Assignment 3 – Ed’s Answers

STEP 3     Join the data file (LU_Data.dbf) to the attribute table of the Land Use shape file (LandUse.shp) (Note: observe both tables before conducting a join table. Pay attention to the conditions for joining tables).

QUESTION 3.1:  What is the common ID from the two tables?

OBJECTID was used as the common ID from the two tables and the “Keep only matching records” join option was selected. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: Graphic showing “Join Data” window

STEP 4     Note that not all files are in the same coordinate systems. Examine the coordinate system of each file.

QUESTION 4.1:  List the coordinate system of each file.

The listed files have the following coordinate systems: (See Figure 2)

Projected Coordinate System name:
NAD_1983_StatePlane_Texas_North_Central_FIPS_4202_Feet

Geographic Coordinate System name:
GCS_North_American_1983

• Tarrant _BlkGroup2000_13Ets
• ArlingtonCityBND
• zoning
• parcels
• NewLandUse
• freeways
• Major Attractions

Figure 2:  Graphic showing horizontal coordinate system information.

The next file diverges from the above trend and only has the following coordinate system: (See Figure 3)

Geographic Coordinate System Name:
GCS_North_American_1983

• hotels

Figure 3:  Graphic showing horizontal coordinate system information.

Step 5     To enable proximity analysis and overlays, you need to ensure that all the layers are in the same coordinate system.

QUESTION 5.1:  Based on the information obtained above, what would be the best way to complete this step?

The easiest route would be to project the “hotels” layer into the “NAD_1983_StatePlane_Texas_North_Central_FIPS_4202_Feet” coordinate system. In this manner, all layers would share identical projected coordinate systems.

Do this by opening the ArcToolbox from ArcCatalog or ArcMap and selecting Data Management Tools > Projections and Transformations > Feature > Project. The file which will be projected (hotels) goes into the “Input” field, the location of the new, projected file (Proj_hotels) goes into the “Output” field, and the coordinate system you would like to use as the projection (NAD_1983_StatePlane_Texas_North_Central_FIPS_4202_Feet) goes into the “Output Coordinate System” field. Use the “Import” option when selecting the “Output Coordinate System”. This allows us to copy the coordinate system of a file with the same projection that you are looking for.



Step 6     Perform the map projection based on the decision made in step 5.

The “hotels” layer was projected into the new coordinate system. The new, projected layer was named “Proj_hotels”. See Figure 4.

Figure 4: Graphic showing the new "Proj_hotels" layer

Step 7     Create a field and calculate the total revenue for the last two quarters in 2006 (hot06q3, hot06q4) and another one for the first two quarters in 2007 (hot07q1, hot07q2).

QUESTION 7.1: Write your calculation equation here.

I used the field calculator to calculate the hotel revenue of the 3^rd and 4^th quarters in 2006 (Figure 5). I did the same to obtain the hotel revenue of the 1^st and 2^nd quarters in 2007 (Figure 6). Figure 7 shows the attribute table with the new results.

Figure 5: Field Calculator window showing calculations for HOT06Q3Q4

Figure 6: Field Calculator window showing calculations for HOT07Q1Q2

Figure 7: The "Proj_hotels" attribute table with the new fields

Step 8     Selectd hotels that have a capacity of 100 rooms or more.

QUESTION 8.1: What is the average revenue for the first two quarters in 2007 of these selected hotels?

Assuring that nothing was selected in the map display, I then selected “Selection>Select by attributes” and typed in the following equation: (See Figure 8)

[units]>=100

This automatically selected all hotels which had 100 rooms or more. After this, I opened the attribute table of “Projected_hotels”. The previously selected hotels were highlighted. I clicked on the “Selected” button at the bottom of the table. This filtered the results and only displayed the selected hotels in the table. Right-click on the field name “HOT07Q1Q2” and click on “statistics”. A statistics window appears showing multiple characteristics of the selected hotels. One of the characteristics is the mean (average) revenue…$1,091,800.60. See Figure 9.

Figure 8: Select by Attribute window showing equation used to select all hotels with 100 rooms or more.

Figure 9: Statistics window showing various metrics f the data, including the mean (average) revenue.

Step 9     Create a 2-mile buffer zone around the selected hotels. Create a new field named HotelB1 and assign “2” as the value for the field in the attribute table of the new buffer zone file.

Assuring that the hotels with 100 or more rooms are still selected from the previous step (step 8), the buffer tool within ArcToolbox is opened and completed as shown in Figure 10. The results of the configuration are shown in Figure 11.

• Input Features: Proj_hotels
• Ouput Feature Class: E:\REAE5327\Assignment_3\Assign3.mdb\Proj_hotels_Buf
• Linear Unit: 2 Miles
• Dissolve Type: None

Figure 10: Buffer window showing field input, output, and configurations.

Figure 11: Graphic showing 2-mile buffer zones centered on hotels with at least 100 rooms in Arlington, TX.

In order to create a new field in the new buffer zone layer, “Proj_hotels_Buf”, we open the attribute table for “Proj_hotels_Buf” and click on the “Options” button at the bottom of the table. We then select the “Add Field” option and configure the pop-up window as shown below in Figure 12.

Figure 12: Configuration of new field in “Proj_hotels_Buf” layer.

The results of the “Add Field” configuration are shown in Figure 13. Notice how the field titled, “HotelB1” has “<Null>” values.

Figure 13: Default results of adding a field.

In order to assign a value of “2” to every cell we highlight the entire field and right-click it. From the available options, we select “Field Calculator” and enter the number “2” as shown in Figure 14. The results of doing so are shown in Figure 15.

Figure 14: Field Calculator input

Figure 15: Results of Field Calculator shown in previous figure.

Step 10     Create a 1-mile buffer zone around the freeways. Create a new field named FWYB1 and assign “1” as the value for the field in the attribute table of the new buffer zone file.

Before proceeding, I clipped the “freeways” layer in order to only show those sections of freeway within the “ArlingtonCityBND” layer. This was done so that the 1-mile freeway buffer zones would not extend for the entirety of Tarrant County. Rather, they would be constrained to only within “ArlingtonCityBND”.

In order to do this, within ArcMap, go to ArcToolbox > Analysis Tools > Extract > Clip. Then fill in the fields as shown in Figure 16. De-select (uncheck) the “freeways” layer and the “Tarrant_BlkGrp2000_13Ets” layer and select (check) the “Arl_fwys” layer. The results are shown in Figure 17. Notice that Figure 17 shows only freeways within the Arlington city boundaries.

Figure 16 Graphic showing the configuration of the CLIP tool.

Figure 17 Graphic showing the freeways ONLY within the Arlington city boundaries.

The buffer tool within ArcToolbox is opened and completed as shown in Figure 18. The results of the configuration are shown in Figure 19.

• Input Features: Arl_fwys
• Ouput Feature Class: E:\REAE5327\Assignment_3\Assign3.mdb\Arl_fwys_Buf
• Linear Unit: 1 Miles
• Dissolve Type: None

Figure 18: Buffer configuration for 1-mile buffer along Arlington's freeways.

Figure 19: Graphic showing 2-mile buffer zones centered on hotels with at least 100 rooms in Arlington, TX.

The red arrow points to a location where a section of freeway seems to be missing. This is not an error. This is due to an “island” of land within the Arlington city boundaries which does not belong to the city. Thus, the freeway that passes through this “island” is not taken into account in the “Arl_fwys” layer and thus no buffer is created for the freeway section that runs through this “island”. The island is shown in Figure 20. One can clearly see the “island” of land which does not belong to the city of Arlington in the following graphic.

Figure 20: Graphic showing the "island" which does not belong to the city of Arlington, TX.

Step 11     Perform Overlay.

QUESTION 11.1: Describe, in detail, the steps you perform. Specify the overlay option, input layer, overlay layer, and output layer.

The overlay option I chose was the intersect method. The purpose of intersecting the buffered Arlington freeway layer (Arl_fwys_Buf) and the Arlington city boundary layer (ArlingtonCityBND) was to limit the possible locations to only those within the intersection of both layers. The “intersect” tool window and the resulting layer (Arl_fwys_Buf_X) are shown in Figures 21 and 22; respectively.

Figure 21: Intersect tool configuration.

Figure 22: Results of the intersection (overlay) process. (Arl_fwys_Buf_X layer)

The above results (Arl_fwys_Buf_X) were then processed through a union overlay with the buffered hotels layer (Proj_hotels_Buf). The purpose for conducting a union overlay of the two layers was to limit even further the results of the possible locations of our hotels. We want those areas that are within a mile from an Arlington freeway but at least two miles from another large (100 rooms or more) hotel.
The “union” tool window configuration is shown in Figure 23, the “Arl_fwys_Buf_X” layer is shown above, in Figure 22; the “Proj_hotels_Buf” layer is shown in Figure 24, and the resulting unionized layer (Arl_fwys_Buf_XU) is shown in Figure 25.

Figure 23: Union tool configuration.

Figure 24: Graphic showing the 2-mile buffer zone surrounding hotels with at least 100 rooms in Arlington, TX.

Figure 25: Results of conducting a union on the freeway buffers and the hotel buffers.

The resulting layer (Arl_fwys_Buf_XU) shown above might look like a mess but remember that we are interested in those areas outside the hotel buffered zones AND within the freeway buffered zones.



Step 12     Perform queries.

QUESTIONS 12.1: Describe, in detail, the input layer and query options that you used.

The overlay option I chose was the intersect method. The purpose of intersecting the buffered Arlington freeway layer (Arl_fwys_Buf) and the Arlington city boundary layer (ArlingtonCityBND) was to limit the possible locations to only those within the intersection

Areas outside the hotel buffered zones will have an ID of “-1”. Thus, in order to highlight these areas, we conduct a “select by attributes” query (See Figure 26). The equation used in the query is:

[FID_Proj_hotels_Buf] = -1

The results are shown in Figure 27.

Figure 26: Select by Attributes configuration.

Figure 27: Results showing areas outside the hotels buffered zone but within the freeway buffered zone.

We then a conduct a “select by location” query (See Figure 28) in order to highlight only those areas which are within two miles of a major attraction. The results are shown in Figure 29.

Figure 28: Graphic showing the "Select by location" query configuration.

Figure 29: Results showing only areas that are outside a 2-mile buffered zone of existing, large hotels, within a 1-mile buffered zone of Arlington freeways, and within a 2-mile buffered zone of major attractions.

The red arrow shows potential site areas which were removed due to the added requirement of being within two miles of a major attraction.

Because the rest of the map shows areas which are not longer of any interest to us, we can perform a definition query on that layer (Arl_fwys_Buf_XU) and remove them completely. The resulting map will show only the areas which most interest us.

The definition query is shown in Figure 30 and the resulting map is shown in Figure 31. The equation used in the definition query is the same one used in the Figure 27 and is repeated below:

[FID_Proj_hotels_Buf] = –1

Figure 30: Definition query for "Arl_fwys_Buf_XU" layer.

Figure 31: Results of definition query on "Arl_fwys_Buf_XU" layer.

Then we conduct a “select by attribute” query (See Figure 32) in order to select only those areas which are zoned as “Vacant Land” or “Commercial” AND have a minimum area of 217,900 square feet. The results do not change from those shown in Figure 31.

Figure 32: Final query configuration to show only those areas which are zoned as "Vacant" or "Commercial" and which are at least 217,900 square feet.

QUESTION 12.2: What is the final option? If you were to recommend a site within the area of your final option, what other factors would you also consider? Why?

The final option (decision) is locate the new hotel within one of the areas enclosed by the cyan lines. These areas meet all the requirements given. Other factors which I would consider would be:

1. Which side of the freeway is the location of the proposed site?
2. Which side of the freeway is more accessible to customers?
3. What are the current traffic conditions?
4. Are there any new construction plans for the city which may affect future traffic conditions?
5. What are the current levels of traffic congestion for the proposed site?
6. How is traffic going to grow in the future for the proposed site?
7. What is the median household income near the proposed site?
8. What are the demographics of the proposed site?
9. What are the future predictions of the growth and composition of the demographics of the proposed site?
10. Is the proposed site in the growth pattern of the city?
11. Is there public transportation near the proposed site?
12. Are the parks, waterways, entertainment sites, etc. near the proposed site for customers’ use?
13. What is the ground composition?
14. Are there any environmental factors of concern?

Step 13     Make a copy of the hotel file and save the copy with a NEW name in the same assignment folder.

QUESTION 13.1: What is the name of the new hotel file?

The name of the new file is “FINAL_SITE”.



Step 14     Edit the new hotel file and its attribute table to include your proposed site(s) in the file. You can also add graphic(s) to indicate the site(s). Save the editing.

QUESTION 14.1: Describe the changes you have made for the features and the attribute table.

In the FINAL_SITE layer, I added six features. These six features are the proposed sites I would be considering for the real building site. Each of the six are near a major attraction and are near a freeway. I changed the attribute table in the following manner:

• For points 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, and 68 I did the following:
• Status = M
• Score = 100
• ARC street = TBD
• TaxName = TBD
• TaxAddress = TBD
• TaxCity = Arlington
• TaxState = TX
• Name = TBD
• Address = TBD
• City = Arlington
• State = TX
• Zip = 76011
• County = 220
• Units = 420, 400, 380, 350, 320, and 300; respectively.

Step 15     Create a final map showing your analysis result. Use knowledge learned in class to enhance your map production. Export the final map and insert it to the word document where you describe your analysis steps and results.
The map is shown in Figure 33 below.

Figure 33: Final image of map showing proposed locations of hotels.

Ed - Wednesday and Thursday (11/25/2009 and 11/26/2009)

Finished Assignment 3 and ate turkey.

Ed - Tuesday (11/24/2009)

Completed and submitted the dual degree application, read and worked through the Ormsby chapter 20 exercises.

Ed - Monday (11/23/2009)

Read chapters and worked exercises in Ormsby chapters 11, 12, 13, 18, and 19.

Dual Degree Information

Here is the e-mail I received regarding the Dual Degree Program.  I couldn't figure out how to insert the attached documents.  Let me know if you are interested...I'll forward the attachments to you.

Ed

--------------------------------
Date:  Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Subject:  Dual degree

Thank you for your interest, we are eager to assist you with your dual degree strategies.

A few advantages in regards to the dual degree option:

• It costs nothing to sign up for the option.
• You do not have to complete both degrees at the same time - you can graduate with one masters and then start the second one.
• You have 3 full years from completion of the first degree to complete the second degree.
• Should you later decide to forego the second degree, there is no penalty associated with this change in strategy.
• Most importantly, a dual master's strategy will often give you a competitive edge in the job market!

Attached is the form used to request the dual degree option. On #4, check off the box marked Request to Change to Dual Degree Program. On the line labeled "Current Program", list your current master's program (e.g. MBA), on the line labeled "Proposed New Program", list both your current program and the second master's program you wish to pursue (e.g. MBA/MS-INSY). You'll need to submit the form to the Graduate School in Davis Hall - the fax number is 817-272-2627. If you wish to confirm receipt of the fax, their phone number is 817-272-2681.

Once we receive your application worksheet from the Graduate School, we will work to create your proposed dual degree template. We will forward your template for your review and approval and from there it will go to the respective program advisors for their review and recommendation. I am also attaching the generic template for your review.

** Keep in mind that your dual degree request must be fully processed before completing more than 24 hours of advanced coursework. Further, the sooner you develop your dual degree strategy, the greater the potential for maximizing your total course savings.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything further.

Kind Regards,

Nidhi Joshi

University of Texas at Arlington
MBA Program Assistant
Phone: 817-272-3004
Email: nidhi@uta.edu

2 attachments
Request_To_Change_Graduate_Program.doc
MBA_MS-RE.xls

Ed - Sunday (11/22/2009)

Re-read chapters and re-worked exercises in Ormsby chapters 8, 10,  14, 15, 16, and 17.

Ed's Mid-term / Final Exam study notes

Market Analysis is used by developers, users, investors, brokers, financial analysts, and government officials.

• A developer needs to determine the present and future demand of a particular type of real estate. Thus, developers are interested in rent level s, absorption, construction costs, undeserved markets (or gaps), and the cost of capital in order to determine when to develop, where to develop, and whether to develop at all.
• Users are driven by cost reduction. In order to decide whether to buy, build, or rent; users need to determine, and compare, purchase prices, construction and land costs, and current market rents. In addition, users who rent want to know what the lease terms are (6 months minimum or 12 months minimum), what they must pay for (water, trash, electricity, gas, covered parking, etc.), and what the up-front fees are (deposits, pet fees, administration fees, application fees, etc.)
• Investors would like to pay no more for property than they need to. Thus, investors need to know the market rents, market expenses, market vacancy levels, etc. Returns, WACC, and cap rates are also derived from market analysis.
• Brokers represent customers and, thus, need to know the most up-to-date market information available in order to get the best “deal” for their customers.
• Financial Analysts need to determine the risk associated with a market. Thus, financial analysts need to know the characteristics of the marketplace, such as the diversification of the labor force and industries, the growth patterns of the marketplace, and the current rates of return.
• Government officials use market analysis to forecast future market conditions in order to anticipate and plan for future infrastructure and staffing.
• The markets for space and the capital markets are related via V = (NOI) / (Cap Rate) . The construction market and the asset market are interrelated. When the property asset value rise above the construction costs, developers have an incentive to build. When values fall below costs, buildings tend to depreciate.

A market feasibility study is conducted to determine if:

• There is a demand for a certain type of real estate;
• There is enough supply of a particular type of real estate to meet demand;
• What type of capital markets and political conditions are faced by that particular type of real estate in that particular region; and
• If not enough supply is available to meet the current demand, whether there might be a profit in adding supply.

A market analysis is the overall process of determining whether the market will support a particular type of real estate at a particular site so that it is profitable. Market feasibility is general whereas market analysis is more localized.

Where can I use GIS in market analysis?

• GIS can be use d in market analysis to help with spatial inquiries (distances), help discern spatial patterns of market characteristics, show trends of spatial patterns, determine proximity analysis (distance relationships), and trade areas (boundaries of local markets to be analyzed).

What are the types of GIS ?

• The ArcGIS suite is available in three license levels: ArcReader, ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo. ArcInfo is the highest level and provides all available options.

What components come with each product?

• Each product comes with ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and ArcToolBox.

What does each component do?

• ArcMap: The application used to view and edit geographic data, analyze spatial data (to find and understand relationships among geographic features), and create maps, graphs, and reports.
• ArcCatalog: The application used to browse, find, preview (data and attributes), organize, distribute, manage, and document your GIS data. It is similar to Microsoft Windows Explorer but is designed for viewing geographic databases, maps, and metadata.
• ArcToolBox: the application used to access, organize, and collect geo- processing tools, models, and scripts. The tools are categorized by tasks, for example, all data management tools are grouped together, all the conversion tools are grouped, and all modeling tools are grouped.
• ArcReader : The application that allows one to view, print, navigate, and reduce/enlarge digital maps.
• ArcView: The application that allows one to create maps and map data, query data, analyze spatial relationships, and overlay layers.
• ArcEditor: The application that builds on ArcView functionality with more data creating and editing tools, including simu ltaneous editing by more than one user (versioning), and offline editing.
• ArcInfo: The application that builds on ArcEditor functionality with more spatial analysis tools in addition to ArcWorkstation.

What are the features of databases?

• Homogeneous groups of features are called feature “classes”. Feature classes may be groups of POINT features (point feature class), groups of LINE features (line feature class), groups of POLYGON features (polygon feature class), etc. For example, a shapefile is a single feature class. Cities may be represented by a POINT feature class. Geodatabases are sets of feature classes.

What are the basic components of GIS data (direction, adjacency, and connectivity) …shape and location of features and corresponding attributes.

• Features: point, line, polygon
• Model features either with vector or raster.
• Attribute data: characteristics are in nominal, ordinal, inte rval / ratio

Map scales

• If we think of the map scale ratio as a fraction (1:50 = 1/50), then a larger denominator is equivalent to a smaller fraction and hence a smaller map (i.e., 1:50 means that items on the map are 50 times smaller than they actually are)

Metadata

• Metadata is descriptive data about the data itself. For example, the reference coordinate system, a data dictionary, etc.

Fully understand what each feature class will and will not allow.

Understand what are the requirements for nominal, ordinal, and interval ratio data (symbology).

What are the sources of GIS data?

• Universities
• City planning commissions
• (find more sources from handout packets)

What do we need for geo-coding?

• We need a reference map and addresses.

Coordinate systems must the same if proximity analysis is to be done.

• Two types of coordinate systems
• Spherical, aka geographic, coordinate system
• Cartesian coordinate system

Any map projection involves choices of:

• Datum
• Scale Reduction
• Projection

All maps have distortion

• Shape
• Area (size)
• Distance
• Direction

You can preserve one or two at the expense of other distortions.

• Conformal projections: shape
• Equal-area projections: area
• Equal-distance projections: distance between certain points
• True-direction (azimuthal) projections: direction

Every thematic map needs its own data layer.

The output of an overlay is the shape with the smallest dimension.

Make sure to understand the following for the FINAL EXAM:

• Understand how GIS enhances the market analysis, market feasibility, and site analysis.
• How to use GIS to organize and modify data.
• How to do spatial analysis.
• How is GIS different from regular mapping programs?
• How do you model geography features (points, lines, and polygons)?
• Data concepts --> feature classes, etc.
• Map scale, data frame, map document, spatial reference, metadata, source file, template file, topologies, projections, datum, geo-database vs. feature data sets vs. feature class.
• Be familiar with attribute tables including how to choose a common ID (attribute) among tables.
• Map distortion and other properties…what is the trade-off between them
• Terms for editing maps such as nodes, arcs, vertex, edge, tolerances.
• Data quality measurements
• What are the operators OR, AND…what would be the results of their use.
• Know geo-coding…what data do we need and what is the outcome.
• Know geo-processing…what data do we need and what is the outcome…union, intersect.
• Where can Union and Intersect be used (line and polygon).
• Classification classes…natural breaks, quartile, geometric, etc. Make sure you understand what each means.
• How to convert x,y coordinates into a map….must be in decimal point system.
• Understand Join and Relate concepts (One-to-One, One-to-Many, Many-to-One relationships)
• We may have to critique a map and explain what it is missing, how to present it in a better light, and explain our decisions.

Assignment 3

This is the graphic showing my 2-mile buffer zone results for step 9.  Did you guys get similar looking results?

Also, here is my table showing the HotelB1 field.  Does this also look similar to your own results?

Corrections to previous post "Assignment Two - Ed's Answers"

Thank you Dr. Li.  The erros you pointed out have been corrected.  Namely, the wrong numbers for the denominators were used to calculate both growth rates in step 6.  The growth rates now reflect a value of roughly 23% for both 2000 and 2010 for both Arlington and Tarrant County.