WSJ's Porno for the Dark Side

Ready to see what's got Hoboken's Undead all hot and bothered?   

Creatures of the Night: keep your hands where we can see them:


 Oooh... ahhhh....

This data, which appeared in today's Wall Street Journal originated on a real estate blog called 'Truila Trends' written by an economist, Jed Kolko.

Fortunately, this poll is an absolute crock. 

And GA will tell you why: the devil is in the details.  Or in this case, the methodology.

In fact, the opposite trend is true: the Hoboken demographic has shifted dramatically in the past 10 years; we've had a population surge of young couples who start a family here and stay.

Yep.

Here is the economist's flawed methodology: Hoboken is ranked  #1 because we have the LOWEST 'ratio' of the 100 U.S. metropolitan areas in the study.

What is a ratio?  According to Kolko:
Note: The ratio is the number of 5-to-9 year-olds divided by the number of 0-to-4 year-olds living in the school district. Ranking is among districts in the largest 100 U.S. metro areas with at least 1,000 0-to-9 year-olds.

To figure out which school districts are the “most attractive” – in the sense that they attract families with school-age kids — we looked at the number of elementary school kids (by which we mean kids aged 5 to 9) and the number of preschoolers (kids aged 0 to 4) living in every school district in the U.S., according to the 2010 Census.
Now do you get it?

Hoboken's ratio was extremely low because within the last 10 years (timed with the our real estate boom) we've had aggressive population growth: 30% according to the Jersey Journal:
According to 2010 Census data, Hoboken's population has surged by 30% in the past 10 years, as reported by The Jersey Journal.

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer commented on the stunning increase of her city's population from 38,577 residents in 2000 to 50,005 in 2010.

 "Hoboken used to be a transient place where people would live for a few years and then move out, but now more people are choosing to stay," she added. "There has been significant amount of development . Everyone loves Hoboken."
Has any other American city experienced a 30% population growth in the last decade?

And who are the people coming here in droves?

It's a young demographic: singles in their 20's and 30's, single and young childless couples planning a family.  Or families with very young children from the burbs who want to raise a family in Hoboken.

In fact, GA-  a public school mommy- can tell you that Hoboken District enrollment is INCREASING.

That's right.

The Hoboken School District t has ADDED 4 kindergarten classes just this year alone  (2012-2013) for a total of 14.

 LA (Little Avenger) heard me talking to a friend about the WSJ article today and here's what she said, "These people don't know what they're talking about.  I love my school.  I love my teachers."

Right on, LA!   Did I tell you she had a 12th grade reading level in the 4th grade?

I did?  That many times?   Well, she is a product of the 'least attractive'  Hoboken School District, according to Economist Numb-Nuts.

Mr. Numb-Nuts didn't do his homework.

Because when one writes about 'trends' one should analyze them, not disparage an entire School District based on a Census ratio.  That's simply a snapshot.  The Numb-Nuts poll has a built-in bias against cities like Hoboken who've experienced a sudden, rapid population growth of young folks just starting out. 

Now, you have to wonder about the character of people who are using this poll  to bash our public schools for political expedience.   

If you didn't already.

Comments

  1. Those missing facts will not stop the clowns from quoting the article endlessly. "Credentialed journalists" and all that.

    ReplyDelete

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