1. Chinatown in Chicago 2. Student center The market research assignment is a group discussion that includes uploading your research files. You will use Site to Do Business to conduct market research on two sites and share your insights with your group. Directions to log on to Site to Do Business: (more detailed instructions and screenshots can be found in the Instructions document)

Assignment: Enter both sites into STDB; compare and contrast them; share with your group1. Locations. For the first site, you can use your childhood home, a friend’s home, where you live now, or any other location. Just make sure it is an area you are already somewhat familiar with. Some of you may decide to choose an urban area, such as a dorm or apartment building in the Loop. Also, remember that you will be uploading these reports to your group. If you don’t want to share your home address with the group, you can use one that is nearby or select a completely different one.  The second site is 2250 N Sheffield, which is the Student Center at  Lincoln Park campus.

2. Geographic boundaries. After selecting the addresses, you will need to decide what geographic boundary you want to use around that site. You can use rings, walk times or drive times. For a location like Lincoln Park campus, it might make sense to use a 10 minute walk time. For a suburban location, you might want to use a drive time or a something like 2 or 3 mile rings around your site. You decide–and make sure you explain what you decided and why you made that choice.

3. Reports. You should make PDF copies of any STDB report you used so that you can upload them your group discussion. There are many reports to choose from, but make sure you run at least these three:Community Profile: this contains many of the basic demographic trends you will be looking for.

Tapestry Segmentation Report: this will provide you with a list of the dominant segments in your area and their respective percentage of the population. Each segment name is actually a hyperlink to a 3-page report that summarizes the characteristics of that segment. You should save a copy of each segment report. Site MapIn your discussion post, describe the demographic trends, making sure you comment on the following. Are any of these very different from national averages?

Population Daytime population # of households % college educated Average household size Age Median household income Percapita income Home ownership vs renters Tapestry Segmentation: identify the top 3 segments by name what percent does each account for population in the 1-mile ring (or walk-time or drive-time, if you used one of those) briefly describe each of the top 3 segments. Who are they and what do they like/dislike? Share with your group your insights of both neighborhoods. Were you surprised by anything you saw? Did you see any differences between the data in the different geographies?  

Population should increase as you expand the area, but did any other characteristics change as you expanded to 3 and 5 miles or from a 5-minute walk to a 15-minute walk?Describe your findings to your group and include in your summary comments on what you found surprising or intriguing. Don’t forget to upload your STDB reports to this discussion.