Foreclosures Are Complicating Matters for the All Important Census of 2010

June 22nd, 2009

Foreclosed homes are complicating matters for the all important census of 2010 that is only one year ahead. The preparations are on in full pace.

In April this year the Census Bureau has begun verifying addresses all over the country. It wants to be sure about the accuracy of its information before mailing out the census forms to each family in 2010. But the increasing number of evictions from foreclosures in Minnesota and across the country has made the task doubly challenging for the census authorities.

In Minnesota there is a lot at stake in the census count as the grant of federal funds are dependent on these numbers. The census figure is also the deciding factor in the number of seats in the Congress each state is entitled to. The officials of the state explain that missing out on 2,000 residents in the count could result in Minnesota losing one seat in the Congress. The political clout of the sate in Washington would depend on what figures are noted by the census officials in the eastern region of St. Paul.

In the eastern side of St. Paul there are nearly 20,000 houses and roughly 10% of them are lying empty thanks to foreclosure said Jim Erchul of Neighborhood Housing Services of Dayton Bluff. He heads a non-profit organization that purchases many of the foreclosed units in this locality, refurbishes them before selling them again. Driving through the neighbourhood closed to Metro State University he points to the rows of abandoned houses – one of the worst hit localities hit by foreclosures. Within half an hour he points to one block after another dotted with empty houses.

North Minneapolis has a higher foreclosure count. Erchul calculates that the average family size in this east side consists of 3.8 people. This means more than 6,000 people have left just one locality. Erchul says it is impossible to find out where these families have forked out to.

Dennis Johnson of Census Bureau (regional director said, “Operationally, we’re just counting houses and whoever lives there just like we’ve always done. We just know that there’s this growing issue that’s happening all across the county that we’re going to have to handle somewhat differently. Those people are somewhere and we need to make sure we count them somewhere.” That “somewhere” could be anywhere – with family, friends, in a motel, car or a shelter for the homeless.