The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

Sarasota is more populous and older than it was 5 years ago: Courtesy of the Sarasota County Office of Neighborhood Services

The US Census Bureau held an Open House on Tuesday at its local office on Princeton Street, off 301 in Sarasota.  The Census Message for 2010 is simple: The greater the count, the better a community's chances of receiving a larger slice of the $300 billion that flows from Washington to states and municipalities for a wide range of services. The 2010 Census form is simple: just a very few easy questions. Address checkers will be spreading out through towns and cities, using GPS-equipped handheld computers to map and enter address data.  All information given to the Census is confidential under Title 13 of the US Code . (See also here ). Census personnel take oaths to uphold the right of privacy. Which means: anyone fearing that information given to the Census Bureau could be used for any other purpose than to produce an accurate account of the population should understand: it is against the law for this to occur. The Bureau will hire approximately 1,000 residents for each office it...