Census 2000

To understand how much the typical American home has changed in 60 years, just look in the bathroom. It's hard to find one that doesn't have hot water, a toilet and a bathtub. In 1940, barely half of U.S. homes had all three features. Likewise, a telephone was a luxury item for many Americans when World War II began. Now they're ubiquitous, with some families placing them in every room, including the bathroom. And it's not just what's in the home that's changed.

Ventura County moved away from its traditional role as a bedroom community for Los Angeles during the 1990s, reversing the one-sided flow of commuters by providing a better balance of workers and jobs, new U.S. census data show.

Southern California planners and demographers are questioning census data on the region's commuting patterns released last week -- a concern that hints at broader problems with some census estimates. The numbers released Thursday counted residents by where they live and work to measure commuting patterns. They were derived from data collected in the 2000 census long form, an extensive questionnaire filled out by about one of every six households in the country.

After crunching more numbers, the Census Bureau now says it over-counted by 1.3 million people in 2000 instead of missing more than 3 million. The findings show an over-count of whites, Asians, American Indians on reservations and young children, while many blacks and Hispanics were missed. The estimate will not affect the government's official population count of 281.4 million in 2000, Census Bureau director C. Louis Kincannon said.