A new startup is looking to open a new brewery in Redlands, California and want to know the most suitable location for them to open. In a city with several successful existing breweries and bars, finding this location will be important for the new startup to be successful. This project will seek to answer the question that given a set of criteria, where in Redlands, California are suitable locations to open up the brewery?

The study area for this project is in the city of Redlands in Southern California. Redlands is one of the oldest cities in California and was once known as the "navel orange capital of the world". Now, with a population of 73,168 , it can be known for its arts and culture scene with many local events such as performances in the Redlands Bowl. A new startup brewery would like to create their new brewery in the best location within the vibrant city.

This project utilizes the US Census Block group data for the populations and demographics of each group. Then, Google maps was used in order to digitize other major existing bars and breweries in the city. Next, the building parcel data used to determine the building type is from San Bernardino County Public Records. Finally, the parks and schools data layer, by the City of Redlands, is used to use as Criteria for the new location.

The criteria that the new brewery needs to follow is the following:

1. The new location should be more than 0.5 miles away from existing bars or breweries. This will reduce competition to the new brewery. F

2. The new location should also be more than 0.5 miles away from any schools or parks. This will reduce the chances of minors being exposed to alcohol related activities. This was given a weight of 0.15

3. The new location should be in an existing commercial and Industrial building that has been used as fast food, restaurant, light industrial, or general office. Restaurant and fast food building should already contain the necessary water lines for the brewery to use, and the industrial or general office types are generally equipped with the correct sprinkler, water, and sewer systems. 

4. The new location should not be more than 5,000 sq ft. Since most leases typically expressed in "price per square foot per year" (Woodenhill Brewing), it is beneficial to keep the costs of the lease lower. This will give the new startup a better chance to succeed with lower overhead costs.

5. The new location should be in a population block group with a higher population of adults between the ages of 25 and 44. This will be the target demographic of this brewery.

Since the study area is completely within the City of Redlands, CA, the projection used for this analysis is the NAD 1983 Stateplane California V FIPS 0405 Feet. This projection was used since almost all of the data was already in this system, and is completely contained in San Bernardino county, in zone V.

In order to analyze the most suitable location for the new brewery using these criteria, two methods have been utilized: The Boolean Method and the Ranked Suitability Method. Boolean Suitability Analysis uses Boolean Logic, most notably True or False, or ones and zeros to test whether a location on a map satisfies each criteria. If the criteria is satisfied, the location is more than 0.5 miles from an existing brewery, then the location is given a true setting. If it is not satisfied, then the location is given a false. Each criteria is given a different map layer that shows the areas of the true and false settings. Once each criteria has been analyzed and given a map layer, then all layers are put through the Intersect tool This tool uses the Boolean operation And, to determine where all of the criteria are satisfied, or have a true setting.

The Ranked Suitability Analysis Method is similar to the Boolean in some ways, but different in others. Instead of just a true or false statement, the ranked suitability method uses a ranking system for each criteria for areas that are highly suitable ranking down in steps to areas that are not suitable at all. For example, if an area is within 0.1 miles from an existing brewery, then it is given a 1 (not suitable), if between 0.1 and 0.25 miles a 2 Low Suitability, if between 0.25 and 0.5 miles a 3 (medium) and more than 0.5 miles a 4 (high suitablity). Once each criteria is analyzed and given a data layer map, then they are each given a weight, or a fraction to multiply it to. This allows more weight to be given to one criteria over another. Finally, each data layer is combined and multiplied by their respective weight. This creates an output on a map that shows where the highest suitability combination areas are located.

Since the request of the brewery owners requested that the brewery be within Redlands, the extent of this analysis was kept to within the major Redlands city boundaries. For the ranked suitability analysis, criteria one a weight of 0.25 was given. The location should be far enough from existing breweries, but can still be somewhat close if needed. For criteria two and three, I felt that the nearness to schools and parks was important, but not as important as the other criteria so a weight of 0.15 was given to each. Criteria 4 was the most important. I felt that even if the location had to be nearer to a park, school, or existing competition, if the block group had a large enough population of the target age group, then it would be suitable. Due to this reasoning, it was given a weight of 0.45. Finally, criteria 5 was set to a true or false. The building being located must be zoned as a commercial or industrial zone, and have a description of fast food, restaurant, light industrial, or general office. I felt that these descriptions had the lowest cost of remodel to suit the brewery's needs.

The Boolean suitability analysis showed 29 suitable locations based on the 5 criteria. The green points on the map represent a point inside each building's polygon. The map shows that the majority of available locations fall near Orange Tree Lane, Citrus Plaza shopping center ot he Tri-City Shopping Center. There is one other suitable location on the eastern boundary of the city that was not shown on the map to highlight the larger grouping shown.

The Ranked suitability analysis shows all the buildings available to house the brewery with a different color for each ranking. Dark green represents the most suitable locations, light green is medium suitability, orange is low suitability and red is not suitable. The large grouping of red an orange locations are too close to a school or other bars or breweries. area with the most suitable location is around the 10 and 210 freeway interchange. Within this area is the Citrus Plaza Shopping Center and the Tri-City Shopping Center.

This project answers the question: Given a set of criteria, where in Redlands, California are suitable locations to open up the brewery? The analysis shows that the most suitable locations are buildings around the 10 and 210 Interchange, inside either the Citrus Plaza Shopping Center, or the Tri City Shopping Center. While both methods of suitability analysis gave suitable locations that satisfied each criteria, the ranked suitability analysis allowed much more options. Comparing the two, they show higher suitability in the same areas, around Orange Tree Lane, Citrus Plaza Shopping Center, and the Tri-City Shopping Center. 

The major difference between the two locations are the additional locations found by the ranked suitability analysis just south of the 10 Freeway off W Park Avenue. Since the Boolean method is restricted to give locations that must satsify all the requirements, it resulted in a smaller quantity of suitable locations. The Ranked method is able to find more locations that could be used as fallback options if the highest suitability locations are not available. Since ranked suitability is calculated using weights, it will have a small discrepancy in the outputs on each. 

Limitations: However, since the project did not include or account for finding any vacant or "for lease" buildings, some of the suitable buildings may already be occupied. The ranked suitability method gives more results that can be used that may help this limitation. This project also assumes that the four building descriptors are the most suitable for a brewery and available for local permits and legal certifications. Lastly, a limitation to this project also assumes that the weights chosen for each of the criteria is the best combination for the needs of the brewery.

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