Census Count Breaks 50,000

(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Feb. 9, 2011)

PERTH AMBOY — Hard work since last March by Mayor Wilda Diaz, members of

her Administration and the mostly-volunteer Complete Count Committee headed by

Office on Aging Director Dianne Roman finally has paid-off.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced last week that the City of Perth Amboy’s

population, according to the numbers gathered for Census 2010, is 50,814, or

3,511 higher than the 47,303 counted for Census 2000, earning an Urbanized

Community designation for the city.

The Urbanized Community designation means that Perth Amboy will be eligible

to compete directly with other cities of 50,000 population or more for

additional federal funding for infrastructure-repair and other programs instead

of having to apply for those grants as part of Middlesex County.

“These are difficult financial times, and this is big for the City of Perth

Amboy,” Diaz said. “Census 2010 affects the distribution of $4 trillion

over the next 10 years, and we needed to break the 50,000 (population

threshhold) to receive the funding that we deserve.”

The Mayor, who was able to achieve that breakthrough after being in-office

only two years while her predecessor, former Mayor Joseph Vas, was unable to

do so after being in-office for 10 years, called her successful effort “my

most-meaningful achievement since I’ve been in-office.”

She said the Census 2010 results “couldn’t have come at a better time,” as

cash-strapped Perth Amboy struggles with higher-than-average rates of

unemployment and housing-foreclosures.

The Urbanized Community designation puts Perth Amboy into the same league

as Woodbridge Township, with a Census 2010 count of 99,585 residents —

slightly-below the Metropolitan Area designation, which starts at 100,000

population.