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)

The Plan of Chicago; loosing sight of Chicago's beauty (Blog 2)

There are many issues that Chicago and any other major city must address, such as housing and sanitation and crime. As an outsider I feel I have very little knowledge of these issues, but walking around Chicago I began to see some of the problems that Burnham may have feared when he looked to Chicago’s future. 

In his design of civic centres and parks, Burnham “urged the building of more parks and playgrounds in the city and the setting aside of natural areas in Chicago,” (145) in order to prevent people from, to an extent, going crazy in the city. I think this was an admirable and important aspect of the plan that was eventually implemented, and I could tell that people were using it for such a place of escape. 

It is difficult to believe that this peaceful scene is situated along side the busy Michigan Avenue, but as we can see it offers this citizin a peaceful respite from the speed of the city (Jenny Riley, September 2011)

Another danger in modern Chicago is people giving in to the monotony of commuting to and from work every day and not stopping to truly appreciate the beauty of Chicago. On Michigan Avenue I think this could be truly seen with the ornate, European style architecture contrasting the modern buildings that now dominate the city. Although I do not believe we can force commuters to stop and appreciate the beauty of Chicago, it was probably still a fear of Burnham’s that Chicago would just become ‘another city’ in which to conduct ones daily business. 

There is a danger that residents in Chicago may loose sight of the beauty of the city that can be found alongside the modern skyscrapers and office buildings (Jenny Riley, September 2011)

Daniel Burnham and the Plan of Chicago (Blog 1)

Given the problems of density, transportation, sanitation and the lack of civic structures that faced Chicago at the time of the plan, to say Burnham’s claim that the city should look far into the future was justified presents a difficult question. I do not think his claims were justified, but that does not mean I believe them unjustified. I believe he looked too far into the future and so neglected important issues of the present, such as addressing housing more in the plan. 

But I do not want to say that his claim is unjustified because I believe it was admirable to create such an elaborate and detailed plan in an attempt to create a feeling of community in an otherwise disjointed and isolated city. As I said in last week’s blog, I feel that Chicago is a collection of smaller cities that creates one large city, but this also creates a sense of loneliness that I believe Burnham wanted to address. It also does not hurt to look far into the future, just as long as you don’t lose sight of what is important today. 

The challenges facing Chicago today are, like I said, similar to those it faced 100 years ago; transportation, though not as dangerous as is demonstrated on page 37 of Carl Smith’s The Plan of Chicago, is still a major issue, with congestion and parking considered two of the most pressing matters in our class discussion last week. 

 This image demonstrates the extent to which transportation and traffic were an issue at the time of the plan (The Plan of Chicago page 37)

URBANISM AS A WAY OF LIFE

Louis Wirth’s definition of ‘the city’ fundamentally relies on three characteristics; a dense population, heterogeneity, and a large, permanent settlement. I think that this is an accurate, although simple, way to describe a city. If you only wish to understand the physical presence of a city (how large it should be or foe example) and distinguish it from a rural area, this is an adequate description. However, in order to truly comprehend the splendour of a modern city like Chicago, you need to consider many more levels within the city itself. 

Wirth fails to demonstrate the economical diversity of the city that can be seen when one compares the affluent neighbourhood of the Gold Coast to that of the less wealthy Cabrini-Green. The mere fact that such assorted neighbourhoods exist along-side one another is not mentioned in Louis Wirth’s work, and such a distinctive aspect of the city wants some mention in any definition of it. He also neglects to mention the actual physicality of living within the city, with little (if any) mention of congestion, pollution, the encountering of hundreds of people on the street or the availability of goods literally minutes away (with 7-Elevens and Starbucks on almost every block).  

The most interesting point that Wirth makes with reference to the urban way of life is his mention of how city dwellers experience “(weakened) bonds of kinship”(21) compared to residents in a rural community, even though frequently a city dweller may know dozens more people than a rural resident. This made me think a lot, and made me realise just how lost someone can feel when they know that many people, but may not be able to call all of them ‘friends’. 

 I know that I find myself lost, especially amongst so many cultures that are not my own, and particularly when I think just how LARGE the city is. You could even argue that a city like Chicago isn’t just one city at all, but dozens of small towns or cities enclosed in the same geographical area. The neighbourhoods are so diverse that sometimes it is difficult to comprehend that you are in the same place!

Wirth’s article was a very enjoyable read, but it I think it is stuck in the time of its publication. It reveals the fundamentals of urban life and what makes up the skeleton of a city, but misses a lot of what makes a modern city truly unique in nature.