How is Immigration important for Chicago today?

                Labour. To put it quite bluntly, today, as was the case in decades gone by, the running of the city (whether it be Chicago or New York) at a personal level relies heavily on immigration and immigrants. Just look to how historically farming in the South has relied heavily on Mexicans to bring in the crops, or how the building of the railroad relied upon the Chinese.  More often than not the industries of manufacturing, food service, construction and housekeeping (janitors, cleaners, etc.) are dominated by immigrants from Mexico and Poland in the city of Chicago. These jobs are often described as the jobs that Americans just don’t want, and without the large immigrant labour force the city of Chicago would likely suffer for it. Of the 574,055 Mexican residents of Chicago in 2000, 407,904 of these were foreign born and nearly 75% of these are found in one of the four industries mentioned before (Koval, 199-200).  We also talked about in class how the construction profession is often dominated by Polish immigrants – though we must certainly not hold this against the Polish community, because I know how much Chicagoans love construction in the city! 

                Not only this but culturally the amount of immigrants in the city helps add to the ‘Chicago as a Global City’ dynamic that I discussed in last week’s blog. With the examples of rich ethnic culture found in neighbourhoods such as Pilsen and Little Italy, and the fact that such events as the International Chicago Film Festival (note the emphasis) are held here help add to this dynamic. Also I know that the Day of the Dead Parade is now such a part of Chicagoan culture that a North Central College student group are actually organising a student trip to go and partake of this in Pilsen this week.  

                I suppose it is arguable that today immigrants face quite a few obstacles that they have always faced throughout history. There is always an immigration issue to answer for in US general elections, limits upon immigration have always existed, and the day-to-day prejudice that immigrants face from every passer-by (be it the one who generalises what job a certain immigrant should hold, or the one who grumbles that “they come here and take our jobs” – ‘they’ being every person who does not sound or look American) are a part of the immigrant experience.

 Though I am sure that if a modern day Jane Addams were to start up a settlement today the FBI might not jump straight to calling them the most dangerous person in America. And with communities such as Pilsen in which Mexican culture is very openly celebrated it would be more comfortable for an immigrant to try and establish them self in the city than say for someone struggling in ‘Little Hell’ and faced with the more overt prejudices of someone like Zorbaugh. 

I do not wish to belittle the struggle of any immigrant today, in fact I think they should be celebrated more than they are because they contribute to the American way of life just as much as anyone one else does from what I can see. Now my blog is in danger of becoming a slight rant at immigration issues, so I shall just finish by saying that I believe the labour contributions of immigrants in any city stand as one of the most important and significant factors in, not only, immigrant life, but in regular city life too.

Chicago - A Global City...?

We talked and read about how Chicago was becoming a ‘global city’ this week, and the different definitions of what constitutes a global city. Before I did the reading I must admit I had never thought of the possibility that a ‘global city’ could have more than one possible definition, but then again, looking back now I am not sure how I would have defined a global city in a singular way. 

From an economical standing, Chicago is global because it is home to an International Airport (O’Hare) and offices and headquarters of international corporations, such as Boeing, Dominick’s and Wrigley (http://www.december.com/places/chi/notable.html).  But from a personal, or street level, view point you can find people from all nationalities within Chicago, most easily illustrated by the existence of so many cultural neighbourhoods (Chinatown, Little Italy, Pilsen, and Humboldt Park), languages and even tourists. When people hear the word Chicago across the world they know that it is situated in America and the images of the ‘Bean’ (Cloud Gate – Millennium Park) and Sears (Willis) Tower are synonymous with Chicago. 

However, I think Chicago is missing the ‘x-factor’ that makes it a truly global city in the same way that New York, Tokyo and London are global. Unfortunately, being the x-factor, I just can’t put my finger on what it is missing. Is it just that the images of Chicago are not as famous as Times Square in New York, or Buckingham Palace in London? Is it they are not in as many films as these cities are? Does it in some way work against Chicago that it is not home to a single major commodity in the same way that other cities are, even though we discussed this as a positive, because Chicago is one of the very few industrial cities in America to survive the transition from the industrial age to the cyber age (look to Detroit, Michigan for example)? All of these things may count towards Chicago, in my eyes at least, not quite being a global city.

Of course that is just my opinion. Chicago fits all the criteria that Fassil Demissie discusses in chapter two of The New Chicago (Koval, 2006), but maybe checking off a list of criteria is not enough, or maybe Chicago just hasn’t had enough time to grow into its global role. It will be interesting to see how the next ten, twenty, fifty years play out, not just for Chicago, but for other cities across the world too.

Hull-House; A viable option today?

The Hull-House settlement tour today was one of those tours that I felt provided me with so much information and interesting topics that I scarcely know where to begin on this week’s blog. I could write and write and write on this topic (so I think I know what one of my mid-term paper’s will be on!). 

I think it’s best to begin with what I admire about the work that the settlement did, and what it offered to their community. They offered kindergartens and day care for children, art classes for adults, a place for social gatherings and even housing. And all out of their own pockets (and any contributions received at the house itself). From the extracts we were told to read this week I could discern no personal motives in this act other than the realisation that immigrants and poor people needed help to feel like a part of America and not to just be another poor person who couldn’t afford to work and live (an idea I felt was portrayed somewhat by Zorbaugh in The Gold Coast).   

I never knew such places existed (even if the original concept came from London!) and I am glad they did. They offer a view of 19^th century Chicago that promises so much more than just slums (such as Little Hell) and the idea that children as young as 6 were working in factories. Of course these things were facts of the time, but the idea that there was an alternative, no matter how small, offers some light in the bleak images painted by some of our previous readings. 

In class Professor Macek asked us if we thought settlements would offer a solution to urban problems of today. Although this may sound like a weak argument, I believe that there are just too many people in cities for this to make any substantial impact, and the cost would be too great to offer the sorts of entertainment and diversion that modern society craves (TV, video games, cinemas; I doubt a small art gallery would satisfy the entertainment needs of the average 21^st century person). Modern day settlements would also be easy targets for criticism. Age-old complaints against the benefits system and the “socialist” policies of government would be increased two-fold by the implementation of settlements such as Hull-House – especially if, like Hull-House, they were catered specifically for immigrants who were trying to assimilate into American Society. The controversies surrounding immigration, and the disdain already held for those who are taking away ‘American jobs’ would just intensify. 

I’m not sure an expansive plan such as Burnham’s would solve the urban problems of today, but I suppose there is no such single solution to all the urban problems facing society. Jane Addams did not have all the answers, I am not suggesting that, but I think it was right that she and the other reformers are honoured in the Hull House Museum and they should be remembered for the admirable work they attempted to bring to the city of Chicago.

Cabrini Green - For Better or Worse

Last week we took a tour of the new Cabrini Green area. After reading Zorbaugh and the chapters on the Slums such as Little Italy and Little Hell I was surprised to see how neat, clean and high end the area of Cabrini Green was! I suppose we did visit some 80 years after The Gold Coast was written, but from everything I have heard this was the slum area. The housing was described as ‘mixed income’ housing but it seemed to me middle if not upper class housing. Or if they weren’t they were ornately built homes.

Obviously there was a lot of work done and a lot of progress made in the last few years, but at the same time I could not help but feel that the policies of the Chicago Housing Authority had not changed much. When our tour guide was asked what happened to the people who were displaced from the public housing before the new homes were built he stressed that what he was about to say was not necessarily true or fair, but it was “just the way it is”; this sounded to me something that someone living in the Gold Coast interviewed by Zorbaugh might say 80 years ago! I am not condemning the man, I am condemning the position he gave when he said people were either just moved to other public housing in the city, able to afford private housing with the help of a ‘voucher’ or just left the system entirely. I am not sure if it was just because we were a small group of students, but he didn’t give the impression that the needs of people were followed up or attempted to be taken care of. No wonder Chicago is called the ‘windy city’ with attitudes like this.

What was very interesting too was, in our SOA 494 class, my group is studying Old Town. One of the question’s we asked people in our interviews was “Do you think the changes made to the Cabrini Green area have had any effect on Old Town?” Most people answered in a positive way, saying the area was more desirable and beautiful even. But one woman’s answer stood out most to me; she argued that the change was for the worse, that it caused the ‘troublesome’ people who lived in Cabrini Green originally to move closer to Old Town and as a result she did not feel safe walk the streets at night. She also said she strongly disagreed with the idea of mixed income housing because it lessened to standard of living and appeal of living for young families. The different reactions to the Cabrini Green areas were interesting to listen to.

I think she had a good point in saying that mixed income housing is a bad idea; it will create animosity between lower and higher income families as one will come to resent the other.

The Gold Coast

This week we read the first half of Harvey Warren Zorbaugh’s The Gold Coast and the Slum (1929) and I must admit, as first impressions go I was very confused. Initially I thought this was a book all about how one should act ‘properly’ at social functions and the way you can get your name on to the social list of who’s who, and couldn’t help but wonder why we were asked to read it. However, after reading more and following an illuminating class discussion I have come to really enjoy (and more importantly understand) what Zorbaugh has to say. 

You can tell Zorbaugh is a true student of the “Chicago School of Sociology” through his extensive use of in-depth personal interviews in his work to discover what it is like to live in The Gold Coast, ‘The World of Furnished Rooms’ and Tower Town. His emphasis on individual accounts gives this sociological study a much more personal feel and creates an interesting read. 

What I found most interesting, but at the same time most unsurprising, was the fact that nobody in the ‘community’ knew their neighbours. This was illustrated most clearly with the interview on page 75, when a man was looking for another man in a rooming house. When he spoke to the land lady he had to describe the appearance of the gentleman in question because she did not recognise his name, and then a week later the man just left without a forwarding address and although this shocked the interviewee, no one else appeared to be surprised. Although this lack of information is quite shocking, I cannot say I was too surprised, because as Zorbaugh wrote people were always coming and going in the boarding houses and rooming houses, and we have already discussed in class how there is a loss of community in the city. 

As we walked around the Gold Coast on our walking tour we viewed the McCormick mansion (or more accurately one of them), and this past week I visited the Cantigny grounds and museum in which I saw the McCormick family’s ‘summer home’ (although I would call it an American Palace). Visiting the lavish grounds and expensively decorated rooms in the house (one of the rooms was called the Gold Theatre because the original roof was actually covered in real gold!) I could really understand the sorts of money someone had to own in order to live in the Gold Cost where ladies had to get their hair dressed twice a week to keep up in society (55). As an aside I would highly recommend visiting Cantigny (doubly so because the tour of the house is free) to truly appreciate what Zorbaugh was talking about in the Gold Coast. 

It's alright for some! (Jenny Riley, 28th September2011)