1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910810628403321

Autore

Gonzalez Evelyn Diaz

Titolo

The Bronx / / Evelyn Gonzalez

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Columbia University Press, c2004

ISBN

0-231-12115-6

0-231-50835-2

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xii, 263 pages) : illustrations, maps

Collana

Columbia history of urban life

Disciplina

974.7/275

Soggetti

City and town life - New York (State) - New York - History

Social problems - New York (State) - New York - History

Bronx (New York, N.Y.) History

Bronx (New York, N.Y.) Social conditions

New York (N.Y.) History

New York (N.Y.) Social conditions

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-248) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF MAPS -- LIST OF TABLES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. The Bronx and Its Neighborhoods -- 2. Early Beginnings -- 3. The Changing Landscape -- 4. Emerging Neighborhoods -- 5. Boosting a Borough -- 6. Urban Neighborhoods -- 7. The South Bronx -- 8. The Road Back -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Home to the New York Yankees, the Bronx Zoo, and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx was at one time a haven for upwardly mobile second-generation immigrants eager to leave the crowded tenements of Manhattan in pursuit of the American dream. Once hailed as a "wonder borough" of beautiful homes, parks, and universities, the Bronx became-during the 1960's and 1970's-a national symbol of urban deterioration. Thriving neighborhoods that had long been home to generations of families dissolved under waves of arson, crime, and housing abandonment, turning blocks of apartment buildings into gutted, graffiti-covered shells and empty, trash-filled lots. In this revealing history of the Bronx, Evelyn Gonzalez describes how the once-infamous New York City borough underwent one of the most



successful and inspiring community revivals in American history. From its earliest beginnings as a loose cluster of commuter villages to its current status as a densely populated home for New York's growing and increasingly more diverse African American and Hispanic populations, this book shows how the Bronx interacted with and was affected by the rest of New York City as it grew from a small colony on the tip of Manhattan into a sprawling metropolis. This is the story of the clattering of elevated subways and the cacophony of crowded neighborhoods, the heady optimism of industrial progress and the despair of economic recession, and the vibrancy of ethnic cultures and the resilience of local grassroots coalitions crucial to the borough's rejuvenation. In recounting the varied and extreme transformations this remarkable community has undergone, Evelyn Gonzalez argues that it was not racial discrimination, rampant crime, postwar liberalism, or big government that was to blame for the urban crisis that assailed the Bronx during the late 1960's. Rather, the decline was inextricably connected to the same kinds of social initiatives, economic transactions, political decisions, and simple human choices that had once been central to the development and vitality of the borough. Although the history of the Bronx is unquestionably a success story, crime, poverty, and substandard housing still afflict the community today. Yet the process of building and rebuilding carries on, and the revitalization of neighborhoods and a resurgence of economic growth continue to offer hope for the future.