Essay on Middle Class and City

Submitted By smgrasso
Words: 982
Pages: 4
Open Document
Stephanie Grasso
Lewis Code
AP/SOSC 1731: Cybercities
December 19th 2014
Defining the Transition: Pre-Industrial to Post-Industrial City The tradition period the city undertook through its change from pre-industrial to post-industrial occurred over a long series of events. These events occurred to different locations at different times and over a long period of time. Each phase of development meant something different for the forms and functions of the present city. The most dominating examples of these changes include urban form and land use, density of residential locations, and economic and social change. All of which changes due to the development of transportation and communication innovations. It is through these elements that the differences between the pre-industrial and post-industrial city may be highlighted. In the pre-industrial urban form and land use was understood to be very compact and limited. Due to the lack of transportation abilities home, workplace, grocery stores and all other shops were in extremely close proximity to one another. Since communication was limited to face-to-face interaction and transportation was typically achieved through walking or carts, citizens needed to be in close proximity to one another in order to sustain themselves. The organization of homes was compact and placed in grid like patterns in order to salvage space. This began to change as the city transitioned into an industrialized place. As transportation and communicative innovations began to increase so did the distances between citizens and the city. Rail lines, mass transit, and automobiles are just a few examples which allowed for the distance between workers and the workplace to increase. Manufacturers and business could also spread out farther from the city core along transportation lines and residential areas soon followed. The form and organization of homes began to change as well. Lots began to get bigger and be placed non-linear, curved lines due to conformation and ease of roadwork. In the post-industrial city the possibility of commuting to work increased, you could get a bigger piece of land for lower prices the farther from the city you travelled. There were no longer gaps between the city core and suburban areas and land outside of the city began to be used for businesses and residential areas. The density of the city also began to change and innovate as the city transitioned. The pre-industrial city began with high density areas due the lack of transportation and communicative abilities. The size of the city was very compact and communication within it was so limited that citizens could not sustain themselves if they lived at too far a distance from the city core. Thus, the city was dense and congregated within a single area. As transportation and communication abilities began to grow so did the size of the city. It became much larger in size and suburban locations began to congregate farther from the city core than ever before. This resulted in an increase of city growth and a decrease of city density. Suburbs began to congregate around transportation lines and create gaps and fragments between itself and the original pre-industrial city core. The post-industrial city, however, became far more dense once the invention of the automobile took reign. There began an infill of land between these congregated clusters as the automobile provided citizens with an easy and personal transportation. The city core was still the most dense area of land within the city, however, and density slowly decreased the farther from the core you travel. The economic and social structures of the city also changed as it transitioned from pre- to post-industrial. It began as a very simple social and economic structure. There were the elites/aristocracy which owned and sold the land and there were the lower
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Middle Class and City

St. Louis Housing Problem

in the late 1940’s, the most dramatic population growth began to be witnessed in the suburbs, and like many cities, St Louis was experiencing this massive shift. The Pruitt housing project was initially built in response to St Louis's housing problems and was created under the United States Housing Act of 1949. Due to the need for better living conditions, and population decline, the city of St Louis decided it was time for a change. The solution was to build an eleven story, fifty acre high rise…

Words 511 - Pages 3

Essay On Jeff Wiltse's Contest Waters

pool. Pools became an instant attraction among the city folks. Young and working boys of the city looked at these swimming pools from a different point of view. They looked upon as a place to clean themselves. This marked the beginning of a change in Swimming pools history in North America. These young men, would take bath naked and use foul language. In the mid-1800’s. Many big cities like, New York, Milwaukee, Philadelphia passed an…

Words 996 - Pages 4

Summary Of The 'Middle Class Negro'

In chapter nine Jones express how the middle class pushed for assimilation of the negro into white America.” It was the growing black middle class who believed that the best way to survive in America would be to disappear completely, leaving no trace at all that there had ever been an Africa, or slavery, or even a black man (Jones, p.124).” They believed this was the only way to be citizens. The middle class tried to dictate this image of a whiter negro to the poorer Negros…

Words 492 - Pages 2

Essay on Division of classes is a problematic situation that not only affects Paris

leading to an extreme transition of the livelihood of citizens. The modernization of the city would assist in the way citizens dealt with their daily lives in terms of socialization. In this era, the upper class perceived themselves as a dominant class. Paris consisted of three major classes that made the city what it is today; the upper class, middle class and lower class. Due to the power retained by the upper class, they were looked at in a civilized manner; whereas, the peasants were looked at as…

Words 970 - Pages 4

Global Industrial Revo ESSAY

such as rapid urbanization, a new social structure regarding the introduction of a new social class, and lastly the shift away from the nuclear family. Urbanization is the movement of people to cities. During the Industrial Revolution masses of people migrated from farms to cities due to changes in farming, soaring population growth, and an escalating demand for workers. Almost overnight, cities emerged primarily in regions where coal and iron were abundant, and around growing factories. The…

Words 1493 - Pages 6

Shrinking Middle Class Research Paper

Shrinking Middle Class and its Affect on the Economy Over the past couple of years, the middle class has slowly been shrinking, and because of this, it has a negative effect on the economy. Consumer spending makes up 70% of the economy, and the less money people have, mostly likely they will not spend as much, which does not stimulate the economy. Although there is no one definition for the middle class, it can be made into three sub-categories; the upper middle class, the middle class, and the…

Words 655 - Pages 3

Summary Of How The Other Half Lives By Jacob Riis

and Keen-nosed Danish immigrant, Jacob A. Riis, a reporter for the New York Sun, shocked middle-class Americans in 1890 with How the Other Half Lives, in which he presented what would become familiar themes and images, most notably that of the dirty, and dangerous tenement house; documented the living and working conditions of the poor. Jacob Riis’ work were so meaningful and powerful, most middle and upper class Americans just didn't understand the kind of culture shock that many immigrants experienced;…

Words 327 - Pages 2

Urban Gentrification Essay

that attempt to integrate the “creative class” of residents into the city. Towards the 1990’s a massive wave of capital reinvestment in inner cities caused the accelerated geographic expansion of gentrification processes in Toronto (Lehrer et al, 2009, p. 143). One of the features of this capital reinvestment and accelerated gentrification process, is the “strategic use of cultural urban policies in order to attract and retain investors and new creative middle classes, by utilizing branding exercises…

Words 491 - Pages 2

How Did Labor Change In The Late 1800s

-specifically, blue-collar, middle-class work- became increasingly tied to new inventions and social developments in American society. In the 1800s, new developments in industry and immigration practices altered the nature of work in the States, and led to changes in the average workingman’s life. Specifically, in the late 19th century, the invention of railroads, the influx of immigrants, and the introduction of new technology drastically and permanently changed the way middle-class workers lived, worked…

Words 412 - Pages 2

APUSH Ch.18 Review Essay

They had air shafts and one WC per floor, but were grossly overpopulated and unsanitary. 2) There were several inventions that made skyscrapers possible. List them. Steel, electricity, elevator, plate glass *3) Cities provided many amenities. List them. What accommodations did cities not have? Provided: mass transit, electricity, music halls, amusement parks, prostitute houses Didn't provide: inside restrooms, sanitation *4) Describe the American Catholic Church at the turn of the century.…

Words 528 - Pages 3