The Census Bureau has released its latest estimate for 2011 population figures, and the news is definitely positive for New York City. The five boroughs are estimated to have grown by almost 60,000 people between July 1st 2010 and July 1st 2011, which is extremely impressive considering total growth for the past decade was just shy of 170,000. Extrapolated, New York will be well over 8.5 million by the next census, closing in on the 9 million mark.
 |
| Manhattan, by AngMoKio on Wikipedia |
While the growth shown by the estimate is a good thing, it does beg the question of whether the Census Bureau made errors in counting New York’s population in the official census back in 2010. City leaders have made allegations that the count was incorrect, including mayor Bloomberg, based on several reasons. The most obvious is New York playing host to a large immigrant population, which is very difficult to count for a host of reasons (language barriers, fear of government officials, etc). Another problem is that the doormen of New York were apparently quite uncooperative with Census volunteers, and many buildings were entirely missed by the latest count. The latest estimates would seem to give significant weight to these complaints, as the discrepancy between last year’s growth and the previous decade’s is quite large.
Putting complaints of accuracy aside, the latest estimates show robust growth across the entire city. Brooklyn grew the most, adding almost 25,000 residents. Manhattan and Queens both added roughly 15,000, while growth in the Bronx and Staten Island added a few thousand each.
Rapid growth in the city shows that the broader urban renaissance is continuing, as people are both moving back to cities and staying in cities, even after having children. Improving inner-city public schools is a major factor, given the tendency of people to move to the suburbs for better schools. Perhaps the most important reason is the changing economics of suburban life, as increasing fuel costs make driving more and more expensive. Investing in schools and infrastructure should be the city’s top priorities, as both are tied extremely close to the quality of urban life. Projects like the 7-line extension are fantastic in improving public infrastructure, but the growth the city is experiencing should encourage even more expansion–like the full Second Avenue subway, rather than just the Uptown portion.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
