Hartford’s low response rate to the 2010 Census, the worst among Connecticut’s largest cities, has worried city officials on a campaign to urge residents to fill out and return their forms.
Mayor Eddie Perez and other city and U.S. Census Bureau officials said at a City Hall news conference Wednesday afternoon that millions of state and federal dollars are at stake.
“We can’t afford to jeopardize funding for our children, our seniors, and our city as a whole,” Perez said.
Authorities said the latest census numbers show that only 32 percent of Hartford households have returned their questionnaires, well under the Connecticut average of 51 percent and 50 percent nationally.
Among other major Connecticut cities, New Britain and Waterbury are tied with a 41 percent response rate, while Bridgeport and New Haven each have 35 percent response levels, the Census Bureau said.
To boost Hartford’s response level, city and census officials said varies local civic groups and agencies will team up for Saturday’s “March to the Mailbox” campaign.
Some city neighborhood barber shops and hair salons will serve as sites for community conversations between 9 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. so folks can then march to the nearest mailbox.
Outreach areas include the 600 block of Albany Avenue in the city’s North End and the corner of Park and Putnam Streets in South End’s Frog Hollow neighborhood.   Â
