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The U.S. Census Bureau has come to the long-overdue conclusion that the San Fernando Valley has a distinct character. The director has informed me that by next summer the bureau will compile a special report on our region.
Census Bureau Director Charles Louis Kincannon told me a special report will be prepared in the summer of 2006 that will include a “one-time special tabulation.”
The Census Bureau director had wanted to wait until the next decade to report on the Valley’s population and economic data, but I persuaded him to speed up the process.
The report for the first time will compile population and economic information examining the entire Valley, which is made up of five cities – San Fernando, Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas and part of Los Angeles – and unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County.
The report, the American Community Survey, looks at population, socio-economic and housing characteristics. The Census Bureau calls it “the cornerstone of the government’s effort to keep pace with the nation’s changing population.” It is a valuable supplement to the massive survey of the American population that the Census Bureau undertakes once every decade.
The information helps local governments, organizations and businesses make informed decisions about where to build roads, schools, and senior centers, for example. It also provides data that may be used to analyze business trends and help companies make smarter business decisions.
I want to thank everyone who helped me persuade the Census Bureau to produce a special report on the Valley, especially Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "It now treats the Valley as an entity, as opposed to an appendage to the city of Los Angeles or of a five-county region," Yaroslavsky said.
This is good news for the entire Valley.
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