Census vs. Voting Which is more important to the average urban community?

[the north omaha star]

The Throbbing Brain,

Please settle a debate for me. I was debating with one my good friends who is an accountant by trade and a planner at heart yesterday over wings and beer. What is more important to the average urban community in an area over 1/2 million, census participation or voting? He said voting, I said the census. I find that people in the inner city rarely find the significance of the Census and how funds are allocated.

[gkmo62u]

I'll side with the accountant: Voting especially on the local level, by far.Voting gets you immediately influence over decision making.

I guess I also don't like the premise that the Census is designed as a tool for determining government hand-outs.

[Habanero]

I'd have to say census because that's what will help determine how much money your city gets from the state.

[lwbaby]

Census because voting only represents the desires of those who win. The census includes everyone and allocates resources accordingly.

[pete-rock]

It depends on how you look at the role of the elected official and the role of full and accurate census counts.

If you look at the elected official as the one who "brings the goods" to the district he/she represents, then I think the Census may do a better job of determining who gets what based on population (CDBG, tax credits, transportation funding, etc.).

But if you're interested in changing the image of a district, changing the nature of the neighborhoods/towns within a district, or encouraging greater cooperation between districts, voting -- and voting for the people who represent these things -- is way more important.

[the north omaha star]

I have a bad habit of seeing both sides of arguments. One of the points I made during our debate was that voting may be better for short term solutions, and census participation is better in the long run. However, being the chess players that AW is he used that logic against me. He said that 10 years is a long time in urban America and some things can't wait that long like education and infrastructure rehab.