GIS has an Easy Button

Do you remember the old days of Geographical Information Systems (GIS)? You had to get some base-map, which were raster-based, and slow to build. Ugh, I remember how painful it was. Then, of course, you wanted to move just a little east to include a feature, and it would have to build the entire map all over again. Then Google Earth came and it was jaw dropping and fast.

The problem with Google Earth's product is that it doesn't bring in all of the GIS data. If you want to find a place, and see it, cool, you can do that. But if you want to look at the demography of a place, you need to stick with the older products. That is, until now.

ESRI, the silicon valley company that developed the entire ARC suite of products, has developed an online version of their product. ArcGIS Business Analyst Online is very cool and very cheap. I don't mean cheap in a stetson cologne sort of way, I mean cheap in that it only cost $2500 per user. For $2500 you get granularity down to the block group level with current and historic demographic data.


If you are a geologist or a biologist, this is not going to give you the level of detail that you need to conduct research. But if you are a business and want to know where your customers are, yes. If you want to know where traffic congestion is highest in the aggregate, yes. If you want to know which area is expected to have the highest density of families with school-age kids yes. The applications for this type of product are virtually unlimited. All real estate agents should have this information because it would help you to sell houses. School systems should have this information because it will help you to visualize the growth areas as well as see the difficult traffic areas.

The most beautiful thing is that it is completely turn-key. There is no hardware to buy, no software to install. No data to buy, and maintain. If you have a browser and an Internet connection, you are there. Oh, and I almost forgot, the interface is simple, type in the address, identify the distance for rings around your location and generate the reports. It is so easy, even my Mom could do it.