The Edge City Database

What is The Edge City Database?
Who Can Benefit From Using The Edge City Database?
Ways To Use The Edge City Database

The Edge City Database is meant to provide a time savings to those needing to identify, define and/or analyze white collar employment centers. Historically, information has been available at the Metropolitan, State, City or County level on one hand and Zip Code, tract or defined circles/polygons on the other. The larger political geographies usually provide information that is too broad and the more micro geographies (Zip Codes, tracts, circles, etc.) assume a knowledge of the area which is not always available.

The Edge City Database offers a new "standard" geography for pulling up existing demographic and economic database information. The Edge City geographies are not based on political boundaries (cities, counties, places). These old boundaries didn't correspond well to the new urbanized centers where Americans live, work, shop and play. The Edge City Database offers these new geographies for 181 Edge Cities around the country and 45 related downtowns. It defines the areas where most white collar jobs have flourished. Edge Cities have a variety of shapes which defy a standard form. They are elongated shapes in some areas, square in others. They comprise hundreds of acres in some places and thousands in others. Given the odd shapes, it is not accurate, nor efficient, to define these places using symmetrical shapes such as site-centered circles.

The original Edge City list, defined in author Joel Garreau's bestselling book, "Edge City: Life on the New Frontier", was derived from office submarkets with 5 million square feet of space or more. Many in the financial community began tracking these office submarkets in order to better understand their current and potential investments. Yet when they tried to apply demographic and/or economic data to these submarkets, they found that the information available was for a different, usually larger, geography.

For example, Tysons Corner, VA is a sizable Edge City and office market (over 15 million square feet) which is located within Fairfax County, VA. Fairfax County has a total of five Edge Cities. The demographic information relating to Tysons Corner would be available only at a county level, since Tysons Corner is just an area within the county and has no political boundaries. No standard geography previously related directly to Tysons Corner itself. Now, it is possible to call 1-800-866-2255 and ask for demographic and economic information on "Tysons Corner, VA" and 180 other Edge Cities.

Who Can Benefit From Using The Edge City Database?

The following is a listing of some of the types of businesses that can benefit from The Edge City Database.

Lenders: Lenders are major stakeholders in Edge Cities since they provided much of the investment in the past 20 to 30 years. Now, for the first time, they can track the well-being of these Edge Cities and compare the health of their widely scattered investments. Also, since there is not likely to be many new Edge Cities emerging for the foreseeable future, this is where most lending is likely to continue to occur.

Investors: Similar to lenders, pension funds and insurance companies are stakeholders in many Edge Cities across the country. Those wishing to understand shifts and trends that vary even within metropolitan areas or regions of the country can now quantify their investment rationale and identify new places to invest. Rather than rank the top 25 metropolitan areas or mid-level metropolitan areas, investors can now target a more micro geography - Edge City - to identify areas with the demographic and economic characteristics they require.

Transportation Management Organizations: Prior to The Edge City Database, it was difficult to track business shifts within areas so that transportation planning could reflect the reality of how we now live and work. Additionally, most of the demand for transportation is within and between Edge Cities - not the old "suburb" to downtown patten. The pace of growth when Edge Cities emerged was so rapid it was difficult for transportation to keep up. Much of the transportation funding, including the $160 billion ISTEA legislation, is currently targeted to areas in and around Edge Cities.

Planners: Many planners recognize the opportunities created by Edge Cities and their rapid growth. Edge Cities are in their embryonic stages. Our great traditional downtowns evolved over 200 to 300 years. Edge Cities are 2O to 3O years old-they are"works in progress". There is a tremendous call to make these places more comfortable and livable. They also represent American choice in how we live and work, despite this being contrary to many planning theories.

Residential Developers: Developers of high-density housing products such as apartments, condominiums and townhomes can now identify those places most suitable for these types of products - Edge City cores. Conversely, developers of lower density townhome and single-family products can identify new areas of opportunity by understanding the ripple effect caused by Edge Cities and their evolution. The Edge City Database will help to track demographic and business shifts so developers can define opportunities more clearly.

Commercial Developers: As Edge Cities evolve over the next several decades they will require layers of commercial office, retail, hotel and service centers. The database will help define the character of the Edge City and provide a better understanding of the evolving commercial opportunities.

Retailers: Retailers are recognizing that an increasing portion of our dollar is spent near our place of work. The evolution of Edge Cities creates tremendous opportunities for a variety of retail goods and services to consolidate amid new job centers. Retailers expanding or consolidating in certain regions can now identify which Edge Cities are most appropriate for their products by statistically defining their target market and identifying which Edge Cities they are in.

Service Businesses: These are the businesses that feed off of surrounding businesses and residences. Examples of these include copy stores, business supply stores, Federal Express centers, ATM machines, insurance providers, brokers, etc. The Edge City Database will allow them to characterize types of businesses, quantity of businesses, population bases and so on, in order to better target their locations.

Site Location Consultants: When trying to determine appropriate locations for corporate divisions, site location consultants can identify the Edge Cities that meet their basic requirements and quickly narrow their choices from hundreds to a dozen. Prior to The Edge City Database, the statistical information available was for large political jurisdictions or radii around a specific site which did not reflect real conditions and made comparisons difficult between one part of a region and another, or between one coast and another.

Market Research Consultants: It has always been relatively easy to obtain demographic information and trends on larger areas. However, it has not been that easy to obtain statistics on the more micro-geographies that actually reflect the core areas of activity and, more importantly, characterize the economies of these places. The Edge City Database provides an opportunity to analyze the demographic and economic character of America's standard form of urban place - Edge City.

Shadow Governments: Shadow governments are informal organizations of stakeholders in an Edge City. Frequently called public/private partnerships," or "non-government governments," they form the Establishment of vested interests from employers to residents in an Edge City. Their mission is to enhance the economic and environmental well being of their Edge City. Nonetheless, reliable statistics on businesses and employment have been difficult for them to come by, particularly in the more outlying Edge Cities. The Edge City Database can help define the character of the individual Edge Cities so that Shadow Governments can better understand what they are dealing with in issues relating to transportation, economics, quality of life, and the like. It provides the statistical information to better evaluate their options and support their decisions.
: Additionally, the question often asked by Shadow Governments is "What other places are similar to our Edge City and what have they learned that we should also know?" Now, The Edge City Database can organize areas by job size, geographic area, business make-up, population characteristics, wealth, etc.

Real Estate Professionals: Anyone interested in real estate and its future must understand Edge City. Edge City characterizes the majority of Americans and what they value. Edge Cities are also where most future white collar growth will occur, so to understand them is to understand the opportunities of the future.

Architects: One of the loudest complaints about Edge Cities is how awful they look. Architects have been criticized for not paying attention to the aesthetics of Edge Cities. Now, since this is where most of the centralized real estate activity is likely to occur, their understanding of Edge City is important to their business. The evolution of Edge City - turning them into places we can be proud of and feel comfortable with -lies in the hands of the stakeholders, planners and architects.

Marketing Groups: Identifying and reaching target markets are essential components to any successful marketing campaign. The Edge City Database allows the identification of target groups by defining the character, composition and quantity of different groups within the Edge Cities around the country including ethnicity, income levels, education and gender.

Ways To Use The Edge City Database

The Edge City Database is available in different forms:

Standard reports that can be faxed or mailed,
Edge City packages with demographic and business information about each Edge City,
Diskettes,
Supplement to SMI's CONQLTESTO marketing information system,
Custom Reports, and
Metropolitan level maps showing general Edge City locations.

There is no fee to join. Just call 1-800-866-2255 and talk to the Strategic Mapping, Inc. ("SMI") representatives about what you would like. An Edge City Package with sample reports is presented in the appendix, along with sample maps.

The database includes both Edge Cities and related downtowns in 34 metropolitan areas, defined using the same "apples to apples" methodology.

Information is available from a myriad of variables including:

population
ethnicity
employment
housing units
sales potential
ClusterPlus
occupations
households
age
headquarters
travel to work
retail potential
restaurants
labor force
income
education
businesses
SIC codes
crime
WealthWise
projections

Examples of ways in which the database can be used are outlined below. Some of these may require a familiarity with statistical analysis. For those unsure of what they need, just call 1-800-866-2255 for assistance.

1. To understand the characteristics of an Edge City.: For example, if you were interested in the business composition of the Beverly Hills/Century City, CA Edge City in the Los Angeles area, you could call and request a Business Summary Report which would provide a break out of major SIC categories. This can be done by businesses or by employment. If you wanted to find out the characteristics of the population base as well, you would request the Population Summary Report with information on the size of population, ethnic make-up, incomes, education levels, etc. Finally, if you were looking for a total picture you could request the Edge City Package for Beverly Hills/Century City, CA and receive both business and demographic information.

2. To rank variables or calculate ratios and rank by Edge City.: With the increased time pressures on American workers today, it is advantageous to focus efforts to ensure efficiency. The Edge City Database can rank variables to more specifically identify targeted areas. For example, Edge Cities can be ranked by number of jobs, size of population, income levels, sales volume, commuting time and a myriad of other variables.
: Although the rankings are interesting, it is often more relevant to define ratios to rank by Edge City. For example, rather than list the Edge Cities by absolute numbers, you can list Edge Cities by specific ratios such as the percentage of Services to total employment or the percentage of Asians by the total population or the number of 50+ housing units to the total housing stock. These often produce very enlightening hierarchies.

3. To target specific types of businesses.: For example, lets say you were interested in identifying those Edge Cities with the most lawyers. The database could identify and rank the Edge Cities around the country that had this targeted type of business.

4. To target particular population groups or characteristics.: For example, lets say you are a retailer who specializes in Hispanics, aged 24 to 35, who make over $25,000 annual income. The Edge City Database could identify which Edge Cities and related downtowns meet this criteria.

5. To identify Edge Cities with similar characteristics.: For example, lets say you are a Shadow Government organization and would like to understand the "lessons learned" from other Edge Cities in the country that are similar in size or character. For this example, we will use employment. You would ask for those Edge Cities that have a similar employment base and receive a listing of those that apply.

6. To identify certain Edge Cities with specific characteristics.: For example, lets say that you are a service business that caters to accounting firms and you would like to focus your efforts in those Edge Cities that have a total employment base of more than 75,000 and that have the highest ratio of accountants to total employment. The Edge City Database can quickly print a list of those Edge Cities to target.

More sophisticated market and financial analyst professionals may want to do more technical analyses as follows:

7. To analyze capture rates/market shares.: One of the most basic forms of analysis is to define the capture of variables from one area to another. For example, lets take a generic metropolitan area, ABC. If you wanted to know what the market shares of the different Edge Cities and the downtown were, you would first list the Edge Cities and downtown and the variable you were interested in analyzing. Lets assume its 1980 jobs. You would then add the total and divide each individual Edge City and the downtown by that total, as follows:

		1980 		MARKET
		JOBS 		SHARE

Downtown	300,000 	 43% (i.e.. 300,000/700,000)

Edge City  1 	250,000 	 36%
Edge City  2 	100,000 	 14%
Edge City  3 	 50,000 	  7%

Subtotal EC 	400,000 	 57%

TOTAL		700,000 	100%

Capture rates/market share analysis can be computed for a variety of variables such as ethnic characteristics, SIC categories, restaurants, business sales volume, age groups, population clusters, etc.

8. To analyze demographic and business shifts in Edge Cities.: For example, lets say you would like to track shifts in jobs within the Edge City and downtown areas. The first step is to compute the baseline market captures as shown in #3 above. Next, you would calculate the market captures for another time period, such as 1990, as follows:

		1980		MARKET
		JOBS		SHARE

Downtown 	350,000		 37%

Edge City 1	350,000		 37%
Edge City 2	150,000		 16%
Edge City 3	100,000		 11%

Subtotal EC 	600,000		 64%
	
TOTAL		950,000		100%*

*Totals may not add due to rounding.

Next, subtract the 1990 job numbers from the 1980 job numbers to calculate growth and define the market shares of the growth, as follows:

		1980-1990	MARKET
		  GROWTH	SHARE

Downtown	 50,000	 	 20%

Edge City 1	100,000		 40%
Edge City 2	 50,000		 20%
Edge City 3	 50,000		 20%

Subtotal EC	200,000		 80%

TOTAL		250,000		100%

Finally, calculate the Market Share Index for each area to define who has been gaining and who has been losing market share by dividing the 1980-1990 Growth Market Share percentage by the 1990 Market Share percentage, as follows:

	     MARKETSHARE
		INDEX

Downtown	  54 (ie., 20%/37%)

Edge City 1	1.00
Edge City 2	1.25
Edge City 3	1.82

Subtotal EC	1.25

TOTAL		1.00

If the Market Share Index is less than 1.00, then that area is losing market share, if it is greater than 1.00, it is gaining market share. As this example shows, the downtown is losing market share to the Edge Cities which are growing faster than their current capture of jobs would indicate. Discretion is needed in evaluating the base numbers as well since the smaller areas that are growing will usually reflect a much larger Market Share Index. This should be taken into consideration in the analysis.

This Market Share Index analysis can be used to track shifts in jobs, population, ethnic groups, age groups, SIC categories, etc.