While administering and coordinating a census can seem like a tedious and trivial exercise, the census can help people in many areas determine the needs of a community. If the information is inaccurate, it can lead to underfunded areas and infrastructure that cannot meet the needs of the people.
Since the last census was in 2020, it came at a challenging time for the country. Many people were not prepared to answer a census, and others were making alternate arrangements to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
Now, Boston’s mayor, Kim Janey, is preparing to challenge the results of the census. Here’s what it could mean for Boston’s developers.
Why Mayor Janey is making a challenge
While many expected the census to have fewer results than a typical census year, Mayor Janey noticed two issues that could dramatically skew the results. First, most of Boston’s dorm-based college students were no longer living on or near campus because of COVID concerns. Second, there was a question on the census regarding citizenship that Janey thinks could have made respondents uncomfortable.
In the 2010 census, Boston saw response rates over 50 percent. However, in 2020, not only were there fewer responses, the areas with the lowest response rates were residential college student areas and areas occupied by foreign-born residents.
What will a challenge do?
The census results tend to have a direct impact on the funding the local, state and federal government allows for projects for the community. In Boston, it could mean reduced funding for things like housing projects.
As developers look to the future for what building opportunities may be available, those who work in the development of government-funded facilities could see budget reductions if the census results remain the same.
