Growth of Cities

Created by Aaron Yonke

Bay Port High School Green Bay, WI

Why the move to Cities• JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS– Immigrants, African Americans, former

farmers• Railroads–Helped people move and allowed for raw

materials to be taken to and from factories–Connected cities to each other

• Natural Resources

Move to Cities

• 1870 1 in 4 Americans lived in cities (2500 <)• 1910 1 in 2 Americans lived in

cities• United States was changing from

rural to urban nation

Urban Growth: 1870 - 1900

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Characteristics of Urbanization

During the Gilded Age1.Huge Growth2.Mass Transit3.Economic and social

opportunities.4.Divided by social structure5.New opportunity for

women.6.Poor living conditions for

many.

Louis Sullivan: Carson, Pirie, Scott

Dept. Store, Chicago, 1899

D. H. Burnham: Marshall Fields Dept.

Store, 1902

Woolworth

Bldg.

NYC - 1911

FlatironBuilding

NYC – 1902D. H.

Burnham

Housing

Tenement Living

• Apartment building in poor, run down urban neighborhoods (slums)

• Poorest residents (usually immigrants) lived in these

• Several people per room• Several families had to share ONE cold water

tap and toilet

“Dumbell “ Tenement

“Dumbell “ Tenement, NYC

Jacob Riis:

How the

Other Half Lived(1890)

Tenement Slum Living

Lodgers Huddled Together

Tenement Slum Living

Struggling Immigrant Families

Middle Class and Rich

• Middle Class, professionals that lived comfortably– Lived on edge outside of city centers (suburbs)– 1 house=1 family, hot water, indoor plumbing and

by 1900 electricity• Rich– Large mansions in cities and estates in country

Cities in Crisis

• Cities grew too fast, over crowding• No open/green space• Poor transportation systems• Garbage and animal manure piled up• Sewers overflowed with sewage• Disease ran rampant• Fire was a constant threat• Poverty was widespread

City Problems

Solutions• Salvation Army (1879) food kitchens and

shelters• YMCA & YWCA set up rec centers• Settlement Houses created (Jane Addams &

Hull House in Chicago)• Parks and green space created• Mass Transportation established– Cable cars, trolleys, subways, EL (Chicago)

• Skyscrapers

Ethnic Communities

Pell St. - Chinatown, NYC

Mulberry Street – “Little Italy”

St. Patrick’s

Cathedral

Hester Street – Jewish Section