose Mary Bend, Ashford Point, Houston, Harris County, Texas, 77082, United States
Expected Result: 4023, Rose Mary Bend, Ashford Point, Houston, Harris County, Texas, 77082, United States

[mtmail]

The address lookup is too literal. It uses the exact legal boundaries of Houston, not what people living there think how big Houston is. #1120 (comment)

Fulshear is similar https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/6586782

[janitdevelopers]

@mtmail , Thank you for your response. My concern isn't related to the boundaries themselves. The issue is that the Nominatim API responses for Katy and Fulshear do not include values for the city field, unlike Houston. However, Nominatim does have the correct boundaries for all three cities. See the example API calls and responses I provided.

Example 1 : Katy --> City boundaries exist, but API response does not have value for city.

API
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/ui/reverse.html?lat=29.82084&lon=-95.77044&zoom=18

Expected Response: Platinum Inn, Peek Road, Katy, Harris County, Texas, 77493, United States
Actual Response: Platinum Inn, Peek Road, Harris County, Texas, 77493, United States ----->Missing City = Katy

Example 2 : Fulshear--> City boundaries exist, but API response does not have value for city.

API
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse?format=geojson&lat=29.68214&lon=-95.90450

Example 3: Houston ---> This has the correct reponse with City =Houston included.

APIs
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/reverse?format=geojson&lat=29.71593&lon=-95.61287
https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/ui/reverse.html?lat=29.71593&lon=-95.61287&zoom=18

Actual Response: 4023, Rose Mary Bend, Ashford Point, Houston, Harris County, Texas, 77082, United States
Expected Response: 4023, Rose Mary Bend, Ashford Point, Houston, Harris County, Texas, 77082, United States

[mtmail]

I hope the additional map screenshots make the issue clearer. Nominatim uses the city boundaries but the coordinates are not inside the boundaries. It's the same issue as #1120 where Nominatim should essentially be more flexible in matching.

[janitdevelopers]

@mtmail, Thanks again. I see what you mean. My concern now would be how it is that these coordinates do not map to any City, Town, Village, or neighborhood.