Poverty in American Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Poverty in American Cities - Essay Example During the late nineteenth century, white Democrats in the urban areas had established legal infrastructures that were not favorable for industrial development and business ventures, especially by the private sector. The banking industry was still at its infancy, while credit facilities and services had not taken foot. Significance of the nineteenth century poverty in American cities The late nineteenth century poverty in the cities was significant, because it would define the long-standing policies that various urban planners were to set up to mitigate the problem or any recurrence in future; these include housing projects, sanitation, sewers, garbage dumps and structured construction of buildings in the urban areas. Meanwhile, Tardanico (2008) indicates the towns concentrated more on agricultural businesses. Additionally, the period witnessed a high population influx in the urban areas, following the industrialization efforts. Law-making bodies were opposed to business and the buil ding of a contemporary society. For instance, Alabama upheld a seven decade refusal to engage in redistrict measures, long after it had experienced major demographic transformations and economic drifts to towns. For a long period of time Birmingham city generated the bulk of the state’s revenue, but received a meager infrastructural development and services, thus leading to poverty (Lassonde, 1996). In the sunset years of nineteenth century, Texas swiftly increased its railroad coverage, building a link of major urban areas through a radial program and extended to the Galveston harbor (Riis, 2011). According to Bolland et al (2007), in an effort to improve the industrial sector was met with apparent job boycotts and labor instability among the town residents, who took home peanuts, despite their heavy toil. In 1885 Texas was among the top ten of the 40 states in which employee unrest took the toll on major industries in the town; within half a decade, it occupied the fifteent h position. More than 70 percent of labor unrest cases, mainly interstate instabilities such as telegraph workers and railway employees, took place in 1886. By 1890 Dallas developed to the biggest township in Texas (Bolland et al, 2007). The 1900 witnessed the town having a population exceeding 42,000; but by 1910, the population had immensely increased to 92,000 (Tardanico, 2008). Dallas transformed into world’s harness-making centre and a region of other manufacturing industries. As an illustration of the town’s ambitions, in late 1800s, Dallas set up the Praetorian Building, a fifteen storey edifice, the tallest on the western side of the Mississippi. Subsequently, others were soon built. Texas was completely changed by a rail transport line network connecting five significant cities, including Houston and Galveston, a nearby harbor; others include Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, and Fort Worth. It is notable that each experienced a remarkable increase in population w ith more than 50,000 within less than two decades (Riis, 2011). In the five decades from 1870, the population of Americans residing in the country’s major towns increased to 54 million, up five times. Into the late nineteenth century, American townships developed in terms of demographics and extended in area by encompassing nearby villages. For instance, New York City consumed Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens, regions that appeared as politically carved