How the Great Depression Affected the Cities
In the cities trading ports were hit the hardest. They depended on the automobile and steel industry. Steel in Pittsburg Pennsylvania, and Gary Indiana was hit hard, and lost lots of money. In Detroit the automobile industry was hit hard too. In larger cites the construction industry was hurt.
During the great depression 2 million high paying jobs were lost. Profits and rents were losses of landlords and real estate owners. The railroad and coal mining industry was hurt also. Unemployment was a major problem every were(less sever with women that it was with men). Unemployment was worse in the food, clothing, government jobs, services and sales industries.
Life in cities in during the great depression was also greatly affected. Farmers that lived in rural America that were foreclosed had to move into cites. When the depression was at its worst 17,000 families were put on the street because they could not pay mortgages or rent. When businesses ran out of money they paid the workers in scip”(temporary voucher, redeemable for food and other products)”-middle.usm.k12.wi.us. Relief budgets that were meant to be spent over a year were spent in a couple months. Crowded working conditions were not uncommon. People living in the city that were evicted used lumber and other scrapped materials to build shacks to live in.
Source: http://middle.usm.k12.wi.us/faculty/taft/Unit7/citylife.htm
A shack that was lived in
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