For my geocoding lab, I decided to map out all of the In-N-Out Burger locations throughout Los Angeles county and show where they are in relation to the county's airports. I put two buffer rings around the airports, each representing two miles, so the buffers ultimately cover four miles from any airport in the county. I made it a point to clearly distinguish which In-N-Out Burgers fell within these buffer zones. I demarcated the three major commercial airports in the county, probably the three most relevant for this map, by labeling them with their three letter IATA (International Air Transport Association) codes: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Burbank's Bob Hope Airport (BUR), and Long Beach Municipal Airport (LGB).
I made this map because to many people, In-N-Out is a quintessential part of Southern California culture (although recently it has branched out to Northern California, Arizona, and Utah). One may argue that this food staple could be comparable to San Francisco's clam chowder and bread bowls. Many locals believe In-N-Out is a must have, especially for those who are visiting from out of town. Arriving into the Los Angeles area after a long flight, people may want to get something to eat right after they get off the plane. They may specifically want In-N-Out or decide they just want something to eat, as long as it's nearby and they can get it quickly. This map is for those people, who arrive at an airport and wonder if there's an In-N-Out nearby.
I went online and Google searched for address databases for various sorts of places but the closest thing I really found was on the in-n-out website, which was a printable chart listing the address of all their locations grouped by region, complete with concise driving directions to each one. For the reasons of easily accessible address data and an optimum amount of locations for the project within my target area, I chose to geocode In-N-Out. By means of of copying and pasting, I put all the addresses into an excel chart and I used an online zip code locator to find the zip codes for the addresses, which was necessary for geocoding using the address locator I was using on ArcMap.
It was very convenient having all the addresses being matched to their locations of the streets layer, and the ones that were initially unmatched I was quickly able to resolve. Had I had to place each point on the map myself, chances are that it would have taken much more time and the map would have less integrity. The buffer and select by location tools proved to be very useful in the creation of this map as they allowed me to easily where features were in relation to other locations. I can see geocoding coming in handy for the vast majority of GIS projects, and now that I have been introduced to it and have been applying it myself, I can see how important it is.
Data:
| Addresses | Zip codes |
| 1210 N. Atlantic Blvd. | 91801 |
| 420 N. Santa Anita Ave. | 91006 |
| 324 S. Azusa Ave. | 91702 |
| 13850 Francisquito Ave. | 91706 |
| 761 N. First St. | 91502 |
| 1371 N. Grand Ave. | 91722 |
| 13425 Washington Blvd. | 90291 |
| 21133 Golden Springs Rd. | 91789 |
| 8767 Firestone Blvd. | 90241 |
| 310 N. Harvey Dr. | 91206 |
| 119 S. Brand Ave. | 91204 |
| 1261 S. Lone Hill Ave. | 91773 |
| 14620 E. Gale Ave. | 91745 |
| 7009 Sunset Blvd. | 90028 |
| 6000 Pacific Blvd. | 90255 |
| 17849 E. Colima Rd. | 91748 |
| 21620 Valley Blvd. | 91789 |
| 3411 W. Century Blvd. | 90303 |
| 14341 Firestone Blvd. | 90638 |
| 15259 E. Amar Rd. | 91744 |
| 2098 Foothill Blvd. | 91750 |
| 5820 Bellflower Blvd. | 90713 |
| 2021 West Avenue | 93536 |
| 6391 E. Pacific Coast Hwy. | 90803 |
| 4600 Los Coyotes Diagonal | 90815 |
| 7691 Carson St. | 90808 |
| 9245 W. Venice Blvd. | 90034 |
| 25220 N. The Old Rd. | 91321 |
| 5864 Lankershim Blvd. | 91601 |
| 9858 Balboa Blvd. | 91325 |
| 8830 Tampa Ave. | 91324 |
| 13651 Roscoe Blvd. | 91402 |
| 2114 E. Foothill Blvd. | 91107 |
| 9070 Whittier Blvd. | 90660 |
| 2505 Garey Ave. | 91766 |
| 1851 Indian Hill Blvd. | 91767 |
| 19901 Rinaldi St. | 91326 |
| 3801 Inglewood Ave. | 90278 |
| 4242 N. Rosemead Blvd. | 91770 |
| 11455 Laurel Canyon Blvd. | 91340 |
| 28368 Sand Canyon Rd. | 91387 |
| 26401 Bouquet Canyon Rd. | 91350 |
| 10525 Carmenita Rd. | 90670 |
| 4444 Van Nuys Blvd. | 91403 |
| 3640 Cahuenga Blvd. | 90068 |
| 10601 E. Lower Azusa Rd. | 91780 |
| 24445 Crenshaw Blvd. | 90505 |
| 730 W. Carson St. | 90502 |
| 6225 Foothill Blvd. | 91042 |
| 7220 N. Balboa Blvd. | 91406 |
| 2940 E. Garvey Ave. | 91791 |
| 15610 San Bernardino Rd. | 91722 |
| 9149 S. Sepulveda Blvd. | 90045 |
| 922 Gayley Ave. | 90024 |
| 19920 Ventura Blvd. | 91364 |
