San Francisco and Chicago are cities that will always be remembered during their time of massacre. Many were lost but through the losses they gained new structures that protect the citizens today and the ones yet to come. Although the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 were both horrific events that created huge destruction on the United States, they took a big toll in people’s lives in many different ways and encouraged them to take charge and rebuild back their hometowns that they loved.
In Barbara Berlund’s Making San Francisco American: Cultural Frontiers in the Urban West, Berlund explains how San Francisco grew from a young settlement which grew rapidly thanks to in part of the California Gold Rush which took place in 1949. Of course with the growing of this small settlement came it’s conflicts and how it rised to where it stands present day. A primary factor which helped San Francisco flourish a ton was the influence from those who had power and chose what would happen throughout the city, for example the Big 4. Those who were wealthy did not make this city what it is today without the help of people who made up the middle class as well. Every establishment within this city set the social order as to how the inhabitants of San Francisco would go about their life in society.
...ican Americans in the East Bay were politically active in seeking to create equal opportunity in the work place, housing, welfare, and other social issues. Native-Americans eventually were also active in civil rights matters by participating in “efforts to operate within and transcend or overturn racialized hierarchies.”
In the early twentieth century, San Francisco, a bustling city full of people with diverse cultures, stood in the midst of the Second Industrial Revolution. At this time, the brilliant inventions of airplanes, automobiles, and radios were changing the everyday lives of many. San Francisco had just recovered from the four-year burden of the bubonic plague (“Bubonic”). However, right when things were getting back to normal, a destructive earthquake hit the city on April 18, 1906. Although the shaking lasted for less than a minute, the devastated city had crumbled buildings and a substantial loss of lives. The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 had a lasting effect on the city and its people, and it proved to be one of the most catastrophic disasters in history.
Placerville California is located near Sacramento. This gold rush town was named after deposits of placer gold that was found in the river beds in the 1840’s. Being so close to where gold was first discovered in 1849 many people came flocking to this city in hopes of finding their fortune. It is located only 10 miles from the city that gold was first found in. The placer gold deposits the town got its name from were found in the river between Spanish Ravine and the town plaza. With all the miners rushing to the area Placerville soon became a much needed supply hub during the gold rush.
First of all, the main reason of economic immigration to Los Angeles is employment. A lot of immigrants in California come from Latin America and Asia. “The vast majority of immigrants were born in Latin America (53%) and Asia (37%). California has sizeable populations of immigrants from dozens of countries; Mexico (4.3 million), the Philippines (812,000), and China (760,700) are the leading countries of origin.” (Hans Johnson and Marisol Cuellar Mejia) It is connect with the fact that salaries in the USA bigger than in the Latin America and Asia. For example: in the USA salaries of porters, dishwashers, cleaners and professions that do not require special education equal to 6-8$ an hour, but in China salaries approximately...
For decades, America has been the fastest growing economy country in the world, and Detroit was one of the most leading populous city in the United States. Back in 1930, Detroit was the fastest growing city, but now is the fastest shrinking city with more than 100, 000 abandoned homes (Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady). Similarly, Bay Area economy was the envy of the nation with high employment rates and GDP growth like Detroit in the 1930s, and is currently suffering from losing jobs, residents, and status. Both Detroit and the Bay Area are single resource-based industries - where Detroit is manufacturing dominated, and Bay Area is high technology dominated. However, the Bay Area will not go bankrupt and become a ghost town in fifty years, because its high diversities in the economic opportunities are attracting people to stay and work here.
San Francisco is one of the most modern and accepting culture there is in the world. San Francisco has largely become what it is due to the past historical events that shaped this culture to the way it is, as well as the kind of people these events brought into this city. In a way, the series of events that unfolded seemed to work almost too perfectly, and turned San Francisco into the city it is today.
In this article, the author writes about the Urban Renewal Plan and what it did to a community in Oakland, California. The West Oakland community was found in 1852 and had a diverse population living there. That article says that upper-class people would be living next door to working class people. After the World Wars that changed because lower income families started moving to the area looking for jobs. The jobs they had were created because of the war. When the war ended these people lost their jobs. At the same time, the Urban Renewal Plan was put into place. This plan set out to remove slums in urban places. This plan would relocated families, demolish houses and create low-income housing. When a family was relocated they received little
I myself have always lived in the Bay Area until now, when I recently moved to Chico. Pleasanton, Ca is a suburb in the East Bay where I have lived the longest in the Bay Area. However I have also lived for other short periods of time in the cities San Jose, Union City, Fremont, and San Francisco. This is not the case with some of my other family members. My mother, and her side of the family, where born on the Island of Pico. Pico is located in the Azores, which is a chain of islands right off the coast of Portugal. My mother stated that, “She, my uncle, grandma, and grandpa decided to try to flea the Azores because of fear that my uncle would get drafted into Portugal’s war with Angola” (Orozco). When my mom was fifteen years old, her family migrated to Santa Maria, California. They settled in Santa Maria because of its large Portuguese community. Both of my grandparents worked hard labor jobs to try to support my mom, and uncle. My grandpa worked in construction, and my grandma worked in the fields harvesting crops. After five years of living in Santa Maria, my grandparents decided to move the family to San Jose, California because my grandpa had found a higher paying construction job. They permanently settled in San Jose, which is in the South Bay Area, and that is how my mom’s side of the family came to living in the Bay Area.
In the early 1900’s, Theodore Roosevelt took office after McKinley was assassinated. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only turmoil at the time. A ship with rats infected with bubonic plague started the first plague epidemic in the continental U.S. Survivors of the plague believed that the corpses were still contaminated, so all burials were banned within San Francisco. Fifteen blocks of China Town were quarantined because the Chinese were blamed to be the cause of leprous, small pox, and malaria. Fortunately, the plague was finally eradicated by 1905. The Bay area enjoyed success and growth from its formation during the gold rush of 1849 until the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.
Gentrification is a highly important topic that has not only been occurring all over the United States, but especially closer than we may have thought. San Francisco is home to hundreds of thousands of people who have been a part of how amazing this city has become. San Francisco is one of the most visited places in the world with many of its famous landmarks, endless opportunities not only for daytime fun but also has an amazing nightlife that people cannot get enough of. People come for a great time and could not be done without the help of the people who have grown up to experience and love this city for what it truly is. The cost of living in such an important city has definitely had its affect of lower income San Francisco residents. For decades we have seen changes occurring in parts of San Francisco where minorities live. We have seen this in Chinatown, SOMA, Fillmore district, and especially the Mission district.
I’ve been living there almost my whole life, the Presidio, that is. I did used to live in Berkeley, though I can’t quite remember what it was like. I’m used to the Presidio, the fresh air, the beautiful landscapes and all of that. Though there will most definitely be aspects of the Presidio that I will not miss! For instance: the little to no amount of customization you can do to your house, the occasional loud smelly garbage truck parking right outside your window, the gutter strategically placed right next to the car door so you’re likely to lose your keys for good if you drop them, the odd field of hay growing across the street, the raccoons living in a bush right outside our garage, and most of all: the coyotes who eat everyone’s family pets. Aside from that there are nice flowers in the hay across the street, and there are beautiful owls and hawks that will fly by every once in awhile. So it isn’t completely bad.
Harvey, Todd, and et al. Gentrification and West Oakland: Causes, Effects, and Best Practices 1999. 22 Nov. 2003.
Gentrification is the keystone for the progression of the basic standards of living in urban environments. A prerequisite for the advancement of urban areas is an improvement of housing, dining, and general social services. One of the most revered and illustrious examples of gentrification in an urban setting is New York City. New York City’s gentrification projects are seen as a model for gentrification for not only America, but also the rest of the world. Gentrification in an urban setting is much more complex and has deeper ramifications than seen at face value. With changes in housing, modifications to the quality of life in the surrounding area must be considered as well. Constant lifestyle changes in a community can push out life-time