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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Exercise
Understanding and Comparing
Places: Mixed-Use Development
Section 2 Exercise 1
02/2019
Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Understanding and Comparing Places: Mixed-Use Development

Instructions
Use this guide and ArcGIS Online to reproduce the results of the exercise on your own.
Note: ArcGIS Online is a dynamic mapping platform. The version of ArcGIS Online that
you will be using for this course may be slightly different from the screenshots you see in
the course materials.

Time to complete
Approximately 30-45 minutes.

Introduction
A GIS offers a wide array of analytical tools that can provide information to help you answer
questions. This exercise presents an approach to using ArcGIS to query a layer and sum
attribute values to create new information to analyze. The result is a map of areas that would
be good locations for a small mixed-use development. While the data is real, the scenario,
analysis, and resulting decisions are hypothetical.
The purpose of this example is to illustrate the type of problem that can be addressed using
filtering and summary statistics, along with other analysis tools.

Exercise scenario
As a real estate analyst for a local development company, you have been keeping an eye on
the market. With the success of several medium-sized mixed-use developments that have
been built in the region over the past decade, your company wants to build several small
mixed-use developments. These developments will have a restaurant or shops at street level
and three or four floors of housing above—most likely rental units.
The company wants to build the developments in a single city to streamline the permitting
and construction process. These projects will be presented as a package deal to the city.
Management at the development company favors one city in particular because it is served
by the region's light rail system and has several thriving commercial districts.
However, the company managers are also considering other cities in the region and want to
evaluate all the cities using several measures. They will start with their prime candidate, which
will provide them with a means of comparison as they evaluate the other cities.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

This map represents the final map to be used in this analysis.

In this exercise, you will use the ArcGIS Online mapping platform to perform the following
tasks:

• Work with map layers.


• Add information to a map.
• Filter data to limit feature display.
• Enrich layer data.
• Combine attribute data to create a new field.
• Work with map statistics.
• Change the map style.
• Buffer features.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Approach
GIS is a tool that can provide you with information to help you answer questions.
Frame the question
When approaching your analysis, the first task is to frame the question.
In this exercise, the analysis question can be framed as follows:
Is this a good city in which to build a small mixed-use development?
Define the analysis criteria
The next task is to consider the criteria associated with the question. What information do you
need to answer this question? How can you use the GIS to represent, analyze, and assess the
criteria?
The local development company wants a range of sites to choose from and does not want to
enter into a lengthy and costly zoning change process. Therefore, management hopes to
build in a city that has a large amount of land already zoned for mixed-use development.
The target demographic for both the retail businesses and the rental units is people in their
20s and 30s who already live in the vicinity. The company wants to find out how many people
in this age bracket live in each city been evaluated, as well as which part of the city they live
in. Management knows from experience that it will be easier to rent the housing units and the
ground-level businesses will have a better chance of success if there are many young adults
already living nearby. The development company also believes that a larger rental market
offers more potential for clients who would be interested in the new rental units that will be a
part of the mixed-use development, so management wants to find out where most of the
renters in each city live. In this exercise, you will evaluate a single city.
Based on the scenario and criteria, you will need to accomplish several things:

• Find out how much area is already zoned for mixed-use development within the city
under consideration.
• Determine how many young adults in their 20s and 30s already live in the city and where
they live.
• Determine where most of the existing renters live in the city.

To translate this into spatial analysis terms, ask yourself:


What information do you need to address this question?

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

For this exercise, the layers provide information related to the analysis question, such as:

• The city boundary to visually define the area of interest


• Zoning for all areas within the city, including those that are zoned for mixed-use
development, and the acreage of each mixed-use zone
• Demographics, such as the number of people, age range of the population, and the
number of rental units in each area to help identify how many young people live in the
city near the mixed-use zones

Which layers do you need for your map?


For this exercise, you need several layers:

• A city boundary layer


• A zoning layer
• A population or demographic layer

Note: This example provides a starting point—in all likelihood, an analysis of this type in the
real world would encompass additional factors and criteria.

Step 1: Open the map


Using ArcGIS Online, you can create a map with the identified layers that you can then use for
your analysis. For this case study, the initial map has already been created.

a Open a new private/incognito browser tab or window.


We recommend that you open a private or incognito browser window whenever you need to
work in ArcGIS Online to help prevent conflicts with your accounts.

b Go to www.arcgis.com and sign in to ArcGIS Online using the credentials explained at the
start of this course.
Note: Section 1, Exercise 1 explains how to determine your ArcGIS Online credentials
(username and password) for this course. If you have trouble signing in, try these steps:

1. Check the Common Questions on the Help tab


2. Search for other students with the same issue in the Forum
3. Use the Have A Question form at the bottom of the Help tab

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

c On the navigation bar in the Going Places with Spatial Analysis organization home page,
click Gallery.

The gallery for the Going Places with Spatial Analysis organization opens.

d Click the thumbnail image for Section 2, Exercise 1: Understanding and Comparing
Places: Mixed-use Development.

A map of the area of interest (https://bit.ly/2StKhwr) opens, showing the city boundary and
zoning.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Initial map with legend, showing the various zoning areas within the city boundary.

Step 2: Save a copy of the map


For the purposes of this exercise, you will save a working copy of the map.

a From the map menu bar at the top of the window, click Save and choose Save As.

b In the Save Map dialog box, make any desired changes, and then click Save Map.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

A copy of the map will be saved to your My Content collection.


Note: ArcGIS Online is a web-based platform; therefore, you should periodically save your
map as you are working.

Step 3: Examine attribute data


This exercise focuses on a single city that has been identified as the prime candidate for the
development project.
As the market analyst for this project, you have already obtained the city boundary layer from
the GIS database managed by the regional association of governments. The city boundary
defines the area of interest on the map.
The city planning department maintains a layer for current zoning within the city, as well as
census block (https://bit.ly/2t3URf8) groups that fall mainly within the city and that contain
population information. The department has provided these layers to you because the
proposed projects will bring much-needed development to the city.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Map of zoning categories for the city.

a In the Contents pane, click the name of the Zoning layer to show the list of zones.
Hint: When you move your pointer over the Zoning layer, the layer name will turn blue, with
an underline to show that it is clickable.
Your first task is to locate areas within the city that are already zoned for mixed-use
development. To do this, you will take a look at the data associated with the features. All
features in a GIS map have a link between the geographic features on the map and the
attribute data stored in a table.
To view the attribute data for the map, you will open the table for the Zoning layer.

b In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Zoning layer name and click the
Show Table button.

The table displays below the map and lists all of the zones that are displayed on the map, as
well as attribute information about them.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Note: The data often includes more information than you need for a particular analysis. It has
generally not been created specifically for the analysis, but rather created for general use
(many purposes) or some other intended purpose. In this scenario, you have obtained the
data because it has the information you need for this analysis.

c Click a row in the table, and notice that the associated feature on the map is highlighted.
Note: You may have to zoom in or out to see the highlighted feature.

d Examine the attribute fields in the table.


Information such as area measurement, a short text description of the zoning type, the
regulatory zone detail code, the regulatory zone general code (residential, commercial,
industrial, mixed-use), and the number of acres is available for each zone.
Hint: You can also click a feature on the map to see the associated highlighted row of
information in the table.

e After you have examined the data, close the table.


Hint: Click the X at the top right of the table header.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Step 4: Filter data to limit feature display


For this analysis, you are only interested in areas that have already been zoned for mixed-use
development. These are areas that planners have designated for just the type of retail and
housing the company is planning to build. These areas have regional zoning (REGZONE)
codes of MUC1 (low-density mixed-use center, up to 20 housing units per acre) and MUC2
(high-density mixed-use center, more than 20 housing units per acre).

In this step, you will filter the Zoning layer to display only the areas zoned for mixed-use
development on the map.

a In the Contents pane, click the name of the Zoning layer to hide the list of zones.

b Pause your mouse pointer over the Zoning layer name and click the Filter button.

In the Filter: Zoning dialog box, you will create an expression (https://bit.ly/2REvYAD) to filter
the attribute data and limit the display to only those zones that are identified as mixed-use.

c To the right of the first selection field, click the arrow and choose REGZONE from the
drop-down list.

d For the second selection field, leave the value set to Is.

e For the third selection field, click the Unique option.

f To the right of the third selection field, click the arrow and choose MUC1 from the drop-
down list.

g Click the arrow to the right of the third selection field and choose MUC1.
The expression should read "REGZONE is MUC1."

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Next, you will add a second expression for the other mixed-use zoning code.

h Click Add Another Expression.

i To the right of the first selection field, click the arrow and choose REGZONE from the
drop-down list.

j For the second selection field, leave the value set to Is.

k For the third selection field, click the Unique option.

l To the right of the third selection field, click the arrow and choose MUC2 from the drop-
down list.
The expression should read "REGZONE is MUC2."

m For the field at the top, choose Display Features In The Layer That Match Any Of The
Following Expressions.
This option will display features in the layer that match either of the expressions.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

n Click Apply Filter.


The map updates to show only those zones that meet the filter criteria, which are just the
areas zoned for mixed-use. These areas are symbolized with light or medium blue, the colors
associated with the mixed-use center zoning codes in the legend.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

After filtering, only the two mixed-use zoning categories appear on the map. The legend for the two categories is
shown for context.

Note: Filtering is temporary. You can remove the filter for the layer and display all the features
again.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Step 5: Examine statistics for a feature


To determine how much land in the city meets your criteria so you can compare the numbers
to the other cities under consideration, you will calculate the total amount of land zoned for
mixed-use development and examine the sizes of the available areas.
In this step, you will calculate the total amount of land zoned for mixed-use development.

a Open the attribute table for the Zoning layer.


Hint: Pause your pointer over the Zoning layer name in the Contents pane and click the Show
Table button.

b In the table, click the Acres column heading and choose Statistics.

The Statistics pop-up window provides summary information about the values associated with
the Acres column. There are 18 areas (Number Of Values) that are zoned for mixed-use.

The Sum Of Values field displays the total number of acres in the two mixed-use zoning
categories (MUC1 and MUC2) because the other categories have been filtered out. Slightly
more than 517 acres meet the criteria. That number is encouraging: it likely provides the
company with a range of options for its project sites, as each development will only require an
acre or two.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

The Minimum and Maximum fields display the smallest and largest zones by number of acres.
The smallest zone is about 1 acre in size; the largest is about 139 acres in size. This could be
another piece of information that is useful for your analysis.
You can now use the work you have done to address the first criterion in your larger analysis
question. You have calculated the amount of land within the city that is already zoned for
mixed-use development and assessed the size of the available areas.

c Close the Statistics pop-up window.

d Close the table.


Next, you want to find out how many young adults within the ages of 22-39 already live in the
city.
The company is targeting young adults from ages 22 to 39 who already live around the areas
zoned for mixed use. The company also wants to know which of these areas (if any) have many
people who already rent.
Data on the age of the population in various areas of the city is available at the block group
level, a smaller statistical division of the geographical area. As part of this case study, the map
you are using for the analysis contains a block group layer.

e In the Contents pane, turn off the Zoning layer, and turn on the Block Group layer.
Hint: Click the boxes to the left of the layer names to turn the layers on or off.

Map showing block groups within the city boundary.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

You will notice that some block groups extend outside the city boundary. These groups are
included because they are primarily within the city boundary. Blank areas in the map indicate
areas where a greater part of a block group extends beyond the city boundary than lies within
the city boundary; these areas have been removed from consideration for this analysis.

f Open the attribute table for the Block Group layer.


Hint: Pause your pointer over the Block Group layer name and click the Show Table button.

The table contains population data, including age of residents.

g Examine the data available in the table.


You are also interested in which areas have a high number of renters. To determine that, you
will enrich the dataset with additional demographics.

h Close the Block Group table.

Step 6: Enrich data with additional demographics


In this step, you will enrich the Block Group layer with additional demographic data to identify
areas with a large number of rental units.
The ArcGIS Online Enrich Layer tool lets you add a wide variety of facts about people and
places to your existing data locations. This feature allows you to perform additional analysis
and answer a greater range of questions. A new layer is created that contains the additional
attribute information.

a On the map menu bar, click the Analysis button .


Note: You can also access the analysis tools in ArcGIS Online by pausing over the layer you
want to analyze in the Contents pane and clicking the Perform Analysis button .
The Perform Analysis pane contains a number of categories, and each category contains
tools. To view the tools within a category, you click the expand/collapse button on the left
side of the category.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Note: To learn more about the various analysis tools available in ArcGIS Online, click the
Information icon to the right of any tool name in the Perform Analysis pane.

b Expand Data Enrichment.

c Click Enrich Layer.

d In the Enrich Layer pane, set the following parameters:

• For Choose Layer To Enrich With New Data, select Block Group.

• Click Select Variables to open Data Browser and browse for variables that you can use
to enrich the data.

• In the Data Browser window, in the region drop-down list, confirm that the region is
set to United States.

• Click Housing to view housing variables.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

• In the Keep Browsing section, scroll through the categories, and then click Owner &
Renter.

• In the Owner & Renter Variables section, check the box next to 2018 Key
Demographic Indicators (Esri).

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

• In the upper-right corner of the window, click the number 2 to view the two selected
key demographic indicator owner and renter variables.

• Because you are only interested in renters, click the X to the right of the 2018 Owner
Occupied HUs variable to delete it.

• Click Apply.

The variable is added to the first section of the Enrich Layer pane. This field will be added to
the Block Group layer and attribute table.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

The type of demographic data chosen does not require an enrichment area.

• For Result Layer Name, type Enriched Block Group Renters_yourfirstandlastname.

Note: The name must be unique within an organization. Add an underscore and your first and
last name to the name of the result layer to avoid encountering the following error.

Note: If you run the analysis multiple times, you will need to give a unique result layer name
each time to avoid encountering the error message.
The Save Result In field defaults to your account name; you do not need to change this value
for this case study.
The Use Current Map Extent (https://bit.ly/2StbI9J) box is checked on by default. This limits
the results to your current map extent (the map display on-screen at any moment). For this
analysis, the map extent area encompasses the entire study area.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Note: If you are zoomed in, only those features in the display will be used in your analysis. The
analysis should drive which features you are analyzing, so you will need to uncheck the Use
Current Map Extent box if you want to analyze all features. If you uncheck the Use Current
Map Extent box, or if you are zoomed out and the map display shows a large number of
features, the analysis processing time will be increased.

e Click Run Analysis.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Note: Processing time for the analysis will depend on a number of factors, including the
number of features in the current extent. Another factor is Internet traffic. If your analysis does
not complete after three to four minutes, try saving the map and refreshing the page, or exit
ArcGIS Online and try again later.
The result map displays with the new Enriched Block Group Renters layer.

The result map with the new Enriched Block Group Renters layer. The list of layers is shown for context.

f Turn off the Block Group layer.

g Open the attribute table for the new Enriched Block Group Renters layer.
Hint: In the Contents pane, pause your pointer over the Enriched Block Group Renters layer
name and click the Show Table button.
A new field named 2018 Renter Occupied HUs is now included at the far right of the table.
This field shows the number of rental units per block group. You will be able to use this
information later in your analysis to find block groups that have a large number of rental units.
Note: You may have to scroll to the right in the table to see the new field.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

The attribute table for the Enriched Block Group Renters layer contains all the demographic
information from the original block group layer, including the numbers of people in age
groups aged 22 to 29 and aged 30 to 39. It would make things easier if these values were
combined in a single field showing the numbers of people aged 22-39, as this is your target
demographic.

Step 7: Combine data in multiple fields to create a new field


In this step, you will combine the data in the two age fields and create a new field containing
the numbers of young adults between the ages of 22 and 39 for each block group.

a At the top right of the table, click the Options menu.

b Choose Add Field.

c In the Add Field window, set the following options:

• For Field Name, type AGE_22_39.

• For Display Name, type AGE_22_39.

• For Type, select Integer.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

d Click Add New Field.


A new empty field is added to the table next to the 2018 Renter Occupied HUs field at the far
right. This field's column title displays the name you just assigned.

You will now combine the values from the other two age fields and populate the new field.

e Click the AGE_22_39 field heading and choose Calculate.

f In the Expression Builder window, choose SQL (https://bit.ly/2G8TTH7) as the language


you want to use.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

• In the Fields list, click AGE_22_29.

• Click the addition button to add a plus sign to the expression.

• In the Fields list, click AGE_30_39.

The expression in the field at the top of the window should read "AGE_22_39 = AGE_22_29
+ AGE_30_39".

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Note: Ensure that the Numeric field is selected.

g Click Calculate.
The values in the AGE_22_39 field in the table are filled in, indicating how many people in
each block group fall into the specified age range.

With all the attributes that you need now available, you can find block groups with a relatively
large number of rental housing units and display the number of young adult residents aged
22 to 39 within those block groups.

Step 8: Find areas that meet a criterion


In this step, you will find areas with a higher than average number of rental units per block
group.

a In the table, click the 2018 Renter Occupied HUs field heading and choose Statistics.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

The numbers indicate that there are, on average, 421 (421.14 rounded down) renter-occupied
housing units per block group.

b Close the Statistics pop-up window.

c Close the table.


To find those areas with a higher than average number, you will filter the data.

d In the Contents pane, pause your pointer over the Enriched Block Group Renters layer
name and click the Filter button.

e In the Filter dialog box, choose 2018 Renter Occupied HUs for the first field, if necessary.
The filter will be applied to the values in this field.

f For the second field, choose Is At Least.

g For the third field, type a value of 421.

In plain language, the expression you just created will display areas in the map where there
are at least 421 rental housing units per block group.

h Click Apply Filter.


The map display updates to show those block groups with a greater than average number of
rental housing units in them.

i In the Contents pane, ensure the Block Group layer is off.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Map showing areas with a higher than average number of rental units per block group.

The development company believes that a larger rental market offers more potential for
clients who would be interested in the new rental units that will be a part of the mixed-use
development.
Looking at the map, you can see that the default symbol for the number of people in the
target age group for each block group is a blue polygon. Because the development company
wants to focus on the specific areas where there are higher numbers of young adults, the
developers need some indication of population in each area.
Next, you will enhance the map by changing the map style to represent the population in
each area.

Step 9: Change the map style


In this step, you will change the map style used to identify areas with higher numbers of
young adults who meet the criteria that the development company established.

a In the Contents pane, pause your pointer over the Enriched Block Group Renters layer
name and click the Change Style button.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

b In the Change Style pane, set the following parameters:

• For Choose An Attribute to Show, select AGE_22_39 from the drop-down list.
• For Select A Drawing Style, confirm that Counts And Amounts (Size) is selected.

Note: This setting will result in a proportional symbol (https://bit.ly/2UGsNKC) map in


which larger symbols equate to larger numbers. The check mark indicates the
current styling of the layer.
• Click Options to customize the look of the layer.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

• To change the fill color of the symbol, click Symbols.

• In the Change Symbols pop-up window, at the top, click the Fill tab.
• From the palette, choose a fill color, such as dark green (hex color #267300).

• At the top of the pop-up window, click the Outline tab.


• From the palette, choose an outline color, such as light green (hex color #55FF00).

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

• Click OK to close the palette pop-up window.

Proportional symbols use an intuitive logic that larger symbols equate to larger numbers.
Adjusting the size of the symbols can clarify the story you are telling. ArcGIS Online can adjust
the size range automatically, or you can manually specify a size range.

• For Size, choose Specify Size Range, and then set a minimum of 12px and a maximum
of 30px.

Note: These values are suggestions; if you want, you can adjust the values or select Adjust
Size Range Automatically.

• To change the fill color of the block groups, click Polygons.

• For Fill, click No Color .


• For Outline, choose a dark color, such as black (hex color #1A1A1A).
• For Outline, make sure that transparency is set to 0%.
• Click OK to close the palette window.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

The map dynamically updates to show the new style. The block group polygons are outlined
in black. To further generalize your map, you will classify the data.

• At the bottom of the Style Options dialog box, check the Classify Data box.

• Classify the data using the Natural Breaks classification method with 5 classes.

The Natural Breaks classification is based on natural groupings that maximize the differences
between the classes.

c Click OK to close the Style Options dialog box.


The map style has been updated to show an attribute (population) using circles. The circles
represent the number of people age 22 to 39 by block group, with the larger circles indicating
a greater number within an area. You will notice that only the filtered block groups continue to
be displayed (those with a greater than average number of rental units).

d Click Done to close the Change Style pane and view the updated map.

e In the Contents pane, turn on the Zoning layer.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

The map display updates to show the block groups where the AGE_22_39 field was added to
the Enriched Block Group Renters layer, which has been filtered to show the block groups
with a greater than average number of rental units.

f Save the map.

Step 10: Analyze statistics


The company anticipates an average of 12 to 15 units per development, with a maximum of
90 units total. Next, you will use statistics to determine how many potential renters live in the
areas identified on the map.

a View the statistics for potential renters in the 22-39 age group.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Hint: The full set of steps to view statistics is as follows:

• Pause your pointer over the Enriched Block Group Renters layer name and click the
Show Table button.

• In the table, click the AGE_22_39 column header and choose Statistics.

Based on your analysis, there are 22 areas that meet the criterion, and there are 15,382 young
adults in these areas. It is likely that many of them are already renting and could be potential
tenants for the new apartments.

b Close the Statistics pop-up window.

c Close the table.


To get a clearer picture, you decide to identify the areas located within a half mile of a mixed-
use development zone.

Step 11: Buffer features


Determining the proximity of features or the relationship between a selected point and its
neighboring features is known as proximity analysis (https://bit.ly/2RTjTwq) .
In this step, you will highlight areas within a half mile of the mixed-use zones that have a large
number of young adults and a greater than average number of rental housing units.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

A buffer (https://bit.ly/2Rp7CuH) can be used to create an area around a feature. You will use
a buffer to visually depict which of these areas are located near the potential development
zones.

a In the Contents pane, pause your pointer over the Zoning layer name and click the
Perform Analysis button.

b Expand Use Proximity.

c Click Create Buffers.


Hint: Remember that you can learn more about an analysis tool by clicking the Information
icon next to the tool name.

d In the Create Buffers pane, set the following parameters:

• For Choose Layer Containing Features To Buffer, confirm that Zoning is selected.

• For the buffer size, click Distance to enter a single distance value.

• Type 0.5 as the buffer size.

• Select Miles as the measurement.

• Expand the Options section.

• For Buffer Type (to combine areas where buffers overlap), choose Dissolve.

• For Area Of Input Polygons In Buffer Polygons, choose Include.

• For Result Layer Name, type Buffer of Zones with Young Adults
Nearby_yourfirstandlastname.

Note: If you run the analysis multiple times, you will need to give a unique result layer name
each time.
The Save Result In field defaults to your account name; you do not need to change this value
for this case study.
The Use Current Map Extent box is checked on by default. This limits the results to your
current map extent (the map display on-screen at any moment). For this analysis, the map
extent area encompasses the entire study area.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Note: If you are zoomed in, only those features in the display will be used in your analysis. The
analysis should drive which features you are analyzing, so you will need to uncheck the Use
Current Map Extent box if you want to analyze all features. If you uncheck the Use Current
Map Extent box, or if you are zoomed out and the map display shows a large number of
features, the analysis processing time will be increased.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 36


Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

e Click Run Analysis.


Note: Processing time for the analysis will depend on a number of factors, including the
number of features in the current extent. Another factor is Internet traffic. If your analysis does
not complete after three to four minutes, try saving the map and refreshing the page, or exit
ArcGIS Online and try again later.
The result map displays with a default shaded buffer.

Map showing areas within a half-mile of the mixed-use zones that have a large number of young adults and a greater
than average number of rental housing units.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

After looking at your results, you decide to change the map style for a more effective visual
presentation.

Step 12: Change the style of a buffer feature


In this step, you will change the default style for the buffer.

a In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Buffer of Zones with Young
Adults Nearby layer name and click the Change Style button .

b In the Change Style pane, set the following parameters:

• From the drop-down list, choose the attribute to show by selecting Show Location
Only.

Drawing your data with just a single symbol gives you a sense of how features are
distributed—whether they are clustered or distributed—and may reveal hidden patterns.

• For Select A Drawing Style, accept the default Location (Single Symbol) style.

• Click Options to customize the look of the buffer.

• To change the fill color of the buffer, click Symbols.

• In the Change Symbols pop-up window, at the top, click the Fill tab.

• Click No Color .

• For Outline, choose a dark color, such as purple (hex color #4C0073).

• For Line Width, choose 3px.

• Click OK to close the palette pop-up window.

c Click OK to close the Symbol Options pane.

d Click Done to close the Change Style pane.

e Click the Legend button to view the legend.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Now you can see which block groups with high numbers of young adults and a relatively large
number of renters are actually located in close proximity to the mixed-use zones. The areas
within the buffer identify several potential development areas in the prime candidate city.
You can now present the maps and numbers as the foundation of your analysis findings for the
city to management.

Step 13: Save the map


To complete your work on this project, you will save the map before exiting ArcGIS Online.

a From the map menu bar at the top of the window, click Save to save the map.

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Note: Your map will be saved to your My Content collection.

b In the upper-right corner of the private/incognito browser window, click your name and
choose Sign Out.

c Close the private/incognito browser window.

Conclusion
Because your findings indicate that this city has several areas that meet the criteria, you could
do some further investigation to locate prime areas for the development project.
You could also undertake the same analysis for the other cities that are under consideration to
continue your company's evaluation process. Additionally, you could further enhance the map
to include a layer showing regional light rail stops and another layer showing commercial
districts in the city.
In this exercise, you looked at an example of the type of problem that can be addressed using
feature overlay along with other analysis tools in ArcGIS Online.

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