[postgis-users] optimal database design question

[Matthew Perry]

Hey,
  So I've got 6 shapfiles (representing counties, streams, roads, towns, places and USGS Quad boundaries)  that I'm trying to bring into PostGIS. The user will specify one of the polygon features. My goal is to perform a spatial query selecting ALL other features that fall within the specified polygon. 
 
My question is: Should I put the features from all 6 shapfiles into a single table, mixing points, lines and polys into one huge table with a relatively simple SQL query. OR would it be more efficient to have 6 tables and write a more complex query (or multiple queries?) Has anyone evaluated these two methods based on execution speed and/or ease of data import?
 
Thanks,
Matt Perry
Humboldt State University
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