NEW ORLEANS, LA (March 20, 2008) - Mayor C. Ray Nagin, flanked by members of the New Orleans City Council, as well as business, community and tourism leaders, announced today that he will challenge the U.S. Census Bureau's estimate of the population of New Orleans, which was released publicly today. The estimate is substantially lower than local demographers have projected and could cost the City tens of millions of dollars in federal assistance if not revised.
"It is essential to our recovery that we challenge these estimates and ensure that the Census Bureau arrives at a more realistic count. This low estimate has the potential to negatively impact the image of our city and to discourage our citizens from returning," Mayor Nagin said. "It also could cost us as much as $56 million in federal assistance to programs that educate children, care for the elderly, provide mental health and substance abuse assistance, and meet other critical community needs."
The Census Bureau estimates that New Orleans had a population of 239,124 on July 1, 2007. The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, or GNOCDC, (working with the Brookings Institution) estimated the City's population at 302,000 at that point and GCR and Associates estimated that 281,000 people lived in the City.
"As chair of the Budget Committee for the New Orleans City Council, I am concerned about the loss of funds that this low estimate could mean for our city and community organizations," said Councilmember Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. "In this time of recovery, we need assurance that we will receive every dollar possible to help rebuild our city and provide the services that our children, seniors and families need and deserve."
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Allison Plyer of GNOCDC and Greg Rigamer of GCR and Associates will lead the challenge. They will define alternate methodologies for more accurately measuring the City's population. The challenge must be completed in 180 days.
The Census bases its estimates on the decennial census counts. The Census Bureau adds births, subtracts deaths, and uses changes of address filed on IRS tax returns and Medicare forms to determine the number of people who moved in or out of a city. In addition, the Census uses records of legal immigration to determine international migration.
Because many people don't file taxes, particularly poor people, and because there is much international immigration that is not legal, these methods generate imperfect estimates.Every 10 years, the Census compares its estimates to the decennial Census results. In 2000, they found that their county level estimates were off by an average of 3.3 percent.Two out of three counties were underestimated, and counties that were rapidly growing or had a lot of international immigration were among those with the largest error rates.
"We look forward to working with the City of New Orleans in developing the documentation necessary for this challenge," said Plyer. "It is important to every New Orleans resident that we arrive at a realistic count of our population."
The population estimates for 2007 will impact the City's federal funding until the 2010 Census is completed. The value, over three years, of increasing the 2007 population estimates follows:
Increase of 10,000$ 9,317,310
Increase of 20,000$18,634,619
Increase of 30,000$27,951,929
Increase of 40,000$37,269,239
Increase of 50,000$46,586,548
Increase of 60,000$55,903,858
"This is an issue of critical importance to our entire community," said Rigamer. "We will work with the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center to determine and document a population that more accurately reflects the status of our city."
I do, around 172,000, but when Pink Floyd comes to town that number can swell by around 80,000. Written by ...By the numbers
on 3/20/2008
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We would have a better chance of getting government funds if Ray Nagin would just shut up!The census numbers are flawed for a reason and there's not much we can do about it. Poor people and especially poor blacks simply do not fill out government census forms because of a deep seeded distrust of the government. This is a fact. We have to deal with the numbers the Government has.We have never really had an accurate picture of just how many people are in the city. When it was announced that section 8 rental vouchers were being made available recently, it was estimated that there were people from 4 states in the huge crowd.Was this true? Nobody knows! How many people are in New Orleans? Nobody knows! Written by poboy1
on 3/20/2008
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Time;
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day;;;;
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way,,,,,,
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town,,,
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way......
Tired of lying in the sunshine,,
Staying home to watch the rain......
And you are young and life is long,,
And there is time to kill today........
And then one day you find,,
Ten years have got behind you.....
No one told you when to run,
You missed the starting gun,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking,,,,
Racing around to come up behind you again......
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older and gray,,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.....
Every year is getting shorter,,
Never seem to find the time...
Plans that either come to nought,,,
Or half a page of scribbled lines ,,,
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way,,,,
The time is gone,,,
The song is over,,,
Thought I'd something more to say,,,,,
Home, home again,,,,,,,,
I like to be here when I can............
when I come home cold and tired,,,,,,,
it's good to warm my bones beside the fire,,,
far away across the field,
the tolling of the iron bell,,,,
calls the faithful to their knees....
to hear the softly spoken magic spells............Run rabbit run
dig that hole, forget the sun,,,,,,,
and when at last the work is done,,,,,,,
don't sit down,,, it's time to dig another one....
for long you live and high you fly,,,
but only if you ride the tide,,,,
and balanced on the biggest wave,,,,
you race towards an early grave......................All that you touch and all that you see
all that you taste, all you feel,,,
and all that you love and all that you hate,,,
all you distrust, all you save,,
and all that you give and all that you deal,,,
and all that you buy, beg, borrow or steal....
and all you create and all you destroy,,,,
and all that you do and all that you say.....
and all that you eat and everyone you meet,,,,
and all that you slight and everyone you fight....
and all that is now and all that is gone,,,,
and all that's to come and everything under the sun is in tune,,,,,,,,,
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, There really is no dark side to the moon, in fact it is all dark......................Leur Cirque du côté en noir de la lune
Written by ....anti prologos
on 3/20/2008
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Maybe he can have a La-La Palooza sleep over concert and count the guests as residents while it is going on!!!!!!!! That ougt ta keep da feds gesssing. Written by Heres a fix 4 U Nananagin.................
on 3/20/2008
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