* The following excerpt appeared originally in the March 2012 issue of Planning magazine; published by the American Planning Association. “Creating successful urban retail districts is a goal of planners and community leaders alike. But as Robert J. Gibbs points…
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Establishing good market boundaries is crucial to a solid market analysis, but not all market areas (also referred to as trade areas) are created equal. Of course physical barriers–both natural and man-made–affect boundaries and market area delineation, but market areas…
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Over the past few weeks there’s been a bit of buzz over Franklin edging out Delaware for the title of Ohio’s fastest growing county. Franklin County has consistently grown for years–a rarity for Ohio as a whole and Midwestern urban…
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A little over a year ago, Google established a common format for public transportation data called GTFS or General Transit Feed Specification. GTFS feeds allow public transit agencies to publish their transit data and developers to write applications that consume…
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For the past several months, Urban Decision Group (UDG) has provided internship opportunities for two students from Oakstone Academy in Westerville, Ohio. Oakstone Academy is a private school (preschool through grade 12) chartered by the State of Ohio that provides…
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Uninsured Children in America In 2008, the American Community Survey (ACS) began surveying the U.S. population on the subject of health insurance coverage. To date, the most complete data set available is the 2008-2010 3 year ACS which excludes counties…
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This week is the anniversary of one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. On April 3-4, 1974, at least 148 tornadoes roared across the United States. Since then, this has been eclipsed by only the May 21-26, 2011 tornado outbreak….
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I am a resident of Ohio. Every four years Ohioans find themselves the center of the political universe. It starts out as flattering and ends up just being annoying. This year we find ourselves at the heart of the 2012…
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Several days ago I was discussing the link between education and unemployment with my economist friend Bill Lafayette, PhD. The seemingly endless Republican Primary had recently thrust higher education into the national spotlight. At issue was whether or not we…
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This week’s Map of the Week is the third in Urban Decision Group’s series of maps that examine commuting in the U.S. Our first map dealt with Average Commuting Times in the U.S. Last week’s map showed the Impact on…
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