Exercise: Understanding and Comparing Places: Mixed-Use Development
Exercise: Understanding and Comparing Places: Mixed-Use Development
Exercise
Understanding and Comparing
Places: Mixed-Use Development
Section 2 Exercise 1
08/2019
Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC
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. Although 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. The managers will start with their prime
candidate, which will give them a means of comparison as they evaluate the other cities.
In this exercise, you will use the ArcGIS Online mapping platform to perform the following
tasks:
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 being evaluated, as well as which part of these people they
live in. Management knows from experience that renting the housing units will be easier and
that the ground-level businesses will have a better chance of success if many young adults
already live 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 tasks:
• 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.
For this exercise, the layers provide information related to the analysis question, such as the
following:
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.
b Go to www.arcgis.com and sign in to ArcGIS Online using the credentials explained at the
start of this course.
Note: If you have trouble signing in, or have questions about an exercise, try these steps:
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.
Initial map with legend, showing the various zoning areas within the city boundary.
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.
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.
Note: The data often includes more information than you need for a particular analysis. The
data 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.
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.
f To the right of the third selection field, click the arrow and choose MUC1 from the drop-
down list.
The expression should read "REGZONE is MUC1."
Next, you will add a second expression for the other mixed-use zoning code.
h To the right of the first selection field, click the arrow and choose REGZONE from the
drop-down list.
i For the second selection field, leave the value set to Is.
k 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."
l 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.
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 by clicking the Filter button, and in the pop-up window, clicking Remove Filter.
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.
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 size range
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.
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.
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.
• For Choose Layer To Enrich With New Data, select Block Group.
• Click Select Variables to open the 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.
• In the Keep Browsing section, scroll horizontally using the arrows or dots through the
categories, and then click Owner & Renter.
• In the Owner & Renter Variables section, check the box next to 2019 Key
Demographic Indicators (Esri).
• 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 2019 Owner
Occupied HUs variable to delete the variable.
• 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.
The type of demographic data chosen does not require an enrichment area.
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. 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.
e In the top left of the map, click the Default Extent button .
f At the bottom of the Enrich Layer pane, uncheck the Use Current Map Extent Check Box.
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). You want
to run the analysis on all the records in the layer Block Group no matter what area is on the
screen, so you will uncheck (not use) the current map extent.
The result map with the new Enriched Block Group Renters layer.
i Open the attribute table for the new Enriched Block Group Renters layer.
Hint: In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Enriched Block Group Renters
layer name and click the Show Table button.
A new field named 2019 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.
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 22 to 29 years and 30 to 39 years. It would make things easier if these values were
combined in a single field showing the numbers of people aged 22 to 39, because this is your
target demographic.
You will now combine the values from the other two age fields and populate the new field.
The expression in the field at the top of the window should read "AGE_22_39 = AGE_22_29
+ AGE_30_39".
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.
a In the table, click the 2019 Renter Occupied HUs field heading and choose Statistics.
The numbers indicate that there are, on average, 414 (414.08 rounded down) renter-occupied
housing units per block group.
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 2019 Renter Occupied HUs for the first field, if necessary.
The filter will be applied to the values in this field.
In plain language, the expression you just created will display areas in the map where there
are at least 414 rental housing units per block group.
i In the Contents pane, confirm that the Block Group layer is off.
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 with 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.
a In the Contents pane, pause your pointer over the Enriched Block Group Renters layer
name and click the Change Style button.
• 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.
• 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).
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.
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.
d Click Done to close the Change Style pane and view the updated map.
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.
a View the statistics for potential renters in the 22-39 age group.
• 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 21 areas that meet the criterion, and there are 14,946 young
adults in these areas. Many of these young adults are likely already renting and could be
potential tenants for the new apartments.
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 .
• For Choose Layer Containing Features To Buffer, confirm that Zoning is selected.
• For the buffer size, click Distance to enter a single distance value.
• For Buffer Type (to combine areas where buffers overlap), choose Dissolve.
• 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 to avoid encountering the error message.
The Save Result In field defaults to your account name; you do not need to change this value.
e In the top left of the map, click the Default extent button .
f At the bottom of the Create Buffers pane uncheck the Use Current Map Extent box.
The Use Current Map Extent (https://bit.ly/2StbI9J) box is checked by default. This limits the
results to your current map extent (the map display on-screen at any moment). We want to run
the analysis on all the records that meet our criteria in the layer Zoning no matter what area is
on the screen, so we will uncheck (not use) the current map extent.
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.
After looking at your results, you decide to change the map style for a more effective visual
presentation.
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 .
• 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.
• 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).
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.
a From the map menu bar at the top of the window, click Save to save the map.
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.
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.