Boston: It Kinda’ Grows On You
A while back, the U.S. Census Bureau claimed that Boston had lost over 30,000 residents between 2000 and 2005. Boston’s mayor disputed this data (rightly so since it affects how much federal/state money the city receives) and now the Census Bureau has come back with corrected results and reported that not only did we not lose population…we actually gained over 7,000 people.
Hmmm – that’s a nearly 40,000 person difference. For a city of 596,000 residents, that’s nearly 8% of the population that would have been left unaccounted for. Actually, i’ve always questioned the census statistics for this city. I mean, I believe the 596,000 people are the year-round, tax-paying citizens who call Boston home. I suspect that figure doesn’t count the nearly 200,000 college students who descend upon the city for 9 months of the year (and claim their parent’s states/cities as their home address). That said, I certainly hope Boston gets funded appropriately for this population increase of nearly 40% each September. 200,000 people produce a huge strain on services (trash, public transit, police).
Meanwhile, as others states have been increasing their police/security forces after 9/11 (I recall articles a few years ago about places like North Dakota taking advantage of funds alotted to such things), Massachusetts has actually DECREASED it’s public safety staff (police, fire, ambulance) by over 1,000 people. So much for the Republican administration’s claims of being tough on crime.
Ugh – where is this political side of me coming from? Maybe it’s next week’s election. Either way, I prefer to think happy-fluffy thoughts so here goes: It’s official, Randy reserved my ticket to Tokyo last night. In one month I’ll be in Japan.
Eek!
I don’t speak the langauge, I don’t know its geography, I don’t know its customs or foods…and I’ll be on my own for the first 48 hours while randy does the busines trip portion of his travels. I think I’ll just hang out in a Hello Kitty store until Randy is available again to show me around.
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I know how to say “potato chip” in Japanese: Phoenetically, it’s poh-tah-to-cheep. So you can at least eat those.
“If you knew sushi, like I know sushi…” Everybody sing! ;-p
I’m always up for for teaching Asian Culture. I even have learn japanese cds too.
Just go over there, think those happy-fluffy thoughts and you’ll be fine. Also, because you’re doing the trip in one hop, you’ll probably be kind of wiped out for the day or two that Randy’s working By the time he’s free to be with you, you’ll be back on your feet and ready to go. And Bryan has those CDs; you’ll be speaking Japanese like a pro. It’s a win-win situation–enjoy!
Buy me something Japanese!
Gotta love Hello Kitty. Dave In Chicago, you made me rupture something laughing.