New Web-Based Geographic Access Analysis App

22 September 2023 Bill-Hughes

We are continuing to add to our product line of CDXStreamer browser-based tools. A new application for Geographic Access Analysis has just been released.

 

Geographic Access Analysis (also known as closest store analysis) is a method used to assess the proximity of various resources, services, or facilities in relation to specific geographic locations. It is an essential report needed by business, the medical industry, government, and other fields.

 

This tool allows you to upload a set of location postal codes along with a list of target postal codes in a spreadsheet in an excel or .csv file. The user can set a radius distance along with the maximum number of targets to be returned before starting. A report will then be produced which orders the locations by distance in ascending order for each target. Only targets within the radius specified up to the maximum number will be shown. Both US Zip Codes and Canadian Postal Codes are supported.

 

For a tutorial on using the new app please see the following video.

 

If you would like to see how this all works you can try CDXStreamer for free for 7 days for up to 1000 total requests by signing up for our free trial.

 

New Census 2020 Database Now Available

03 August 2023 Bill-Hughes

 CDXZipStream Premium and Premium ACS versions now include a new Census 2020 Decennial database. This is in addition to the changes outlined in last months newsletter to the main zip code CDXZipStream database.

This new database table named CDXCensus2020 can be accessed in the CDXZipStream main Excel menu. Simply press the first "CDXZipStream" button and in the "Select Data Feed" option choose "CDXCensus2020". It is also available in the CDXZipStream right click option in the "Additional Data Feeds" area at the end of the list. The data is organized by ZCTA (Zip Code Tabulation Area) and includes the 33,774 zip codes the US Census covers.

The data items in this table include.

1.  Population by Age Bracket

2.  Male and Female Population by Age Bracket

3.  Housing statistics such as Household Size Brackets.

4.  Owner Occupied ,Renter Occupied and Vacant housing counts.

5.  Race and Hispanic Data

6.  ACS (US Census American Community Survey) 2021 Population Data

 We've also updated our CDXCity, CDXCounty, CDXState and CDXCBSA databases with data from the 2020 Decennial Census, 2021 ACS Survey and latest business data.

For a full listing of all data fields included in the feeds, please download the CDXZipStream Data Feeds and Definitions file here.  

 CDXZipStream now includes databases for the Census 2000, 2010 and 2020 Decennial surveys making it a comprehensive resource for demographic reports where you can easily review decade long trends.

 If you already own one of the CDXZipStream versions mentioned above and have an active data maintenance contract, select the "Account" option on the CDXZipStream Excel menu and click on "Check for Available Database Updates". Then select the option to update your premium database.  You must have the database version 3.01 or later for this update. If you do not see the new databases after installing the update please install the latest version of CDXZipStream.

For users without an active account you can update your data feeds by logging into your on-line account on CDXTech.com. Under "My Account", then "Product Management", select "Buy Data Update" and then purchase the Premium Maintenance contract. If you don't have the correct CDXZipStream version select "Upgrade License" in the account area and select the option to upgrade to a premium version. The latest data will automatically be included with your purchase.

 

Decennial 2020 U.S Census Data Now Available

09 June 2023 Bill-Hughes

The CDXZipStream Premium zip code database has been updated with demographic data from the Decennial 2020 U.S Census.  This data was just released by the US Census.  These updated data fields are available in the CDXZipStream Demographics, Premium, and Premium ACS versions. 

The data items which previously included 2010 census data and have been updated to 2020 include.

  1. Population by Race
  2. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Population
  3. Male/Female Population.
  4. Median Age data in total and by sex
  5. Income
  6. Housing and Household data

For a full listing of all data fields included in the feeds, please download the CDXZipStream Data Feeds and Definitions file here.  

If you already own one of the CDXZipStream versions mentioned above and have an active data maintenance contract, select the "Account" option on the CDXZipStream Excel menu and click on "Check for Available Database Updates". Then select the option to update your premium database.   You must have the database version 2.28 or later for the 2020 Census update.

For users without an active account you can update your data feeds by logging into your on-line account on CDXTech.com. Under "My Account", then "Product Management", select "Buy Data Update" and then purchase the Premium Maintenance contract. If you don't have the correct CDXZipStream version select "Upgrade License" in the account area and select the option to upgrade to a premium version. The latest data will automatically be included with your purchase.

 

CDXZipStream Version 5.3 Released

07 June 2023 Bill-Hughes
Recently we have received reports that users were experiencing problems accessing Bing Maps when using the CDXRouteBing and CDXLocateBing functions. Microsoft has made a security change involving https: secure connections being made to the Bing Maps servers. CDXZipStream uses https: to protect the location data being sent to Bing against unauthorized third parties. The security standard TLS 1.2 is now required for any transactions with the Bing Maps server. Any older standards such as TLS 1.1 are now rejected.
 
If your system is not configured to use the new standard by default you will see errors messages such as "Location Not Found or Bing Maps Did Not Respond" returned consistently for all formulas. You can also try entering a known good location or route such as "=CDXLocateBing(0,"90210").
 
If you are experience this problem on your system please download and and install our most recent installation file available at the following link.

Bulk Radius Analysis with Formula Arrays

26 May 2023 Bill-Hughes

A common question we receive concerns creating bulk radius reports with just formulas. Many users also want to only retrieve zip codes alone and not include the radius distance in a separate column.  We’ve previously written blogs describing similar operations including "Dynamic Formulas Radius Analysis" and “Getting Radius Information for a List of Zip Codes”. The technique described below combines these methods to produce single columns of zip code radius reports for one or more central zip codes.

 

We’ve created an example spreadsheet to demonstrate this concept which can be downloaded here. This spreadsheet will work with the “Lite” version of CDXZipStream or better versions which include the radius function. The picture below shows the report included on the first tab of the spreadsheet.

Columns B, C, and D contain CDXRadius formulas which were entered manually as formula arrays.  To find out more about entering formula arrays please see the following blog article. Rather than 2 columns, only one column was selected as an input range so that only zip codes are returned. The length of each column is 2500 rows which should accommodate most radius reports.  The formulas are dynamic so that when the central zip codes are changed in row 1 or the radius miles is updated in A4 the reports will update correspondingly. If you need to add additional radius reports to the bulk report simply copy the columns B,C or D to adjacent columns. 

 

This is just one of the very flexible methods of creating radius reports with CDXZipStream.  All you need to do is choose the one which best meets your analysis needs.