Imagine trying to prove that thousands of people exist, when you have no idea who they are.
That’s the dilemma facing officials who think their communities were undercounted in the 2010 Census. But for Midwest cities preparing to challenge those numbers: How do you find people the Census Bureau missed? We went looking for answers in Detroit.
When Detroit’s numbers came out in March, Mayor Dave Bing quickly summoned the press. The tone was crisis — as if a natural disaster had struck. And in a way, it had. Detroit had lost a quarter of its people over the last ten years.
As cameras whirred, the mayor explained that Detroit’s population now stood at 713,777.
"Personally I don’t believe the number is accurate,” he said. “And I don’t believe it will stand up as we go through with our challenge."
Cleveland, Akron and Cincinnati are also considering challenges.