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Politics & Government

Deputy City Manager Thinks Takoma Park Was Shorted in Census Count

The city had 17,299 residents in 2000 and 16,715 residents in 2010, even though the bureau estimated Takoma Park's population at 18,207 in 2009.

The city of Takoma Park lost 584 residents between the years 2000 and 2010 according to census data released April 1.

The city had 17,299 residents in 2000 and 16,715 residents in 2010, even though the bureau estimated Takoma Park’s population at 18,207 in 2009.

Deputy City Manager Suzanne Ludlow believes the city was undercounted in 2010 and has been reviewing the data to determine where they may have gone wrong.

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“[Some] blocks that are just single family homes had a real increase in number of households and some had a real decrease in number of households- I have no understanding of why that might happen,” she said.

One theory Ludlow suggested for part of the decrease is that the residents of three apartment buildings in the city were temporarily displaced due to building renovations during the time of the census count.

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“These folks are moving right back in, so it’s not like we have a permanent decrease in population. They just didn’t happen to be there on the census date, so what do we do? Basically we suffer for 10 years at the fact that some of these folks weren’t counted due to temporary displacement?” Ludlow said.

Two of the buildings being renovated, Takoma Overlook and Hampshire Tower are located right next to each other.  Many residents moved out of their condominiums in Takoma Overlook and into the Hampshire Tower apartments during the renovations, according to Simona Peterson, the manager for Hampshire Tower.

Resident of Takoma Overlook, Isha Sesay did just that. “Lots of people moved into the other building,” she said. But she thought many other residents moved out of the area as well.

At the third apartment building, Mapleview Apartments, manager Patricia Webb is sure her building was counted correctly.

 “The census bureau was in and out of this apartment building 6 or 7 times…they were adamant about knowing which apartments were vacant and who was in what apartments,” she said. "It got to the point where I felt like I was working for the census bureau."

Even if the city’s population loss is only temporary, it could affect funding the city receives for programs.

“It could affect us compared to other Montgomery County jurisdictions because often we get a portion of what comes to Montgomery County,” Ludlow said.  “If we have fewer [residents] compared to Rockville or Silver Spring…we lose ranking compared to the other jurisdictions because Montgomery County is just growing.”

If cities disagree with their population count they may file a complaint with the Count Question Resolution branch of the Census Bureau for their populations to be reassessed. In order to do so, cities must internally find where the data faltered and report it to the Census Bureau within a two-year block in order to be considered.

The process to file a complaint starts on June 1 and cities have until June 1 2013 to collect their data and submit it to the bureau.

“We will have to go through systematically, block by block.” Ludlow said. I have a tedious job ahead of me.”

After the 2000 census, 1,180 jurisdictions filed a complaint with Count Question Resolution. After reviewing all the cases, 2,700 people were added to the national population.

“Frankly, in looking at these numbers, because they go up and down on different blocks throughout the city, I don’t know if we can successfully do a challenge,” Ludlow said.  “It’s kind of like if you’re balancing your checkbook and you’re off by a small amount. It just drives you nuts.”

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