Census' Least Counted Areas In L.A. Identified

The California Community Foundation on Wednesday identified Los Angeles' least-counted areas in the 2010 U.S. Census and stated that, for the first time, early data means that outreach can give those communities a second shot at being represented.

The group called the almost real-time data "unprecedented." As of early April, Koreatown, the 110 Corridor in South L.A. and Long Beach had the lowest Cenus participation rates (39.5 percent, 36.8 percent and 40.8 percent respectively), the foundation states. The national average is 67 percent; countywide it's 64 percent. Other under-counted areas included Hollywood, Echo Park, Hawthorne, Inglewood, the north Valley and Boyle Heights.

"For the first time in census history, we have access to information that can really help us focus our outreach efforts," said Antonia Hernández, president and CEO at the foundation. "We not only know who's doing what where but we also now know where the gaps are so it's a great match, especially given we have limited resources."

A group called Healthy City generated the data, which will now be used for Census outreach by the likes of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of California (CLUE CA) and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), to name a few.