Title: U.S. History, The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900, Urbanization and Its Challenges | OER Commons
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Urbanization and Its Challenges
Overview
THE KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL URBANIZATION
Electric Lighting
Communications Improvements
Intracity Transportation
The Rise of Skyscrapers
Jacob Riis and the Window into “How the Other Half Lives”
THE IMMEDIATE CHALLENGES OF URBAN LIFE
Jane Addams Reflects on the Settlement House Movement
Section Summary

Content: Although cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, and New York sprang up from the initial days of colonial settlement, the explosion in urban population growth did not occur until the mid-nineteenth century ( Figure ). At this time, the attractions of city life, and in particular, employment opportunities, grew exponentially due to rapid changes in industrialization. Before the mid-1800s, factories, such as the early textile mills, had to be located near rivers and seaports, both for the transport of goods and the necessary water power. Production became dependent upon seasonal water flow, with cold, icy winters all but stopping river transportation entirely. The development of the steam engine transformed this need, allowing businesses to locate their factories near urban centers. These factories encouraged more and more people to move to urban areas where jobs were plentiful, but hourly wages were often low and the work was routine and grindingly monotonous. As these panels illustrate, the population of the United States grew rapidly in the late 1800s (a). Much of this new growth took place in urban areas (defined by the census as twenty-five hundred people or more), and this urban population, particularly that of major cities (b), dealt with challenges and opportunities that were unknown in previous generations. Eventually, cities developed their own unique characters based on the core industry that spurred their growth. In Pittsburgh, it was steel;