"1-year lease), you're still responsible for your form. If you receive your bills at your nyc address, you're a resident"

I know more than a few 20- and 30-somethings who have no lease and receive no bills in their names. Pretty common, actually, in roommate situations.

Of course they are supposed to be included on the census form for the address, but just pointing out that the description you've given would leave out a lot of people who are actually residents. And there are probably plenty of those situations where no one among the several people living there is clearly the one responsible for filing.

But the form does make it clear that "transient residents" should be counted. It specifically asks about people living at the address on April 1, and then asks if any resident also lives at a different address part of the year.

There's a perfectly rational explanation for this that has nothing to do with being "too cool" to mail in a census form. Many hipsters are transient residents - I'd venture a guess that many of them are counted in their parents' census forms back in their hometowns. Also, who else lives in Williamsburg? Hasidics and Hispanics. The NPR piece said the Hasidic community had a low response rate, and it's been pretty well documented that census response rates among Hispanics tend to be low.

Hasidics + Hispanics + transplants = low Census response rate. There you go.

That's not quite true. If you received a Census form and filled one out you'd clearly see even if you're a short-term resident (1-year lease), you're still responsible for your form. If you receive your bills at your nyc address, you're a resident not a transient.

I'm coining the term "social mccarthyism" in reference to people encouraging hate against labeled groups, like so-called "hipsters." In Mexico they have a huge problem with young people being savagely beaten for being identified as "emo."

I think that you're making a serious jump by relating mocking hipsters to what's going on with emo kids in Mexico.

Coining a term. What a hipster thing to do.

Thank you for presenting a rational take on the Census response issue. It's a pity that Jen Chung and the people at NPR weren't actually interested in getting to the bottom of this issue, choosing instead to sensationalize and engage in shallow social McCarthyism.

"social McCarthyism" Jeez she didn't call them communists.

How many times does it need to be pointed out that the city has separate categories for "Brooklyn-North Side/South Side" and "Brooklyn-Williamsburg" for this issue. Jen, stop acting like an jackass and pretend to be a real reporter for once.

Here you go hipsters now you can mock the Census while looking cool wearing a census 2010 hat. http://cgi.ebay.com/Calling-all-Hipsters-2010-Census-Trucker-Hat_W0QQitemZ140399907096QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20b07c9118

I am EXTREMELY tired of this hipster-bashing and hipster-stereotyping horseshit. There is no academic basis for it: the whole term hipster is a catch all for a disparate variety of people through whom no common thread runs. No one can define this term in a way that is consistent with how they apply it; I ask lots of people, no one can do it.

The reason response rates in Williamsburg are so low is because the Satmar/Hasids hardly fill out the census. Their neighborhoods drag down the percentage for all of Williamsburg, and if you actually bother to look at the official Census data you will see that. You will also see that the return rates from the "hipster" part of Williamsburg are on par with the NYC averages.

But who cares? It's more fun to throw the word hipster around and hate on an amorphous group of people you can't even define. This sort of social McCarthyism is popular with people, like NannyState edEx Wza Sinick and many others. Most of the time, people who hate on "hipsters" are just mad about other things in their lives, and take it out on this conveniently indefinable group of people they call "hipsters." The real issue is their own emotional problems, but I wouldn't expect them to understand that and address it.

"Journalists" are just jumping on this because it's sensational and it uses a buzz-word that will make people more likely to read their story in their failing medium. Blogs like Gothamist seize on it for the same reason. It's cynical and immoral.

I'm a hipster. You're a hipster. We're all hipsters. And you haters can all go fuck yourselves.

Bravo Tsk Tsk, bravo!

You've managed to better articulate what I've been bitching about for the last two years now.

I've also asked the lemmings to tell me what a hipster actually is, and I never have gotten a coherent response. Shit, if we're supposed to hate these "hipster" people so much, if they're responsible for so many of society's ills, then we should at least have a clear picture of who our enemy is, right?

And I appreciate 610's link to urban dictionary. But while being a nice try, it still falls short.

- "in their 20's and 30's"

- "that value: independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter"

Really?

Have you considered switching to loose-fitting pants?

Beat it, nerd.

I'm with you tsk.

Throwing a cheap shots at hipsters is so boring. It's like beating up the mentally challenged kids in school. Sure, it's fun the first few times but it's so damn easy that it gets boring real quick.

Oh I don't know the Urban Dictionary does a pretty good job of defining hipster.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster

You know who else blamed the jews for not filling out their census forms?

Look at the map you moron. Facts.

In fact why don't you and your retro-crazed friends go and invade poland! You'll redefine what Blitzkreig bop really means!

Wrong. The answer is Hipster Nazis!