Map points of interest

You can search for points of interest, such as businesses and facilities, using data from Data Axle, SafeGraph, and other POI data sources. For example, you can search for hospitals or search using the name of a specific hospital. You can also search within a category or industry or search using NAICS or SIC codes.

The points of interest search workflow has four stages: search, refine results, set the map style, and save or export the results. Before starting a search, set the map extent using the zoom levels tool. To search for points of interest, do the following:

1. On the Maps tab, click Create maps and select Points of interest search.

   The Points of interest search pane appears.

   Tip:

   You can also launch this workflow using the search tool.

2. Optionally, if the country or region is set to a location with multiple POI data sources, use the Data source menu to select the data source.

   You can set the default POI data source in the app preferences.

3. Provide a search term.

   For example, you can type coffee shop or the name of a coffee shop chain. Optionally, refine your search using the following options:

   • Click Category. In the Category drop-down menu, select categories or search for a category and click Search . Click Expand to view and select subcategories. Click Done.

     Note:

     Categories represent popular searches but do not necessarily include all points of interest that may be associated with a specific category. You can download Business Search Categories to view the NAICS and SIC codes that comprise individual search categories.

   • Click Settings . Select Find related POI to perform a semantic search, returning variables related to the search terms you entered. Select Exact match to narrow the search results to exact matches only. Select Match field to return only results that match a particular field. If any of these options are checked, choose a field from the drop-down menu.
4. Optionally, click More options to choose another search type or search extent.
   • Select Search by category to use categories.
   • Select Search by code to search by NAICS or SIC codes. Select NAICS-based code or SIC code and click Add code. You can expand the drop-down menu to browse codes or enter search terms to find codes. You can add multiple codes to your search by clicking Add code.

     Tip:

     For more detailed information on NAICS and SIC codes, refer to the U.S. Census NAICS table and the U.S. Department of Labor's SIC Division Structure.

   • Select Show all to map all points of interest (up to 5,000) within the search extent for the selected country.
   • Use the Search extent drop-down menu to limit the search to results within the current map extent for the selected country, or within a site or boundary in your current project.
5. Click Go.

   The search results appear on the map and the workflow pane displays options to refine the results.

6. Refine your results by using the following filtering options:
   • To search within the results, provide text in the By keywords text box.
   • To show only search results within a specific site in your project, select the site in the By site drop-down menu.
   • Use the check boxes to narrow the results to one or more fields. For example, if you select Riverside and Redlands for the City field, only the results from those two cities are included.

     Note:

     Some fields are not available for all data sources.

   • Click View full table to see the results table. Click any column header in the table to sort by that column. To remove a search result, uncheck its check box. Click Minimize table to close the results table.

   The map automatically updates to show the filtered search results.

7. To export the results to Excel, click Export to Excel. Click Next to modify the visual style for the search results on the map.

   Note:

   When exporting using Data Axle as the data source, street numbers are removed from the address field.

8. Use the Select style drop-down menu to choose a map style. The default style is Location (single symbol). For more information, see Map styles.

   The map automatically updates to show the selected style. Map style information appears in the map legend.

9. Click Finish.
10. To complete the workflow, the following options are available:
    • Save layer—Enter a name for the layer and click Save. The saved layer can be accessed in the project pane in the Other layers section.
    • Export to Excel—Export the search results to an Excel worksheet. When exporting, the street numbers are removed from the address field.
    • View/edit results—Return to the workflow results (step 6).
    • New search—Return to the first stage of the workflow to start a new search (step 3).
    • I'm done—Close the points of interest search workflow.

Map styles

You can style the points on the map using different map styles. Depending on the data source, the following styles are available:

Location (single symbol)

Display data on a map with a single symbol to show the distribution and reveal patterns. For example, when mapping a list of coffee shop locations, you may see coffee shops clustered together in a business district. Use the Cluster points check box to turn clustering on or off. To change the symbol, modify its color and size, or upload your own, use the Symbol drop-down menu.

Counts and amounts (color)

Map numeric information by color to highlight data variances. For example, a light-to-dark color theme can show low-to-high data values. Click More options to choose a style for the symbols, change the attribute being mapped, and adjust the graph. Check the Classify data check box to adjust the classification method and breaks.

Counts and amounts (size)

Use an orderable sequence of proportional sizes to represent numerical data or ranked categories. Larger symbols indicate larger numbers. Click More options to choose a style for the symbols, change the attribute being mapped, and adjust the graph and clusters. Use the Size sliders to adjust the relative size of the symbols. Check the Classify data check box to adjust the classification method and breaks.

Type (unique symbols)

Use unique symbols to show different types of things rather than numerical counts. For example, use different colors to represent restaurant cuisine types. It is recommended that your layer show fewer than 10 types, as more types become difficult to distinguish. By default, the 10 most common types are shown, and additional types are grouped together in an Others group. Click More options to choose a style for the symbols and set the color ramp, change the attribute, or edit the symbols individually. Use the Cluster points check box to turn clustering on or off.

Heat map

Map the location of a large number of point features that are close together and aren't easily distinguishable. Heat maps use the points in a layer to calculate and display the relative density of points on the map as colors ranging from cool (low density of points) to hot (many points). Best practice is to avoid heat maps if there are only a few points; instead, map the individual points. Click More options to adjust the color gradient. Use the Area of influence slider to adjust the clusters. Using the Select tool, you can select heat map polygons or select underlying point data to create rings, drive times, or walk times.

Color & Size

Map two attributes in your data and finalize the color and size of point symbols on the map. You can use the same attribute twice: first to set the size of the symbols and again to set the colors, based on the part of the data you want to emphasize. This is suitable when you want to show count information, such as total population, shaded by a variable, such as population density.

Types & Size

Use unique symbols to show different types of things, with the size of the symbol representing a count. For example, use different colors to represent restaurant chains, and use different sizes to represent the number of employees. It is recommended that your layer show fewer than 10 types; more types become difficult to distinguish. By default, the 10 most common types are shown, and additional types are grouped together in an Others category. Click More options to choose a style for the symbols, change the attributes being mapped, or edit the symbols individually.

Set preferences

You can set preferences for ArcGIS Community Analyst in the app preferences. For the points of interest search workflow, you can choose a symbol for the search results and include industry descriptions in the results table. Administrators can set preferences for the entire organization.

To set the workflow preferences, do the following:

1. On the top ribbon, click Preferences .

   The Preferences window appears.

2. To set the default points of interest data source, expand the General section and click Settings. In the Points of Interest data source section, use the Select data source drop-down menu to choose a points of interest data source.
3. Expand the Maps section, expand the Create maps section, and click Points of interest search.
4. You can set the following preferences:

   • Use the Symbol drop-down menu to select or upload a symbol for search results.

   • Check the Include industry descriptions in search results table check box.

   • Check the Find related POI check box to perform a semantic search, returning variables related to the search terms you entered.

5. To restore the default settings, click Restore defaults.
6. To save your changes, click Save or, optionally, click Save and close to close the Preferences window. To view your changes, refresh the app.

Workflow video

Learn more about Points of Interest Search.

Note:

This video was created using Business Analyst Web App, in which the user experience and workflows are identical to ArcGIS Community Analyst.