Zach Miller
GEOG 335.001
May 13, 2016
For the fourth and final lab assignment in GIS I, we were asked to create a map that had us use four tools in ArcMap three of which were required to be different from one another. We were excluded from using "clip, query, add field, project, and project define" as tools for this requirement. The assignment was to produce a map that answers a spatial question by using the GIS skills we have acquired over the course of the semester. My question was "where is the best location for a new microbrewery in Wisconsin?" Micro and craft breweries are on the rise with young people. The whole culture around the intimacy and craftspersonship of a microbrewery is exciting and appealing to new beer-drinkers and people not terribly fond of large corporate alcohol companies. Microbreweries are up-and-coming in the beer production scene, so even though there are a lot of craft and microbreweries already in Wisconsin, my goal was to find an area where there wasn't already one. This data would be helpful to an aspiring micro brewer who would want to find a good location to set up shop. These maps are particularly useful in that they don't just tell the viewer where would be a good location for a microbrewery, but why it would be a good location.
To obtain my answer, I used data from ESRI, the US Census Bureau, the Wisconsin DNR, and the Brewers Association. The data I used to determine where rivers and streams are located in Wisconsin came from the Wisconsin DNR. The locations for existing microbreweries came from the Brewers Association. And the county lines, interstate highways, demographic information, and base maps came from ESRI and the US Census Bureau.
https://www.brewersassociation.org/directories/breweries/?term=Wisconsin&searchby=statename
The data for the locations of current micro breweries is of potential concern. Due to the fact that the data could be outdated (even a few months), the locations for existing microbreweries could be incorrect, and the fact I geocoded their locations personally raises concern to the complete accuracy of the data. Another possible concern to the accuracy of not only the data, but answering the initial question, is that I did not include microbrewery data from Minnesota or Michigan. This could potentially affect the accuracy of a good location for Wisconsin's next microbrewery in that there could be a microbrewery in one of the surrounding states that could be within 50 miles of the location I came up with.
The methods I used to obtain the answer I got include the following process: First, I obtained the US counties information from the "mgisdata" folder provided to us by Christina. I then did a query to select just the state of Wisconsin and created a feature layer from that to display only the state of Wisconsin in my data frame. Next, I searched the internet for brewery data and found a list of microbreweries by state on the Brewers Association website. I proceeded to put the name and address of each of these breweries into an Excel spreadsheet and geocoded them as point features into ArcMap. I then placed a 50 mile buffer surrounding each of the current microbrewery locations and intersected that buffer with the Wisconsin counties layer. This gave me all the areas in Wisconsin that were too close to other breweries to put in a new one. In order to get rid of this area, I used the erase tool to give me areas that were further than 50 miles away from a current microbrewery. Then I used a query to determine which counties in Wisconsin had greater than 8,000 people and fewer than 20,000 people as a way to find a good population for the surrounding area of the brewery. I then combined the locations that were a good distance away from other microbreweries and the counties that have good populations with the intersect tool. This gave me areas that had both criteria. Next I incorporated Wisconsin interstate highways into my map and added a 20 mile buffer, this was used to determine areas in Wisconsin that are near an interstate highway. I intersected my previous feature class with the interstate buffer to give me good locations that are also near an interstate highway for ease of travel. Lastly, I put a 1 mile buffer on a rivers and streams line feature class provided by the Wisconsin DNR and intersected that buffer with the last feature class to give me my final result.
The result I obtained was fairly general, more so than I had initially hoped, but a good result nonetheless. I think that if I had more time and obtained more data I could pinpoint an exact location or two that truly would be the best location for Wisconsin's next microbrewery. Some criteria I also could've used would be age, the popularity of beer, access to ingredients of beer, land price and value, road conditions, scenery, housing, city/towns in the area, city/town attractions in the area, etc.
If I had to do this project again, I think I would factor in age to my data, targeting the right age groups is crucial to how well this brewery can compete to others. I would also obtain microbrewery locations from surrounding states like Minnesota and Michigan so that there would be more certainty as to how close this brewery would be to others despite state lines. Some challenges I faced throughout this assignment were mostly in the cartographic process. Determining which features to display on the maps and how to display the data in the best possible way was difficult. Also, sizing and placement were difficult when it came to organizing my map.
Overall, I actually really enjoyed this project. It challenged me to recall and utilize the skills I've developed over the semester as well as define, even if a little bit, my own personal style of map making and data analysis. With a little help from my peers and Christina, I was able to find an answer to a spatial question that I am personally interested in. I hope to continue building on the skills that I've learned this semester in GIS and continue to answer spatial questions as well as use these skills in my career someday.
