Population Effects of 9-11 - Essay Example

s Population Effects of 9/11 Introduction The purpose of this project is to discover whether there were any notable effects to the population of New York City (primarily Manhattan, though other areas will be looked at as well) after the September 11th attacks. It will detail the background information on the subject, reinforcing motivations that may have initiated a departure within the community. A focus will be put on fear factors that may have unsettled them enough to give cause to leave. This groups hypothesis is that it would push residents, especially families, away from the city. Despite the "uniting" of the country post-9/11, victims closer to that area probably have more variables to consider. Thus, we will look at Census records for each decade to discover whether the percent increase or decrease within the city (primarily Manhattan, though also some of the other districts) has gone up or gone down. This will be followed up with other possible variables or explanations and reasoning behind the end-result. Background There has been much speculation already about the effects of the terror attacks. The overall conclusion seems to be, in a more conceptual sense, that it "united" the country. My group was more curious about what the direct affects were. In the moment, the attack was successful. It created mass panic and many people, not just Americans, felt a great sense of shock, fear, and then loss. After the loss of the Twin Towers, which second only to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building was a symbolic representation of New York, the city lost one of its great monuments. If the Twin Towers stood for New York, would their loss or destruction symbolize the loss or destruction of the city? As this paper will focus on the affect that 9/11 had in regards to population, this will be a somewhat limited investigation, only focusing on aspects that may represent residential situations. A large handful of articles have reported and presented the fears, substantiated or not, that many residents may have felt regarding the attacks. The Federal Government added cancer to a list of health problems caused by 9/11, with suggestion that debris from the Twin Towers was carcinogenic. Issues such as this could have serious effects on the population in Manhattan, especially in the Ground Zero area. Thus, according to The New York Times, "New York City health department [initiated] studies [which have] found no clear link between cancer and the dust, debris and fumes released by the burning wreckage of the twin towers" (Hartocollis). The study had a very large sample size that included many individuals, such as firefighters, who were in immediate proximity to the wreckage during the events. This article shows that New York is aware of the effect that suggestions of carcinogenic rubble could have on citizens within range of the site and are quick to dissuade such fears. Another on the list of health effects is suggestion that 9/11 may have had an adverse effect on the health of children, the least of which being asthma from the dust clouds caused by the falling of the Towers themselves (NYC.gov), and this is one of the primary concerns of this project. Families around the Manhattan area would seemingly be the most sensitive to fears of carcinogens or of the terror attacks themselves. For it is these residents that have to worry not only about themselves but also their children and could bring up contemplations of moving to a more rural area or less of a "target zone." A lot of families in that region live elsewhere (perhaps in more rural New York or even New Jersey) and the primary financial figure in the household, husband or wife, simply commutes whether by car or train into Manhattan. It was families like this, with husbands or wives working in the World Trade Center, that were shattered the most and hit the hardest during the attack on the country. Is this enough to push residents away from the city, or businessmen and businesswomen away from their jobs? An article published by Daily Mail, a British newspaper seemingly giving an outsiders or objective look, reports that the population near Ground Zero has doubled since 2000. Writes Daily Mail Reporter, "despite the September 11 terror attacks of 2001, the population in the area of Manhattan, New York, has swelled by around 23,000, making it one of the fastest-growing places in the city" (Daily Mail). Political figures within the community, such as a former City Hall operator, suggest this is because the area has become a symbol of hope rather than of fear. Others supplement that the construction of the new World Trade Center (with two buildings set to be taller than the previous) suggest moving forward rather than looking at the past and represent the resilience of the city itself. Methods This research study will be conducted through qualitative research. Past studies and researches will be analyzed and assessed in order to understand the event that lead to 9/11blasts and whether an actual relationship exists between 9/11 blasts and population distribution. We will be looking at records from the Census, which updates every decade, to discover whether there is statistical significance between the decades growth of 00 and 10, as compared to decade growth in prior years. For the population stats, we will be finding the central measures such as the mean, median, and mode, as well as the quartiles. This project will present bar graphs, such as showing the population growth, and pie charts, at least one of which showing percentages of females and males within the community. Data sources In this project we are going to source data from various sources, to start with we are going to collect data using personal interviews and questioners. We are going to visit several individuals who are going to fill and give us information about the effect of the bomb blast that occurred. This information will be tabulated and represented in graphs. In this context, we are going to sample different opinions and views from the people who are either directly or indirectly affected. This information must be represented on a graph and measures of tendency be conducted. These include the mean and median of the data and the correlation to show a regression line. Results The results will show the outcome and the effects of the bomb blast. These results can be used to show the future precautions on the effects caused by this bomb blast and on the methods of treating the victims if this occurs again. This will also try to show the possible cause of the blast which will be given by the measures of central tendency. The standard deviation and the variance will be used to show the relationship between its effect and its implication on the population. According to the bar graph representing population growth in Manhattan there has been steady growth in population since the last census in 2000 however the pie charts show population distribution in New York there has been little change in population distribution The Bronx and Queens still have the highest population accounting for over half of newyorks population, Manhattan remains third. This shows that there has been little or no change because of the 9/11 attacks in terms of population distribution. The change in population of Manhattan is above the average population change statistic. A comparison of annual average population change from July 2000 to July 2010 versus the period from July 2010 to July 2012 (using official Census Bureau data) is shown in the charts. The increase since the 2010 Census in New York City is substantial when set against the backdrop of the last decade.  The annual average for the two years (July 2010 – July 2012), for the city was about 74,000, compared to an annual average of just 17,000 in the 2000s.  Of course, the two recent years do not portend a decade-long pattern; indeed, it is unlikely that such a high level of change could be maintained going forward, given the housing constraints on levels of growth. Conclusion It is clear that every project is a fact finding scenario and therefore statistical methods need to be addressed, these will show the relationship of opinions, facts and the real situation analyzed in a piece of data sheet that clearly shows the information in detail. The information given by the statistical measures represents the information and facts on a scenario being investigated. It is therefore my conclusion based on the increase in population in the intervening years since the census in 2000 and the lack of change in population distribution that the events of 9/11 although horrifying New Yorkers have not had a significant impact on the population distribution, In fact since 2010 population growth has increased at a higher rate than between 2000-2010. Work cited Bulmer, M. G.. Principles of statistics. New York: Dover Publications, 1979. Print. Read More