Topic: If you have ever driven through North Tampa you will likely notice that there are a large number of new and used car dealerships along a stretch of Florida Avenue that transects much of the area. The same can be said for the western side of Dale Mabry Highway between Hillsborough and MLK Avenues, as well as the stretch of Highway 60 between Highway 301 and Interstate 75. The concept of agglomeration is certainly nothing unique to the automotive industry. However, the physical and demographic makeup of a location where economic agglomeration occurs varies greatly. The causes of economic agglomeration also vary from one industry to another.
Purpose: I think that I would like use this opportunity to further explore the relationship between the 500-plus new and used car dealerships and their location in Hillsborough County. In addition to their physical locations, I would like to conduct analyses on:
- The current demographic makeup of the residential areas surrounding clusters of dealerships.
- How the demographic makeup of the residential areas surrounding clusters of dealerships has changed over time.
- The relationships (if any) that occur when dealerships are closely clustered to each other.
- The diffusion of sales volume as the distance of a dealership increases from the center of a cluster of dealerships.
Data: Most, if not all, of the data should be readily available online. Below is a list of the types of data that will be used in the project:
- Car dealership location data (referenceusa.com and BBB)
- Parcel data (Florida DOR)
- Demographic data for the study area (census.gov, fgdl.org, etc.)
Results: Although my proposal is somewhat broad at the moment, I think that there should be some specific answers to the topics mentioned in the purpose statement. Based on looking at the distribution of car dealerships and my own knowledge of Hillsborough County, I would suspect that the current clusters were established on what was once the edge of development in Hillsborough County. Over time each cluster of dealerships was (1) encompassed by residential and/or commercial development, leaving them in a more urbanized location; and (2) each cluster of dealerships continued to be reinforced with the addition of newer dealerships. Additionally, I would suspect the residential areas surrounding the clusters of dealerships to have experienced a state of economic stagnation or decline after the dealership clusters were established (keeping in mind that any occurrence of economic stagnation or decline in a residential area was the result of multiple factors and not exclusively caused by the establishment of a cluster of car dealerships). With regard to the spatial relationships between dealerships, I would expect to see similar sales volumes at new car dealerships in the same cluster and a higher variance in sales volume for a new car dealership that is not part of a cluster; with sales volumes generally trending downward the further away a new car dealership is from a cluster. I also suspect that the same expectations would apply towards used car dealerships.
Method of Presentation: Honestly, it is rather difficult for me to put too much thought into my method of presentation at this moment. It will ultimately depend on what the final output of my project is. Given what data I have already collected and the results I am expecting to produce, I suppose that a PowerPoint presentation with some static maps will provide the best format to discuss the background, methods, and results of the project. A final summary of everything could be better visualized in a web application, however. Therefore, I will look to incorporate it into my project. My preference on what kind of application is still unknown at this point.
Even with everything that I just said, I am not fully committed to the topic that I am proposing. In fact, I could feel myself getting overwhelmed as I typed this up. I will take the next week to see if the data I think I need are available and if the project is practical in nature, given the amount of time we have to work on it. If anything, I may scale the project back a bit and focus on one or two of the ideas mentioned in the Purpose section.
rwmckengis6307 