Cities 07

In reading the first few pages of Wilson's work, I began to think of what he termed 'exodus' from certain urban centers as their economy and community begin to deteriorate. He says on page 129, that in '59, less than one-third of the poverty population in the U.S. lived in metropolitan central cities, whereas nearly half of the poor lived in the cities in 1991. This could be a reflection of Webbers predictions of technological advancement allowing for the decentralization of urban centres, as well as the famed sociological concept of access to power or means of gaining power...in this case to technology (automobile, telephone, nearly computers). As these forms of technology allowed for decentralization and affluent citizens to move into larger homes with more space further away and start more of their own businesses, which consumer culture supported, they left so many urbanites without jobs. I also do not think that the results from this, and I think Wilson would agree, have changed much today. There a number of cities I've been to, particularly in the South, but areas in plenty of Northern cities as well, where you can literally see old neighborhoods so run down and visualize how much nicer it must have been even a short decade or two ago. Not to sound racist in any way, but anyone knows right away that the neighborhood is almost entirely black. Wilson seems to emphasize the diminishment of "social organization" that came out of black communities consisting of many different classes, with a higher portion being middle class, as being a key factor in the neighborhoods' worsening. I would agree, and relate it to Webber by saying that more successful or financially able black's of the 50's and 60's also (along with whites) left the neighborhoods. If not, were demoted or had their businesses run to the ground. As generally white employment left, jobless men were stuck behind and couldn't afford to support their families or local communities. The unemployed black man quoted by WJ Wilson on page 129 said “It ain’t like it used to be. They laid off a lot of people. There used to be a time when you got a broken windo, you call up housing and they send someone over to fix it, but it ain’t like that no more.” This is just one of many examples of the effects of the decrystallizing social organization. The fact that he said that a lot of people were laid was an understatement as well. The poverty rates began to rise dramatically in every city Wilson discusses, especially Chicago, which is known to have one of the largest American black populations, particularly for the north. This rise in poverty is shown to make these, once nice and decent neighborhoods, become breeding a breeding ground for slum life and further separate it from the rest of society. As we all should know, negativity can breed itself and create a whirlwind of impoverty and social exclusion, and ignorance from those on the outside.