Census a Challenge in Abandoned Neighborhoods

Cincinnati's Tract 16 is the neighborhood deemed hardest to count in Ohio by census takers. As the Enquirer puts it, "high numbers of abandoned buildings, low literacy rates and urban poverty make it a people-counting quagmire."

1 minute read

March 5, 2010, 6:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur


According to the U.S. Postal Service, over 40% of the buildings in Tract 16 (which is made up of part of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood and part of the West End) are abandoned or occupied illegally.

Gregory Korte writes, "In urban neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine, housing units are often above retail stores. Buildings might have multiple entrances - from the front, the back or alleyways. And abandoned buildings are often havens for illegal occupants, who call them "abandominiums." Many don't have mail delivery.

Then there's getting the forms back."

Thursday, March 4, 2010 in Cincinnati Enquirer

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