Geo325: Business Geographics
Lesson 7b ~ Using Ixpress by Claritas For Drive Time Analysis
Lesson Overview: In this lesson we will again use IXpress to evaluate a "proposed" business location. Rather than creating a simple circle around our proposed business we will create 'drive-time' rings. We will map approximately how long it takes for customers to drive to our proposed location.
We will also explore the lifestyle segmentation information contained as part of IXPress datasets.
We will again use a "wizard" to walk us through the steps. We will:
- create a study area with drive-time polygons around our business location;
- map our proposed location at the center of that study area;
- map the top 10 lifestyle segments found in our study area;
- and format a layout and report.
For the demonstration we will evaluate a dry-cleaning store on Gay Street in West Chester. For your work, you may evaluate the dry-cleaning store as well, or choose something that relates to your class project to be completed at the end of the semester.
Before you Begin. Prepare for this lesson as for previous
lessons. Create a folder on your storage disk. Name it Lesson7b or similar. Launch iXPRESS by double-clicking on the iXPRESS
icon on the desktop.
(See image right.) At the Welcome Box, click on New Project Wizard.
Step 1: Create A Study Area
In the Study Area Wizard Dialog, under the Study Area Type box, select Use a Map to define polygon, circle, or drive time and click Next.
In the Map Set window, click on the drop-down arrow and select the WCU dataset. (If you don't have this as an option, ask a lab assistant for help.
We will now define our study area as a drive-time polygon, centered on our business location. In the Mapped Study Area Type window, select Drive-Time. Click Next. In the Mapped Circle window, select Address or Location. Click Next.
In the Locate Address or Location window, select the Table tab (if it is not already selected). In the Map Table drop-down, select Streets_Philadelphia_PA_NJ_PMSA or Streets_Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington. In the Address Column box, make sure Name is selected.
Still in the Locate Address or Location window, select the Address or Location tab and type the name of your business location. If you haven't yet selected your business, you can use Dilworthtown Inn at 1390 Old Wilmington Pike.
Now set the symbol to be used on our map for our business location. Click on this button ( 
) to change the symbol for your business. A circle or star works well. As before, select a
bright color and a larger size, so the symbol will stand out against other layers. When you have the symbol the way you like it, click Ok.
Now back in the Locate Address or Location window, click Find.
Now decide how long people are willing to spend to travel to your business. People who use dry cleaners often like to pickup their dry cleaning on their way to or from work; they aren't willing to drive much out of their way. Let's use smaller times.
In the Mapped Drive Time window, set your drive-time ranges to to times that make sense for your business type. Many people will drive quite a distance for a fine restaurant. If you have not yet selected your own business location, use 0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 minutes for your drive time. Make all the rings the same color. Your window should look similar to the one below.
Click Next. Click Next.
Step 2: Connect to a Demographic Database
The next task is to connect to information about the people who live or work in the study area. In the Database window for the Demographic database, select Ixpress 2007, Discovery Series Plus. Click Next.
We will not set a Target List or SiteScore, so click Next for the next window.
We will create a thematic map. At the next window, check the box next to Thematic Map and then pick Boundary Thematic for the type. Click Next.
We will now select a major information category to map, and possibly also a subcategory. Under Thematic Variable, click on the drop-down next to Category and select an appropriate category for the store you are interested in. Take some time to click on the various categories in the list and see what subcategories come up; you might see some that are especially relevant to your business. Select them in turn and see what the subcategories are. When you have explored them a bit, select your choices by clicking on your major category and then a subcategory. Since our store is a fine restaurant, we will select "Consumer Buying Power: Food Away From Home." From our subcategory we will choose Dinner - Full Service. Click Next. Pick Count or total and click Next.
Still working on our Thematic Map, for the Search Target Type drop-down, choose Census Tract. Underneath that box, click the drop-down and select Census Tracts again. If no census tract appears as an option, ask a lab assistant for help.
Leave the Target Data Mapping Method as By Geographic Location of Data Points. Your dialog box should look like the one below.
Click Next.
The next window will allow us to choose colors and ranges for the thematic map. Remember, we are now creating a thematic map on the above variable we selected: the amount of money people spend on food away from their home on full service dinner. As always, we want values in our legend to go from low to high and colors to go from light to dark, representing fewer to greater numbers. Click on the drop-down under Order Ranges and select Low to High. For Color Ramp click on an option that goes from light to dark, for example, light orange to dark orange. Click Next.
Skip the next dialog (Export Pointfile) by clicking Next.
In the next dialog, make sure that Census Tract is selected as the Target Type. Click Search Now. When the Search Completed dialog box appears click Continue.
You now have a study area defined with three polygons, the polygons represent approximately how long it would take to drive to your business location, your proposed business location is marked with a symbol that stands out on the page, and the total amounts spent on your variable are mapped according to values in the data. Yippie!
Before leaving the map we will tidy things up. We want some major roads to appear on our map, above the study area. Right-click anywhere on the map and then select layer control. Find the layers named Interstates, US Highways and State Highways. Select them and move them up in the list so they draw under our study area (the circles) but above your colored thematic layer (its name is Ranges by_ThematicValue). When your layer control window looks like the one below, click Ok. You should now see some roads on your map. If any of the road names or labels obsure your business location symbol, you can select the label and delete it.
Now let's add a scale bar. In IXPress, select Map on the menu, Add Scale Bar. Accept the default length for the scale bar. If the scale bar is too large or small after you place it, go to Map, Remove Scalebar, then add it again using a different length. IXPress puts it in the lower left corner; that is fine.
Lastly, let's make the legend clear, as to what we mapped. On the menu, select Map and then Modify Thematic. Edit the Legend and make the title say what you mapped, e.g., "Amount Spent on Fast Food". Make the subtitle say "by Census Tract."
Step 4: Create a Layout of Our Map
IXPress creates a draft layout for you. We will now fine tune that layout.
Click on the Layout Tab near the top of the your window. 
Click where it says Double click here for footer, and hit delete on
the keyboard.
Change the page setup to landscape by going to layout on the menu bar and selecting Print Setup. Select Landscape and then click Ok.
Move the map and the legend around on the page as we have in previous exercises. If there is a dotted line splitting your layout, simply treat the dotted line as the bottom edge of your page, and keep all your items in the upper left half, above the dotted line.
Add a north arrow. See Lesson 2.
Modify the title by double clicking the text that says "Double-click here for title" to something appropriate for your data, make the size of the title 24 pts and bold. Add your name, data and class number and section. Put a label near your business location so your reader knows what you mapped, (for example, Papa John's.) Add a box around this text so it stands out over the streets.
Print your map now.
To save your work in iXPress, go to file, then Save Project . Make sure you change the directory to your storage/zip disk. Type a name and click save.
Step 5: Make a Report.
Click on the Profile tab 
.
Click on File, Print. Under Report Header, type your name in the first blank. For report layout
select Landscape. For the categories you'd like to print, select the category you used to create
the thematic map (Consumer Buying Power: Food Away From Home). Click Print.
Lesson documentation updated 03/06/07;
Ellen Bryson.
The Center for Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis
at West Chester University.