When Chicago is A-Rockin', Census Workers Come A-Knockin'

By JoshMogerman in News on May 1, 2010 7:00PM

Amidst concerns over a rash of shootings and the high profile baseball bat attack, this would seem to be a bad time to kick off a campaign sending people out into the city to knock on random doors. But, according to the AP, that is the unenviable task of census workers who will begin hitting the bricks today to contact residents who have not submitted their forms.

So, if you have a stranger come to your door, and you have not returned your census form, don’t freak out! Census workers are easily identified by their logo-ed bags and Department of Commerce identity badges.

It has been a rough year for the census nationally. Starting with the gruesome death of a census worker in Kentucky, computer problems, criticisms over cost, politically motivated fake census forms, and the death of four census workers in Texas this week (not to mention the normal, petty political sniping that seems unavoidable these days). While things have been smoother here in Chicago, our 63% participation falls far below both the state and national rates, guaranteeing that many of you will be getting a visit in the coming days. Chicago has a lot riding on getting the count right, as Data collected determines, among other things, the number of representatives we will have in Congress. So, give the census workers your time.