New or Improved Data Layers
The following are descriptions of some of the newest or newly-improved data layers available through REGIS ArcGIS 9 applications. Jump directly to:
Federal Aid Urban Area Boundary 
The Federal Aid Urban Area Boundary is now available through the REGIS ArcGIS Layer Manager. This boundary separates the urban and rural areas as determined by the FHWA, MDOT and GVMC Transportation in regard to roads and transportation-related funding. Find this layer in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Transportation > Federal Aid Urban Area Boundary.
Building Footprints
A limited number of building footprints are being added to the system on a unit-by-unit basis. At present, these footprints are mainly for the public buildings (e.g. city halls, libraries, post offices, schools) and other major facilities (major shopping malls, other landmark structures) in units that request this data for mapping purposes. Find this layer in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Landbase > Building Footprints.
Trails & Bikeways
The Trails & Bikeways data layer is being updated with many miles of newly-added facilities, including the North Country Trail, the Paul Henry Thornapple Trail and several proposed trails, such as the M-6/South Beltline Trail. Find this layer in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Transportation > Trails & Bikeways.
FEMA Draft 2005 Flood Zones
FEMA has been working across the country with local and municipal GIS organizations to completely overhaul and update their FIRMS. This data will eventually replace the flood zone data which has been available through REGIS for the past several years. The "Draft 2005 Flood Zones" data is DRAFT data and is not yet final. It has been released to the local units of government for use duing the narrow public comment window. Please note that all products derived using this data should be tagged as "DRAFT." Find this layer in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Environmental > FEMA Flood Zones 2005 DRAFT.
ZIP Codes
At long last, ZIP Code data is becoming available through REGIS. This data is being created locally by REGIS Agency staff down to the parcel boundary level. Every parcel is assigned a site address and each address essentially belongs to a ZIP Code. While most ZIP Code-based GIS layers are merely rough approximations, this layer is being painstakingly constructed to follow parcel boundaries and, as such, might not look like the traditional ZIP Code information you have seen elsewhere. As it is being constructed, the new ZIP Code layer represents ZIP Codes as they were in 2004. Several ZIP Code changes have occurred recently and those will be incorporated into this new layer shortly. Find this layer in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Planning > ZIP Codes.
Parks
Parks data for several comminities has been updated and standardized, in part to improve the functionality of the REGIS ParkFinder IMS website. Local golf courses have been added and many recent park boundary changes have been included. Find this layer in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Planning > Parks.
GVMC Traffic Counts
A new batch of traffic counts for Federal Aid streets, road and highways across the metropolitan region have been added into system and are available for use. The traffic count data is currently formulated as points with the various data fields associated with those point locations. Additional Traffic Count data is planned. Find this layer in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Transportation > Traffic Counts .
Updated Census Geography
The Census layers have been updated to reflect the changes made during the 2000 Census, replacing the existing 1990 Census geography. Also, at present, the Census Blocks layer actually contains several additional demographic fields populated with the appropriate statistics (e.g. population, households, percent female, etc.) in addition to the basic geography. Find these layers in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Planning > Census Blocks, Census Block Groups, Census Tracts.
More Robust Geocoding Data
The data used for geocoding within ArcGIS 9.0 has been greatly improved and updated. Not only have fields such as street name, prefix direction, suffix and address ranges been updated and corrected, REGIS ArcGIS 9.0 users are actually geocoding against the "live" street centerline data when geocoding to streets, which means improved results and as the street centerline data is updated, this new information is automatically available for geocoding! Find the Single Address geocoder in REGIS ArcGIS 9 at the Find icon (the binoculars) under the Addresses tab.
Oil & Gas Wells
This is data assembled and published by the State of Michigan and acquired by the City of Walker. They have shared this countywide dataset with all REGIS Users, who can find these layers in the REGIS ArcGIS 9 Layer Manager: Environmental > Oil & Gas Wells - Bottom, - Directional Lines, - Permitted, - Plugged and - Surface.