A method for locating neighboring data geometries of a query geometry. A minimum bounding rectangle of the query geometry is determined. A minimum bounding rectangle of each data geometry is determined. Candidate data geometries are identified by determining if a distance between the minimum bounding rectangle of the query geometry and the data geometry is less than a threshold distance. A distance between the query geometry and the candidate data geometry is mathematically calculated when a number of candidate data geometries equals a threshold number or when no more data geometries remain.