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By Steve Rubenstein
San Francisco Chronicle
Mayor Gavin Newsom said the U.S. census has somehow overlooked 100,000 San Francisco residents and the city is failing to collect millions of dollars in federal funding as a result.
The city will officially contest the Census Bureau’s 2007 population estimate of 764,000, the mayor said. A formal announcement of the challenge is expected today.
A population study commissioned by the city said there are actually about 864,000 residents in San Francisco. The study was performed by Social Compact, a Washington-based public interest group that promotes inner-city investment.
Its methods include checking building permits, utility bills, driver’s licenses and credit reports to find people that it claims census takers miss.
Asked how the extra 100,000 people had managed to avoid being noticed until the city paid for the new study, Newsom said, "That’s the million-dollar question."
Most of the uncounted residents live in less affluent parts of town, such as the Western Addition and the Bayview, Newsom said.
He said there was a "glaring gap" between the study and the official census estimate, which he called "wildly off the mark."
The higher population could spur new investment and development in poorer parts of town because of what the mayor called the "incredible purchasing power" of the 100,000 formerly nonexistent San Franciscans.
Other cities and states have challenged census figures, and the Census Bureau has revised its 2006 counts for dozens of cities and counties.
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