How many San Franciscans are there?The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there were about 765,000 people living in San Francisco last year, down from about 777,000 in 2000. But a pro business non-profit group called Social Compact came out with a study a few months ago that claims our population is closer to 865,000 -- and that we're wealthier than official estimates because of our underground economy and other factors -- so Mayor Gavin Newsom has announced that he's challenging the Census figures to try to get us some more money.
“Every San Franciscan counts, and I am serious about ensuring San Francisco receives our fair share of federal
and state funding and attention,” Newsom said in a press release that went out less than an hour ago. “We can use this new data to attract high quality retailers to our under-served markets and make sure we develop the neighborhoods that have been unfairly under-counted.”
Newsom cited a U.S. Conference of Mayors study indicating cities lose about $2,263 per under-counted citizen, so he figures that we're owed about $200 million for the decade, which would certainly come in handy during the nasty looming budget battles. But even with Nancy Pelosi being Speaker of the House, somehow I doubt that San Francisco will be getting a big refund check anytime soon.
As to the population data, it's probably true that there are more people here than official figures indicate, and that they're making more money than tax collectors know, but I find Social Compact's rhetoric and approach a little creepy. Their DrillDown report, which also looked at Detroit and Cincinnati, talks about how much more money that bankers and other capitalists can be extracting from "inner city neighborhoods" that are awash in hidden cash.
But it's certainly an interesting question: just how many of us are there?
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Comments (2)
Behind every motivation is a sinister capitalist plot eh Steven?
Posted by Bob | May 7, 2008 10:27 AM
No, just the sinister capitalist plots. Take a look at those sponsoring this study -- all executives in financial services industries -- and the main arguments that there is money to be made in the inner cities and it's not exactly paranoia to be a little, well, paranoid about these people. It's no secret that we live under an economic system that is constantly seeking to exploit people and other natural resources to achieve annual economic growth of about 3 percent. It's those who fail to be skeptical of capitalists bearing benevolent gifts, Bob, who are the unreasonable ones.
Posted by Steven T. Jones | May 7, 2008 04:49 PM