Tenement Houses In The 1800s

The “Genesis of the Tenement” is the first chapter of “How the Other Half Lives,” the powerful work of Jacob Riis, which examined the harsh living conditions of tenements in New York City during the latter part of the 19th century. With a combination of investigative journalism, personal accounts, and data, Riis provides an evocative image of the life of the poverty-stricken working class occupying these dilapidated buildings. In the first two paragraphs of this chapter, Riis describes the early days of New York City, and how, while there “...had been tenant-houses before...they were not built for the purpose,” of housing so many people at once. Riis explains that these cramped living conditions came to be from the increase in immigrants coming to New York City, predominantly

Riis covers many aspects of the poverty that has stricken the tenement lodgers but when talking about one end of the spectrum (poor) you also need to discuss the other (rich). With out telling people how the other half of the other half lives he’s leaving out a crucial part of how people live in New York. By avoiding, that topic he’s giving the illusion that all people in New York live in such cramped housing as tenements. When in reality New York was and is presently not composed of strictly tenement housing. There was a ‘rich’ part of town where the thought of not having any money was never even contemplated. In addition, where the industrial revolution only touched higher societies on positive outcomes such as economics the industrial revolution only made it harder for the immigrants to get ahead. By this, meaning, that they worked harder, got paid little to nothing, and still had to compensate for the short comings that where being pressed against them because they were in fact immigrants.

In Riis’ novel “How the other half lives”, Riis intends to expose the harsh conditions that the families of New York were being housed in. While doing so, he rights all of what he finds in his journal. Riis first fills in some informational background about the history of New York tenements, which once belonged to some of the city’s most luxurious families. As industrialization increased over the course of the nineteenth century, the rising rates of immigration of both rural and urban areas that ensued caused these families to move out of the city all of which occured in the 1890’s . The buildings’ owners then began to subdivide them into windowless apartments for the new arrivals streaming in. Riis describes these tenements as increasingly

But there were no freezers or refrigerators and this resulted in the small amount of sustenance they had, to go bad and soon enough rot out. Unfortunately, the families couldn’t go and purchase fresher food due to the large markup of farmed goods during this era (Document 1B). For every problem there is always a solution and tenement living was not any different. In the year 1901, the Tenement Housing Act was created to make sure that all establishments were only built under circumstances to avoid more deaths, disease and other varieties of negativity. In relation to living during tough times such as these, not many people made enough money to support themselves.

The White House is an symbol of our nations leadership, being the most recognized structure in America it was meant to be flexible. American was not even twenty-fie years old when John Adams inhabited the White House in 1800, it was impossible to see how and when the executive chief would call for expansion, renovation, or redesign. Washington, who had selected the site and approved the final design, knew the residence and the public buildings, such as the Capitol, would need to known "beyond the present day." The White House survived  the War of 1812, a major expansion in 1902, and reconstruction in the early 1950s — although each time the nature of the building was preserved.To this day, George Washington, would still recognize the place

“No country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law, and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more” (Twain, 1873). The Reconstruction was officially over with the Compromise of 1877 which finally withdrew the last military troops in the South. United States as a nation experienced a variety of significant and drastic changing beginning in that period. Former slaves gained their freedom and this fact permitted them mobility. United States saw a great influx of immigrants that altered their course of history, bringing new traditions and costumes that with time became integrated

Tenement buildings are run down buildings, mostly in the city. Poor families and mostly poor immigrants would live inside these buildings. Tenement buildings were very unhealthy to live in. A danger that families had to face in these buildings was that they were run down. Run down buildings could fall apart and the ceilings could be tore. Also, the buildings could have mold and people can get sick from breathing in mold, laying on mold, or ingesting mold. Tenements were also small and crowded with people, so if someone gets sick in the tenement it will spread very fast to the whole family. Tenement buildings are also very unsanitary. There were outhouses outside the buildings and these outhouses would stink up the neighborhood. Outhouses are unsanitary because the waste inside them would be stuck inside them for a long time and that can attract bugs. Furthermore, outside these tenements in the backyard, were mud and animal feces all over the place. Along with the mud and animal waste children would try to play outside but, it would be to dirty for them to go outside and play. Fires were one of the many dangers that people in tenement buildings had to face. If there was a fire it would be hard for tenement residents to evacuate the building because there was no fire escapes. Likewise, tenements residents could also have fire hazards like cigarettes or

Racial restrictions on occupancy of residential property or sale started in the nineteenth century; but these deed restrictions and covenants turned out to be substantially more pervasive everywhere throughout the nation after the turn of the twentieth century, when the entire nation was urbanizing quickly and African Americans specifically were moving out from the South to the urban cities.

In 1640 Culpeper met Alice Field whilst successfully treating her father for gouty arthritis, they fell in love and got married. Alice 15, had just inherited a considerable fortune which allowed them to build a house in East London. Here Nicholas set himself up as an astrologer and herbalist. He soon gained a considerable reputation in both disciplines among the poor folk of the area, whom he charged very little or nothing for his treatment. He never denied treating anyone, and as a result often saw up to 40 patients a day.

Multifamily residential is a sector in real estate market. It is a type of housing “where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex (Resource: Appendix 26).” The classifications of multifamily housing are various. According to the methods of classifying online (Resource: Appendix 27), the multifamily are divided into duplex or semi-detached (in some cities, it is called two-flat), three-flat, four-flat, townhouse, apartment building, mixed use building, and apartment community. Although multifamily targets for the number of householders are over one, each sub-segment of multifamily has different targets and focuses. Based on the variety of geology, demography, climate, hydrology, culture, history, and other factors, each sub-segment fits in different lands or cities. For example, duplex is common in Milwaukee (Resource: Appendix 28), because duplex is popular in Poland, and Polish immigrants built those houses to live in. In Chicago (Resource: Appendix 29), duplex is an old signature of American workplaces and living houses, and they are reserved in Chicago to satisfy the needs of residents there.

For hundreds of years, these Pueblo descendants continued to live a similar lifestyle, continuing to survive by hunting and farming, and also building "new” apartment-like structures, sometimes several stories high. These structures were made cut sandstone faced with adobe -- a combination of earth mixed with straw and water; or the adobe was poured into forms or made into sun-dried bricks to build walls that are often several feet thick. The buildings had flat roofs, which served as working or resting places, as well as observation points to watch for approaching enemies and view ceremonial occasions. For better defense, the outer walls generally had no doors or windows, but instead, window openings in the roofs, with ladders leading into

Services, including laundry and shoe-shining, were provided on site. The building included 22 single flats, 4 double flats, 3 studio flats, staff quarters, kitchens and a large garage. The Pritchards lived in a penthouse flat at the top with their two sons Jeremy and Jonathan. Plywood was used extensively in the apartments.

Tenement Housing laws were put in place to outlaw building any new tenement houses and required improved building specifications of the existing homes such as ventilation, sanitation, and fire escapes (History.com, n.d.). Chicago was one of the first cities to realize the public health hazards of tenement housing and the spread of infectious diseases due to the unsanitary conditions. Oscar De Wolf implemented housing inspections through the Health Department, opening them up to government regulation. Wolf’s reform action came with many conflicts because it took place before state, local, and federal governments took the initiative to assert their authority to improve wages, working and housing conditions, and the issue of slaughterhouses dumping waste into the city rivers (Garb, 2003).

Most contracts never mentioned the safety and comfort of tenants (p. 10). In addition, many of the tenants were working and needed to be close to where they worked. The costs of living in these tenement houses were ridiculously high for the condition and size of the rooms.

With inventions such as quicker and more effective ways of transit, the Utopian suburbia was born and alleviated overcrowding problems cities faced. However, many members of the poorer class were not able to remedy their living conditions that places outside of the city offered. The many helpful factors suggested by the aiding systems of the 19th century may have given a more acceptable living standard to the poor. But if you were born into the poor class you were stuck in the poor class unless you worked your life out of debt if you were able survive as long. Today, there are many reform programs and policies to help the lower classes; are few are namely unemployment agencies, welfare, shelters and educational practices. Despite years of reform, a lack in abundance of shelter or food stamps exemplifies the modern hardship that was comparable to the difficulties the people of the 19th century faced.(p1 para3, Newfield)