Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau redefined what it considers "urban," and, as a consequence, 1,140 small cities, towns, and villages shifted from being classified as "urban" to being classified as "rural." Previously, a municipality with the population of 2,500 or more was considered "urban." The new criteria raised the population threshold from 2,500 to 5,000. The distinction between "urban" and "rural" matters because it affects the types of federal funding available to a municipality.
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With a current population of 5,898 (in 2021), Hudson still qualifies as "urban," but not by much. Between 2010 and 2020, the population of Hudson went from 6,718 to 5,894--a difference of 824.
This report from PBS News Hour provides more information about the Census Bureau's modifications and their impact: "U.S. Census Bureau redefines the meaning of urban areas in America."
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It is interesting to note that the population of Hudson is not rising, if anything it is going down. That being the case, it seems the "housing crisis" is really a misnomer. There is no crisis. That being the case, why is there no discussion or debate regarding what the benefits are to the residents of Hudson to push all these apartment projects? It seems the beneficiaries are not the residents of Hudson, but the developers who have been trolling sites all over the Hudson Valley, they will be getting tax breaks and profiting at the expense of the resident taxpayers. What is the benefit to existing taxpayers to import hundreds of low and moderate income persons into Hudson? It creates more congestion, traffic and strain on city services, for what purpose?
ReplyDeleteCensus should tell that to the NYS Education department, which has classified Hudson as a "high need rural" school district for some time. https://www.oms.nysed.gov/faru/Profiles/AlphabeticalListingofSchoolDistricts.html
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is the case because the Hudson City School District compasses more than just the City of Hudson. Very likely the majority of the geographic area of HCSD is not the two square miles of Hudson.
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