Census 2000 will include significant changes to the TIGER database and to the questionnaires that will be distributed to the public.

Several important changes are in the works for Census 2000. 
The most controversial change, which is the introduction of statistical sampling designed to reduce

A Commentary on MicroSoft’s MapPoint 2000 Announcement

I suspect that someday we will reflect on November 3, 1998 as a turning point for the business geographics industry.  For a long time prior to that day, we perceived ourselves in a niche industry wondering when we might draw the atte

The retail sector continues to evolve to the point where today, definitions such as Drug Store, Convenience Store, and Department Store are losing their meaning and the future of retail may be plain vanilla.

Things change, and change often occurs so gradually that you don’t notice it unt

When Scott Elliott asked me to contribute to Directions, I jumped at the opportunity.  As an industry consultant and observer, I had admired his former company, Wessex, for years.  Wessex was not the gorilla in the marketplace, but was an important lynchpin—a lynchpin for the many might-be geogra

Metropolitan area growth over the next five years offers something for everyone. Atlanta attracts families – black, white, Hispanic and other ethnicities.  Some come for economic opportunity. Others seek the solace of the South in lieu of urban chaos in the North. Elsewhere, newly hatched deser

Bootus uppus, don’tus crashus, all I want is simple Web Access.  Make it quick, without a glitch, or ISPs I will switch.

I listened to the soft hush of the cooling fan, watched the small intense green, red and yellow lights, A bright 20-inch monitor that keeps changing, flickering, and drawi

Let’s be clear about the sampling issue.

The Census Bureau has been using sampling for years. Detailed socioeconomic data collected on the long form have always come from a representative sample of households.  The plan for Census 2000 is a proposal to augment the traditional census with three s

Dear Reader:

For about 10 years, until this Fall, I played a minor role in the desktop mapping and demographics industry as the founder and President of a data publishing company called Wessex, based here in Chicago.  On September 1, 1998, after that company was purchased by Geographic Data Techn

Directions Magazine is the creation of a long-distance, virtual synergy of an editorial team scattered between the Pacific Northwest and Upstate New York.  We are collectively connected through the Internet and motivated by a mission to provide you with accurate, interesting and timely mapping and