Rise of the City

From Farm to City

• Before the Civil War most people lived on farms– 1860 urban population of 6

million

• By 1900 most people lived in urban areas – 1910 urban population of 44

million– Industrial Revolution was

responsible for urban growth – jobs

– New social problems developed

• Ethnic rivalry of immigrants • Poor sanitation and health • Food and housing shortages • Pollution from factories

From Farm to City Continued

Allure of the City

• Folklore of the city drew in country youth – for whom country life can be

frustrating from isolation from “modern” society

– Left for work opportunities, adventure and freedom

– Entire regions were abandoned

• African–Americans – Following the Civil War African-

American migration flowed to northern cities

– In search of work and a better way of life

– Cities such as Detroit, New York and Chicago became major destination for migration

Tenements

• Tenements – Rented houses or congested apartment buildings found in urban areas– Often slum like conditions,

accommodating the cities poor and immigrants

– Poor ventilation, poor heating, and lack of sewer lead to bad health

– Over crowded– Infectious disease common– Made of wood – fire hazard– Poverty = Crime,

dangerous to live

Tenements Continue

• By 1900 90% of New York’s residents resided in Tenement housing – 1.6 million people living in 42,700 units

Vertical Expansion

• Conventional brick buildings only go five stories up – limit growth

• Skyscrapers, which use steel frames, can reach 100 plus stories – limitless growth

• The Bessemer Process allowed steel to be made at a cheap and fast rate – allowing rapid construction

• Edison's use of electricity provided power for lights and elevators – which allowed buildings to be built higher

• Radiators provided heat

Horizontal Expansion

• Era of horse and steam – people could not live far from place of employment – time constraint

• Electricity and steel allowed people build mass transit – Trolley Systems – Cable Car Systems – Subway Systems

• Mass transit allowed large numbers of people to become commuters

• Middle and upper class left the cities and moved to edge of cities – AKA Suburbs – poor stayed in city unable to pay fare

• Urban sprawl often took place without plan

Politics

• New type of government needed to run a city– Central

organization to coordinate citywide services

• Transportation • Sanitation• Utilities • Taxes• Etc…

Politics Continued

• Political Machines – Political parties who

controlled all aspects of a city and city life

• Often corrupt in nature – Undemocratic and

authoritarian– Buying and selling of votes – Kickbacks and payoffs

• Ran by party “Bosses”• Engaged in need public

services, gained popularity with the population – allowed corruption to exist

– Food, heat, clothing, money for poor

– Housing and jobs for immigrants

– Sponsored sports teams and cultural events

City Environment

• Cities in 1900 were generally filthy and disease ridden– Water quality was poor and

sewage dumped in the street

• Cholera• Typhoid Fever• Yellow Fever

– Animals roamed freely • Pigs and horses produced

100’s pounds manure yearly

– No trash collection– Factories caused pollution

and poor smelly air quality– City rivers became dumps

and sewers

City Environment

• Sanitary Reformers – Government and civil reformers invested in health reforms– Trash collection– Street Cars – Screws and clean

water systems – Manure collected and

sent to farms outside city