Business Analyst Basemap Layers

[TWChi]

This is the first year I've used the new method of connecting the locally installed Business Analyst data to ArcGIS Pro and I'm noticing that it only comes with a non-editable basemap layer. In previous years, I always extracted and installed the data locally and it came with editable basemap layers that varied based on the scale of the map. Were these basemap layers removed from the 2023 update? This was a really valuable feature and somewhat justified the high cost of Business Analyst for Desktop. Will I be able to continue using the 2022 basemap layers indefinitely? Is there any other way to get these basemap layers?

[kwatsonredlands · Accepted solution]

Greetings @TWChi - we're glad to see you were able to "connect" to your local dataset. This is a popular feature users are loving.

You are correct that the latest 2023 data contains a non-editable basemap. This is vector tile-based and uses the mobile file geodatabase (MGDB), instead of the file geodatabase (FGDB) format. The benefits of a MGDB include increased speed and processing, lower file size, faster geocoding and routing, ArcGIS Pro support.

But we still do provide the traditional Business Analyst ArcMap files you are used to - these being the older geocoding locators, FGDB basemap layers, and FGDB street network. To access these you need to download what we call the "ArcMap Compatibility Pack". These files are included on My Esri in the same page location as the 2023 data. You need to download these files, unzip, and install them + the 2023 data (actually run the install setups, not use the "connect" option). We have a comprehensive doc page that outlines this process here: https://doc.arcgis.com/en/business-analyst/desktop/installing-business-analyst-data.htm?rsource=http...

It's good feedback that your use case is to work with the individual layers.

Please let us know if we can assist further.

Kyle and the ArcGIS Business Analyst product team

[TWChi]

Thanks for the explanation, Kyle! I can see the upside to using the mobile file geodatabase, but there will probably be times when we'll want to use the editable layers as well so I'll go ahead and install instead of connect. Going forward I suppose it might make sense for us to just create custom basemaps instead.