Several real estate organizations, including the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), have joined forces to urge Congress to fully fund the 2020 Census and the annual American Community Survey (ACS) in its 2016 budget, which lawmakers are currently debating.
Developers, builders, and contractors rely on these government data to gauge, among other things, changes in population demography and mobility, factors that play major roles in planning and construction plans.
Last year, the industry dodged a bullet when Congress failed to approve a measure that would have made participation in ACS voluntary. “This would have reduced the survey’s accuracy and made it more costly by requiring additional effort to ensure a representative sample,” NHMC states on its website. The Council notes, too, that the industry wants Congress to restore three-year data collection methods that got changed last year.
In its 2016 budget, the Obama Administration is requesting $1.5 billion for the Census Bureau in fiscal year 2016, including $663 million for the 2020 Census (a 91% increase over the previous Census budget) and $257 million (plus $15 million) for the ACS, according to the Census Project, a collaboration of state and local governments, advocacy and business groups, and research organizations interested in a fair and accurate census. Obama is asking Congress for an extra $1 billion for hiring and promotion for the decennial count, after plans to automate door-to-door interviewing in the 2010 Census failed to muster Congressional support.
Population data are of critical importance to municipalities, too. The Arizona Republic reported last month that the city of Chandler, Ariz., will pay the Census Bureau more than $4 million to conduct an updated population count for that metro later this year. Chandler is hoping that the new count will show how its population has increased significantly since the 2010 Census, which put Chandler’s population at 236,326 residents. (Arizona allocates state-shared revenue based on a city’s population.)
The Census Project notes that the Bureau is trying to save as much as $5 billion over the census lifecycle by investing early in research, testing, and development of new methods and technologies. For example, later this year the Bureau plans to hold focus groups with people who would be affected by a new classification being considered for Americans of Middle Eastern and North African descent. The 2013 ACS—with a sample size of 3 million addresses nationwide—estimated that there were about 1.5 million Arab Americans in the U.S. in 2006-10. If this test proves successful, the new classification could be included in the 2020 Census, according to the Associated Press.
Related Stories
| Apr 19, 2012
Michigan legislature tackling controversial rules on electricians
A fight is brewing in the Michigan legislature over how many fully qualified electricians must be present during electrical work when apprentices also are on hand.
| Apr 19, 2012
Washington city may base building code on rising sea level due to global warming
Aberdeen may become the first city in Washington to base a building code on rising oceans and global warming.
| Apr 19, 2012
CSI webinar on energy codes and building envelopes
This seminar will review recent changes in energy codes, examples of building enclosure wall assemblies for code compliance, potential moisture management and durability challenges, and design tools to assess and minimize potential problems.
| Apr 19, 2012
Innovative plan for storm water in Philadelphia gets EPA’s OK
Philadelphia's $2 billion plan to manage its storm water with green methods including porous pavement, green roofs, and more trees, was officially approved last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
| Apr 19, 2012
LEED 2012 to include new credit category for transit-oriented development
The updated LEED 2012 system will introduce a new credit category, “Location and Transportation,” to encourage development oriented around public transit and more walkable communities.
| Apr 17, 2012
FMI report examines federal construction trends
Given the rapid transformations occurring in the federal construction sector, FMI examines the key forces accelerating these changes, as well as their effect on the industry.
| Apr 16, 2012
University of Michigan study seeks to create efficient building design
The result, the researchers say, could be technologies capable of cutting the carbon footprint created by the huge power demands buildings place on the nation’s electrical grid.
| Apr 13, 2012
Congress’s action doesn’t mean Pentagon can’t build LEED gold structures
Though Congress passed a defense budget preventing the Department of Defense from spending money to achieve LEED gold or platinum certification, the Pentagon may still end up constructing buildings to those standards.
| Apr 13, 2012
International Living Building Institute certifies first two Net Zero Energy buildings
A community building in Oregon and an office building in California are the first two projects to earn net-zero status under the International Living Building Institute’s Net Zero Energy Certification program.
