Urbanization, the Emergence of Social Classes and Problems in the City

1. Americans migrate to the city in massive numbers Rural Americans and Immigrants 2. City life is separated based on social classes Upper, Middle, Working and the Poor 3. Problems emerge in the city due to rapid urbanization Crime, pollution and political corruption

Why would rural Americans and immigrants move to the city? = “urbanization” 1. Jobs (factories and industrialization!) 2. Education (city/public schools, resources) 3. City life/culture (parks, beaches, etc.)

As cities grew, they also changed to deal with swelling populations! Cities grew ________ and (kind of) ________! New urban architecture emerged to change life in the city… What new architectural changes were brought to the city? 1. Mass Transit (streetcar – suburbs) 2. Elevators 3. Skyscrapers (steel and glass)

THINK: Have you ever ridden the bus, subway or railway system? What would transportation be like without mass transportation? For the same reasons, cities began to create and utilize mass transportation!

1832, New York and Harlem 1890, 70% of all urban traffic!

1873, San Francisco

1887, Richmond, Virginia

1892, The ‘L’ Steam powered

1897, Boston 1904, New York

1852, Elisha Otis “safety elevator”

Chicago’s Home Insurance Building, 1884 “Form follows function” – Louis Sullivan

Former middle-class houses and warehouses, were bought up and divided into small dwellings… Working class, poor Jacob Riis, “How the Other Half Lives”

As cities grew, as transportation evolved and as employment factors changed, social classes became more apparent as distinct neighborhoods popped up around the country! What social classes became distinct during the 19 th century? 1. “High Society” isolated themselves… “Conspicuous consumption” ($360,000 on a dance!) 2. * Growth of the “middle class” * Professionals, “white collar” and conservative 3. * The “working class” * Farm vs. city, “blue collar” and progressive ($500/year)

Potter Palmer, Chicago “High Society ”

Vanderbilt family, 1870s-1920s Biltmore, The Breakers, 5 th Ave.

Professionals – Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers… “Modest comfort ” “Streetcar Suburbs”

Rapid urbanization plagued the cities; made already existing problems worse! What problems emerged in urban areas as cities grew in the 19 th century? 1. “Slums” developed Poor, ethnic and crowded neighborhoods – Lower East Side 2. Increased crime Gangs develop, violent crime (25 per 1 million to 100 per 1 million) 3. Disease and Pollution Sewage and garbage disposal – drinking water! (typhoid fever) Pollution…