it has been clearly demonstrated that the method that the Census Bureau uses to estimate the population of Minneapolis is dramatically flawed in under-estimating the population. The count of actual "noses" in 2000 turned up growth in Minneapolis and thousands more people than they had estimated. And there is some good evidence that they even undercounted the real people in Minneapolis. Is there any reason to believe their estimate, using the same flawed techniques, for changes between 2000 and now are accurate?
I'd far rather believe local officials estimates, since they are closer to the situation, though clearly they are also just that -- estimates.
Some time back I noted that a lot of the drug dealers and prostitutes that infest my Northside 'hood were wearing the same clothes for days on end. I also noted that when they were evicted from whatever apartment they were infesting they hung around anyways, More recently the local Salvation Army Shelter announced that they were in fact having to chase drug dealers away from the waiting line at the entrance to their shelter.
So it is logical to conclude that some of the homeless on our streets are drug addicts, drug users, prostitutes, or some combination of the above. These criminals tend to move around a lot- one day their crashing with a dozen or so others in an apartment, the next day they get busted, then they spend their 72 hours as our guests in the jail before the drug court turns 'em loose and the cycle is repeated. So a 'building in the "hood with the utilities shut off that the census counts as empty may in fact be home on any given night to dozens of criminals. For this reason if we counted all the criminals on the streets of our city our population may not really have fallen.
I think most of us would prefer that these criminals migrate to St.Cloud, Stillwater, and our other penal facilities and accept a bit of population loss...
Hanging on in Hawthorne,
Dyna Sluyter
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
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