1. BY DENA BAUGHMAN Urban Problems

2. Housing Working-class families could either buy a house on the outskirts of town where there were transportation problems, or they could rent cramped rooms in a boarding house in the central city. After working-class families left the city, immigrants took over their old housing. These multifamily urban dwellings were called tenements. Tenements were often overcrowded and unsanitary. In 1879, NYC passed a law that set minimum standards for plumbing and ventilation in apartments. Garbage was picked up infrequently, so people sometimes dumped it in the air shafts, causing vermin to emerge as a large problem. To keep out the stench, residents nailed windows shut, making the new tenements even worse than they used to be.

3. Transportation Mass transit- transportation systems designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes Innovations in these systems enabled workers to go to and from jobs more easily. Street cars became known in 1873 in San Francisco, and electric subways in Boston in 1897. By the 20 th century, mass transit networks in many urban areas linked city neighborhoods to one another and to suburbs and other outlying communities. Cities struggled to repair old transit systems and to build new ones too meet the demand of expanding populations.

4. Water Cities in the 1800s faced the issue of supplying safe drinking water. Nasty, huh? Id have to pass on the brown beverage, but thanks. Cleveland and NYC built public waterworks to handle the increasing demand in the 1840s and 50s. In the late 1860s, the residents of many cities had extremely inadequate piped water, or none at all. Home seldom had indoor plumbing, and residents had to collect water in pails from faucets on the street and heat it fro bathing. Diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever spread like wildfire with the disgusting water quality. Filtrations was finally introduced in the 1870s and chlorination in 1908. In the 20 th century, many city dwellers still had no access to safe water.

5. Sanitation As cities became larger, so did the problem of trying to keep them clean. Horse manure piled up in the streets, sewage flowed through open gutters, and factories spewed foul smoke into the air. Private contractors were hired to sweep the streets, collect garbage, and clean outhouses, but they often did not do their jobs properly. By 1900, many cities had developed sewer lines and created sanitation departments, but the task of providing hygienic living conditions was still an evident challenge.

6. Fire The limited water supply contributed to the spread of fire. Major ones occurred in almost every large American city during the 1870s and 80s. Cities were packed with wooden dwellings, which also did not help the fire issue, considering it was just like kindling waiting to be lit on fire. The use of candles and kerosene heaters also posed a fire hazard. Cities like San Francisco had fires break out during earthquakes. Firefighters used to be volunteers, and so they were no always available when they were needed. Cincinnati established the nations first paid fire department in 1853. By 1900,most cities had full-time professional fire departments. The introduction of the practical automatic fire sprinkler in 1874 and the replacement of wood as a building material with brick, stone, and concrete also mad cities safer

7. Great Chicago Fire San Francisco Earthquake Burned for over 24 hours Estimated 300 dead 100,000 homeless Over 3 square miles of the city center destroyed Property loss estimated around $200,000,000 17,500 buildings destroyed Quake lasted 28 seconds, fires burned for 4 days Estimated 1,000 people dead Over 200,000 homeless Fire swept through 5 square miles of the city Property loss was estimated at a tremendous $500,000k00 28,000 buildings destroyed Great Chicago Fire Vs. San Francisco Earthquake

8. Crime As populations increased, so did the crime rate. Pickpockets and thieves flourished. New York City organized the first full-time and salaried police force in 1844. Most city law enforcement units were too small to have much of an impact on crime.

9. Source Page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire https://www.nyhistory.org/seneca/nyc2.html The Americans U.S. History Textbook