Population loss

[jbinbny]

Does anyone feel as I do that the latest Census Bureau numbers might be wrong? And if so should we have hired a private firm, like many cities have done, to give us a more accurate count.

In most cases we find the bureau had undercounted by many thousands of people. I think this to be the case here as well.

Population numbers are a key factor in an area's allotment of federal aid money. In other words, the more citizens you have, the more $$$ you get!

[biker]

As I've said elsewhere, spending more public money to ferret out people who don't want to be counted so we can get funds to provide these people who are (probably) here illegally is the height of absurdity.

Station La Migra at ECMC and Social Services and the undercount and funding problem will both self-correct.

[jbinbny]

I understand your concern, really i do. But in this case I think spending the money is the right thing to do. The whole area would benefit, maybe not in a big way, but we would benefit.

That being said, we're always going to have illegals and welfare fraud cases unless the system is seriously overhauled. And I'm for that.

But I think that I dont ignore this latest census. The population numbers do play a big role in attracting new business. Not the main role but it is a fact.

We were once the 8th biggest city in the country!

We are now listed as the 62nd biggest!

While hiring a private firm wont put us back in the top ten, I think any good news for us is worth it. You need to stabilize your pop base before you can grow it.

[granpabob]

look arround we have no traffic for sale signs everywhere etc to me I would be afraid to find out they over counted .what would happen if you hired a firm and they said it was less people.
besides your talking millions to do a proper count of everyone. even if you find a few more people you might end up farther in the hole after spending that money

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Originally posted by jbinbny
Does anyone feel as I do that the latest Census Bureau numbers might be wrong? And if so should we have hired a private firm, like many cities have done, to give us a more accurate count.

In most cases we find the bureau had undercounted by many thousands of people. I think this to be the case here as well.

Population numbers are a key factor in an area's allotment of federal aid money. In other words, the more citizens you have, the more $$$ you get!

I think the states already do that as part of the census process. The census does its count, then the states come up with their own numbers...

I've heard it's hard to come up with accurate projections in small places, like towns and villages, because they are sooo small . But I think the general trends qre usually accurate.

[Chancellor Qu'noH]

Basically if someone doesn't want to be counted He or she can't be made to turn himself in. So how could a private firm get a more accurate count?

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Originally posted by Chancellor Qu'noH
Basically if someone doesn't want to be counted He or she can't be made to turn himself in. So how could a private firm get a more accurate count?

I think the states aren't doing body counts. They look at birth rates, deaths, past growth, trends in building permits -- and take an educated guess for the years between the actual census. I don't know how this differs from what the census does, but in the past the census has ticked off governments by supposedly under counting, which is why they do their counts.

[granpabob]

they dont under count . they count everyone who wants to be counted, aliens are afraid of the cencus as are many others, the only way to get a real count is to imform the people of just how important the count is to the area.
if you are allowed by your land lord to have four people in an apartment are you going to tell the cencus you have eight people. if your ex wants alimony are you going to tell the cencus where you live. the cencus is young men and women hired to count people not detectives who make a search all they can do is collect the imformation the public freely gives them,. you want a real count start now teaching the public and maybe the next cencus will be better. every cencus will be less then the actual population.

[atotaltotalfan2001]

Originally posted by granpabob
they dont under count . they count everyone who wants to be counted, aliens are afraid of the cencus as are many others, the only way to get a real count is to imform the people of just how important the count is to the area.
if you are allowed by your land lord to have four people in an apartment are you going to tell the cencus you have eight people. if your ex wants alimony are you going to tell the cencus where you live. the cencus is young men and women hired to count people not detectives who make a search all they can do is collect the imformation the public freely gives them,. you want a real count start now teaching the public and maybe the next cencus will be better. every cencus will be less then the actual population.


I didn't explain what I meant well enough. The census counts all the bodies it can find when it does its full out census every 10 years. But they also do projections for the years in between, and those look at birth rates, death rates, building permits etc. to make their estimations. If they were doing actual body counts, we'd be getting census forms every year and census takers knocking on our doors....

If you look on the census web site, which I think is www.census.gov, there should be info about how the various projections are done, as well as the regular census.

[NCnewbie]

Personally, I don't think the city/county/region has the money to do it and if they did that it wouldn't make much difference,

UNLESS, ...

We hire the BUFFALO NEWS! They always overcount festival attendance, why not give them a crack at the census?

We could have like, 100 ca-jillion people living here, you know?