How to name spatial area given a list of zip codes?

[dataguyW]

I have a list of zip codes that define a boundary and would like to use the names of the zip codes to give a name to that area based on the geography that it covers.

My first thought was to look up the city code (zip name) and add up the population and then concatenate CITY1/CITY2/CITY3 as the name.  I am just looking for a general geographic area.

Is there any way to take the Upper/Lower zips to use those that better describe the actual boundary  (top left --> bottom right).    Any thoughts appreciated.

[Ben_H]

Hi @dataguyW,

You could combine your inputs, then use the spatial info tool to give you "Bounding Rectangle as X and Y fields".

This would let you then name your file with the geographic coordinates (top left and bottom right if you want) that contains all of your input geographies.

Regards,

Ben

[dataguyW]

@Ben_H  I did an experiment with Bounding Rectangle and was able to get an X,Y field.  This would be fine if I just needed a key field for the system, but I am trying to get the nearest zip code to the upper X,Y and lower X,Y.    I am not that well versed on the spatial tools to know how to pull that off.  

My intent is to end up with a string that a user can look at and know the approximate area that is being referred to.   These would be managers that are knowledgable about the geography they cover already so they should know the area given a few city names (zip -descriptions).

[Ben_H · Accepted solution]

Hi @dataguyW

In that case you can change the spatial info tool to output "Bounding Rectangle as Points", this will give you two points BR_TopLeft and BR_BottomRight spatial points, you could then use the find nearest tool to identify the nearest Zip Code to each.

If you have some sample data I could put together an example for you.

Regards,

Ben

[dataguyW]

I did test that idea @Ben_H  to get the rectangle as X,Y coordinates.  I then created a point from the top/left and another for the bottom right and ran it through two "find nearest" tools and it was able to get what I was looking for.  I'm not sure that this is the method I will use as sometimes it is more confusing if the closest zips are not well known, but it absolutely works.