Census And Redistricting

Charitable foundations and nonprofits are taking an unusually active role this year in trying to get an accurate census count. They say the people they serve have the most to benefit but are also among the least likely to participate.

Most Americans will get their 2010 census questionnaire sometime around March 15. Every 10 years, it's a challenge getting everyone to fill out their census forms and send them back to the government. read more >>

One River Place blends easily into the dense forest of Manhattan skyscrapers, its vanity address camouflaging its precise location. Still, even in New York City, a 40-story tower containing 900 apartments should be difficult to miss.

But the Census Bureau did. read more >>

As the 2010 census nears its official start in March, nonprofit leaders are raising serious concerns about the government’s ability to achieve an accurate tally in this once-a-decade population count.

In response, foundations have poured tens of millions of dollars into nonprofit census efforts, but many nonprofit leaders say much more is needed.read more >>

Some 100,000 people who were living in San Francisco on April 1, 2000, were not counted by that year’s Census workers, city officials have claimed.read more >>

For decades, predominantly rural and Republican districts have had extra clout in state and local legislative bodies because their large inmate populations were counted as local residents in apportioning representation. Now, the Census Bureau has agreed to give states a tool that could dilute the political power of those districts.read more >>

December 29, 2009

The Census Bureau gave political junkies a gift last week with the release of its latest population estimates, data that give very good indications of which states are set to gain congressional seats and which will lose them in the 2011 redistricting process.

According to Polidata projections (the best in the business), eight states are positioned to gain one or more seats in the remapping and 10 states are slated to lose a seat or more.read more >>

December 24, 2009

With the 2010 decennial census bearing down on us, the time for congressional reapportionment is right around the corner.

And, as The Times’s Damien Cave and others have reported, if the data the Census Bureau released this week is any indication, recent trends in how seats are allocated in the House of Representatives will continue this go-round.read more >>

Dec. 14, 2009

A local $1.2-million foundation-led effort to boost participation in the 2010 Census is putting the Chicago area at the forefront of preparations for the decennial head-counting.

“Some groups and some areas are not as energized as others,” U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said Monday at a press briefing in Washington, D. C. “Chicago is a model for other regions” because local nonprofits are able to pursue outreach efforts with funding from a group of foundations and Chicago-based Boeing Co. read more >>

December 8, 2009

At a hearing last week, the House census subcommittee highlighted outreach and promotion activities for the 2010 count. The focus wasn’t on the Census Bureau’s extensive communications program but on grassroots organizations, state and local governments, and businesses – sectors that are operating in what I call a “parallel universe” to help ensure an inclusive count in all communities. read more >>