Census Estimates for 2005 -> 2010 apportionment

[Cubby]

Last year the Census Bureau said Massachusetts was the only state whose population declined. (This was probably due to Bush appointees at the bureau who were angered about gay marriage)

This year, they say not only MA declined, but also Rhode Island and New York. Yet North Dakota grew for the 2nd year in a row. And West Virginia too. Who the hell moves to West Virginia??

Does anyone think the Census Bureau is biased against the Northeast?
I know we are the slowest growing region, but its as if growing slowly wasn't enough for them, now we have to decline as well
If we didn't lose population in the 1990's, when the regional economy was bad due to the defense industry closings, then we can't be doing worse now.

And the reason can't be housing costs, since Connecticut still grew and we are the most expensive state in the country.

[Cubby]

This year, they say not only MA declined, but also Rhode Island and New York. Yet North Dakota grew for the 2nd year in a row. And West Virginia too. Who the hell moves to West Virginia??

West Virginia's eastern tip is growing quite a bit. It's the outer DC suburbs, and is considerably cheaper than the hideously expensive property further in. The MARC commuter rail has a line that runs from Martinsburg, West Virginia, all the way to Union Station in DC.

That explains part of it I guess, but thats only 3 counties, they'd have to be booming like Loudoun County (fastest in the nation ) to reverse the entire state trend. Most of the rest of West Virginia hasn't grown since the 1940's. 

[Cubby]

Now I have a question.  Who in their right mind is moving to Utah.  They are picking up a vote?  Is this migration or birth?

They have people moving there, as do all Mountain West states. And they have the Birth Rate of a Third World Country (thats true, not sarcastic).

But the reason Utah is gaining a seat is because it barely missed gaining one in 2000. The seat ended up going to North Carolina. There was a big court case about it, because if all the overseas Mormon missionaries had been counted, the seat would have gone to them instead of NC. Since Utah has growth above the national average this decade, it will get its seat in 2010. If I recall correctly, Utah lost the court case and people out of the country at the time of the Census will not be included in any state's population.

[Cubby]

Putnam 10.3%

Does Charleston have exurbs?  This is the county west of Kanawha.

No, I don't think so. Putnam seems to be growing because it has a strategic location between Charleston and Huntington, which are major cities by the standards of the area.

McDowell  -22.6% deep in S WV coal mining country.  1/5th the population in 5 years.

McDowell County's population decline is the most shocking of any county in the USA. It had 99,000 in 1950 and had 24,000 last year. The strange thing is that its largest town in 1950 (Welch) had only 6 or 7 Thousand people, which means  it must have had lots of rural villages.

John F. Kennedy mentioned McDowell County during his 1960 campaign, as an example of Appalachian poverty. It was also the setting for the 1999 movie October Sky.

[Cubby]

It will be funny to see what the next US Census shows, because in 2000 they were very wrong with their estimates. They predicted the population to be 272 million and it turned out to be 281+ mio. people. I think that Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Virginia, etc are underestimated when it comes to the 2000-2005 population estimates. Between 1990 and 2000 the annual growth rate was 1.25%, it´s hard to believe it went down to 0,9% in 2000-2010. Lets see what comes out and maybe the Census Bureau Estimates turn out better in 2010.

The U.S. Census Bureau isn't a very good agency. Not only did they miss nearly 10 million people (!) as you mentioned, they also deliberately undercount cities in order to help the Republicans. Yes I know that's going out on a limb but it has to be said, its not like I'm the only one who thinks it.

And they have a strong bias against the Northeast as a whole. In 2005 they said New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts all declined in population, even though no state has done so since the 1980's, and those 3 states grew the previous 5 years and the economy isn't doing that bad. Some have said its housing prices, but Connecticut grew and we have the most expensive housing of all. Something fishy is going on at the Bureau.

On a lighter note, their website is difficult to navigate. (www.census.gov)