Zip code radius searches

From: Chris Ulrich <culrich_at_mail.cydian.com>
Date: Fri 11 Apr 2003 08:17:48 -0600

<sub-snip>

>Also, the ZIP SEARCH produces disappointing results, because it narrows the
>results down to just that zip. Although there were about 15 dentists listed
>in Omaha, only ONE appeared under the zip search for 68134.
>I recommend listing all dentists exactly in ZIP 68134, followed by all
>dentists in the CITY that the zip is closest to. If a dentist does happen
>to located EXACTLY within that zip code, your search returns zero results,
>which is disappointing a lot of people.

I know there are ways of doing this kind of zip code radius search. I'm
looking to do something similar for an unrelated project. Can anyone shed
light on this? Do I need to purchase a database? Is it free from the
gov't (maybe census)?

And then how do you compute which zips fall in which radius? Is there a
formula? A program that must be purchased, etc? We are coding in Cold
Fusion, so if anyone has seen an easy way to do it there, please shed some
light!

Thanks

Chris




Received on Fri Apr 11 2003 - 09:17:48 CDT