Comments on: Mapping the Holes in the Census Count http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/03/mapping-the-holes-in-the-census-count/ Exploring the culture of citymaking Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:28:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Myriam Mahiques http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/03/mapping-the-holes-in-the-census-count/comment-page-1/#comment-12082 Myriam Mahiques Thu, 01 Apr 2010 23:29:30 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=15361#comment-12082 Tom is absolutely correct. Let´s add many garages and storages in California. This last Census, I´m sorry to say, will never be accurate. Tom is absolutely correct. Let´s add many garages and storages in California. This last Census, I´m sorry to say, will never be accurate.

]]> By: Tom http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/03/mapping-the-holes-in-the-census-count/comment-page-1/#comment-11308 Tom Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:57:12 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=15361#comment-11308 Over the course of a 30 year architectural career in NYC, I have witnessed a broad assortment of living accommodations. After reading about the extraordinary efforts City Planning department is taking to up the census count (“New York’s Nooks are a Challenge to Census Takers”, NYTimes, 2/23/10), I thought of several conditions not covered in the article that will make the 2010 census continue to reflect a substantial NYC undercount based on the referenced experience. Structures not on streets – I had a client who wanted to “legalize” occupied apartment units on his property. They were two apartments housing a total of five people located in a separate garage on the site opening only to an interior alley (no street address, no mailbox). The incredulous look on my face triggered a “tour” of the area by the immigrant owner who assured me that he was “only doing what everyone else was doing.” And sure enough, block after block of these hidden structures (some no more than tool sheds) appeared to be housing people, not cars and lawn mowers as originally intended. These types of alleys are common in at least three boroughs. Below grade accommodation – Another client wanted to “fortify” the walls of an existing unit. The “unit” was located below a store and only accessible through a Bilco-type door from the dumpster yard (no address, nothing facing a street). A family of five was living in this grim, but inexplicably well appointed dwelling which included curtains as walls. The mother proudly told me that her three children were in school. This was located in what is known as a “taxpayers’ property – 2-3 story buildings with street level commercial overlay. Apparently, the staircase from the store to the basement gets closed off so that the below grade space can be separately rented. These types of properties are prevalent in four of the five boroughs. Commercial building dwellers – I personally knew someone living illegally on one of the top floors of the World Trade Center. She miraculously escaped on 9/11. To this day, she still lives illegally in a commercial building, albeit on a lower floor. A lone eccentric? Not according to the stories she tells me. Commercial building living is available in all boroughs. Empty building living – Due to enormous construction activity before the housing bust, combined with the current economic crisis, there is a plethora of empty buildings either abandoned due to lack of funding or empty due to lack of potential buyers or renters even when they have been recently built or renovated. On closer inspection, there are people occupying these spaces. Just a few weeks ago I was to scope out a potential project only to find the empty building full of squatters. These structures face the street and have addresses, but it is extremely doubtful that the occupants will fill out a census form. Assumed-to-be-vacant buildings exist in all boroughs. Campers – This is perhaps the saddest category, but one only needs to practice observance to see the increase of people living in their cars or campers. Typically this occurs in industrial areas and around parks and can be observed in every borough. Missing a 60 story apartment tower is quite dramatic, but these less glamorous situations are where the meaningful under count lies. Over the course of a 30 year architectural career in NYC, I have witnessed a broad assortment of living accommodations. After reading about the extraordinary efforts City Planning department is taking to up the census count (“New York’s Nooks are a Challenge to Census Takers”, NYTimes, 2/23/10), I thought of several conditions not covered in the article that will make the 2010 census continue to reflect a substantial NYC undercount based on the referenced experience.

Structures not on streets –
I had a client who wanted to “legalize” occupied apartment units on his property. They were two apartments housing a total of five people located in a separate garage on the site opening only to an interior alley (no street address, no mailbox). The incredulous look on my face triggered a “tour” of the area by the immigrant owner who assured me that he was “only doing what everyone else was doing.” And sure enough, block after block of these hidden structures (some no more than tool sheds) appeared to be housing people, not cars and lawn mowers as originally intended. These types of alleys are common in at least three boroughs.

Below grade accommodation –
Another client wanted to “fortify” the walls of an existing unit. The “unit” was located below a store and only accessible through a Bilco-type door from the dumpster yard (no address, nothing facing a street). A family of five was living in this grim, but inexplicably well appointed dwelling which included curtains as walls. The mother proudly told me that her three children were in school. This was located in what is known as a “taxpayers’ property – 2-3 story buildings with street level commercial overlay. Apparently, the staircase from the store to the basement gets closed off so that the below grade space can be separately rented. These types of properties are prevalent in four of the five boroughs.

Commercial building dwellers –
I personally knew someone living illegally on one of the top floors of the World Trade Center. She miraculously escaped on 9/11. To this day, she still lives illegally in a commercial building, albeit on a lower floor. A lone eccentric? Not according to the stories she tells me. Commercial building living is available in all boroughs.

Empty building living –
Due to enormous construction activity before the housing bust, combined with the current economic crisis, there is a plethora of empty buildings either abandoned due to lack of funding or empty due to lack of potential buyers or renters even when they have been recently built or renovated. On closer inspection, there are people occupying these spaces. Just a few weeks ago I was to scope out a potential project only to find the empty building full of squatters. These structures face the street and have addresses, but it is extremely doubtful that the occupants will fill out a census form. Assumed-to-be-vacant buildings exist in all boroughs.

Campers –
This is perhaps the saddest category, but one only needs to practice observance to see the increase of people living in their cars or campers. Typically this occurs in industrial areas and around parks and can be observed in every borough.

Missing a 60 story apartment tower is quite dramatic, but these less glamorous situations are where the meaningful under count lies.

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