Urban+Problems+RB09

// Talk about the problems in the U.S. // Facts
 * __ Urban Problems pg. 398 __**
 * American cities in the early mid 1800’s faced many challenges as a result of rapid development.
 * Many urban residents, mostly immigrants lived in dirty, overcrowded, and poorly built houses. (tenements)
 * Disease spread through the tenements easily since all of them were unsanitary.
 * Epidemics were common because the cities lacked clean water, public health regulations, or sanitary ways to get rid of garbage.
 * The cholera epidemics of 1832 and 1849 in New York City hit the Irish immigrants hard.
 * Other factors besides disease made urban life dangerous.
 * As the populations rose, urban communities became the centers of criminal activity where there was no permanent police force (New York, Boston, and Philadelphia). They relied on volunteer night watches.
 * The cities also had poor fire protection and also relied on volunteer companies that used hand pumps and buckets of water.
 * Rival companies would usually compete when responding to calls.
 * There was also a lack to sanitary workers and road maintenance crews. These shortages created health and safety problems for many urban residents.
 * In the years following the Civil War, the number of American cities greatly expanded, and urban populations grew rapidly.