urbanization and race

Movement of upper and middle-class people from core areas to surrounding outskirts. The process began in the mid-nineteenth century but became a mass phenomenon in the late-twentieth century.

1990s

Population of Chicago peaks in 1950 at 3.7 million

1970: 48% of population lives in city; 60% of all available jobs

1990: 38% of pop and 37% of jobs 2000: 2/3rds of jobs (suburbs) 2000: 90% low income jobs

(suburbs)

Transportation Housing Baby Boom TV

WHICH ONE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT?

Why has the development of suburbs in North American metropolitan areas greatly accelerated since the 1950s and 1960s?

Four main reasons:

(1) Transportation(2) Housing production(3) Landscape preference(4) Social and demographic trends

Freeways and transport corridors increased accessibility of the suburbs.

Federal Highway Act of 1956: most important government action in the 20th century› 32 billion and 40,000 miles across USA› “The amount of concrete poured to form

these roadways would build six sidewalks to the moon” IKE…but what was the original intent?

Housing was produced by large developers on large tracts of cheap land. 70% of new homes were constructed by 10% of builders.

Mass produced styles made housing cheaper and more affordable. (Levittowns)

Post-war mortgage programs. FHA (1934) and VA (1948) loans guaranteed creditors security on their loans by reducing down payments and extending repayment period.

Homeownership increased from 43.6% in 1940 to 65.5% in 2000.

• Cars became more affordable, greater availability/access…shift from war to peace time production

• 58 million cars sold in the 50s• -drive-thrus• -curb-side service

1st people move to the suburbs› Federal Highway Act of 1956

Then services move to the suburbs› Non-basic jobs: dry-cleaning; fast food› Then industrial jobs› Then service jobs: Sears; Motorola;Walgreens

Two patterns:-Edge suburbs-Chicago

Public transport-where? Why?How accessible? Why?

Affordable housing-where? Why?

“We’re not moving to mass transit” Why?

› Governed by 272 municipalities and 6 counties (Political geo.)

› Fear of City folk? › NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard!)

NIMBYism Local govt control/ voters Local low income housing

developer

Home Alone House for sale in Winnetka

"I don't want us to become another suburb made up of McMansions who are only here for the time it takes to put their kids through school and then leave," Tucker said.

Rick McQuet, a Winnetka resident, said at the meeting that the affordable housing plan is intended to help young families and recent college graduates. "That young family was me about 15 years ago, a new degree in hand and aspirations of becoming a member of a truly great community," he said.

Northfield resident June O'Donoghue received applause after she said she opposes the proposal because it interferes with the housing market. "Housing is affordable to the people who can afford it. That is a simple thing," O'Donoghue said. "I think you need a referendum for people to vote to see if they want to go through all this social engineering."

Suburbanization (1950s)› Government stimulus package

FHA loans and Federal Highway Act Solves affordable housing for some

2001 FRQ› Landscape preferences, New

construction trends, Social/Demographic trends also

Great Migration of African Americans (WWI)› Race Riot of 1919› Covenants› Race Riot of 1951 (Cicero)› Redlining and Blockbusting› Martin Luther King and Open Housing March› Today and Flight

Great Migration brings changes› Before 1916, 2% of Chicago’s population› After 1970, 33%› 2000, 36.77%› 2010, 36.8%

Push and Pull Factors

Why?› Racism in the South› Jobs in the North

Why Chicago?› Transportation networks› the Chicago Defender

violence: Lynching and murders

Black Codes Jim Crow Laws Plessy v. Ferguson

1896

The boll weevil infestation of Southern cotton fields in the late 1910s.

World War I and the Immigration Act of 1924 effectively put a halt to the flow of European immigrants to the emerging industrial centers of the Northeast and Midwest, causing shortages of workers in the factories

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 displaced hundreds of thousands of African-American farmers and farm workers

Black owned newspaper The newspaper was read extensively in the

South. Massive campaign in WWI 1st wave: Over 1.5 mil southern blacks

migrating to the North between 1915-1925. › At least 110,000 came to Chicago alone between 1916-

1918, nearly tripling the city's black population.

2nd wave: During WWII until 1970, north but also West (where munitions and other jobs were)

South side: Chain migration and then racism. Nearby were areas dominated by ethnic Irish, who were

especially territorial in defending against incursions into their areas by any other groups.

In 1910 more than 75 percent of blacks lived in predominantly black sections of the city.

As the population grew, African Americans became more confined to a delineated area, instead of spreading throughout the city. (NOT ALLOWED TO MOVE OUT)

Started on Lake Michigan

Swelling African American population

Nowhere to go Racism, tension, lack of

police enforcement (who were mostly ethnic Irish)

Racial Spaces in ChicagoSunday, July 27, 1919, dawned hot in Chicago. As the day wore on, city dwellers crowded onto the beaches lining Lake Michigan seeking relief from the heat. Late that afternoon, 17-year-old Eugene Williams dove off a raft that had wandered toward the 29th Street beach.

The African American teenager was unaware of a confrontation earlier that day when black Chicagoans had walked onto a space conventionally limited to whites. Spotting him in the water, a group of bathers began throwing stones at Williams, who struggled, disappeared, and drowned. As news of his death spread, further violence erupted on the beach and extended out from it. Four days of rioting followed, engulfing large sections of the city. When the violence subsided, 38 persons were dead, 537 were injured, and over 1,000 were left homeless.

Rare before 1919, huge after Supreme Court: Public residential

segregation illegal, but... IF you have a private group in an area,

they can agree on rules: landscaping, sidewalks, fences, and segregation

In Chicago They've got covenants Restricting me—

When I move Into a neighborhood Folks fly. Even every foreigner That can move, moves.

Why?

Between July 10 and 12, 1951, approximately two to five thousand white Cicero residents attacked an apartment building housing a single black family. Ultimately, 450 National Guardsmen and 200 Cicero and Cook County police officers were called in to control the fires, looting, and destruction.

The Cicero riots became news across the United States and the world.

48.27% White American 1.12% African American 0.89% Native American 0.97% Asian 44.71% from other races, and 4.01% from two or more

races. 77.44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any

race, with 68.4% of Mexican descent

Open Housing March, 1966 Decides against going to Cicero (too

violent) Goes to Marquette Park “Chicago Law

n”

Source: Chicagohistory.org

The last way to keep “them” out

Mike Royko's 1971 biography of Mayor Richard J. Daley, Boss, claims that the Dan Ryan Expressway route was shifted to reinforce the border between Daley's native Bridgeport and the Black Belt to the east.

Maps› Northeastern Illinois Planning

Commission (nipc.org)› Chicago Metropolis 2020

Video clips› Chicago Matters series (WTTW,

Channel 11, 2003)