Industrialization, or the process of change in a society from one of agriculture or small business to one of factories, industry, and merchants, occurred in Williamsburg throughout the first half of the 20th century. This process, which grew the manufacturing world of the entire New York Metropolitan area, began to disappear in the late 1980’s with the influx of new residents to the Williamsburg area. As business began to move elsewhere and residential life began to move in, deindustrialization took hold and turned abandoned factories and warehouses into expensive and unique housing options.
Related neighbourhood: Williamsburg
Quote from: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Definition of deindustrialization: the reduction or destruction of a nation’s or region’s industrial capacity
Quote from: “Is Deindustrialization Causing High Unemployment in Affluent Countries? Evidence from 16 OECD Countries, 1970-2003”- by Christopher Kollmeyer and Florian Pichler
From 1970 to 2000, manufacturing employment declined from 24 percent to 14 percent of the work-force in the United States, from 33 percent to 16 percent in Great Britain, from 38 percent to 21 percent in Germany, and from 26 percent to 18 percent in Japan. This massive reallocation of labor became known as “deindustrialization.”
Sources:
Kollmeyer, Christopher, and Florian Pichler. “Is Deindustrialization Causing High Unemployment in Affluent Countries? Evidence from 16 OECD Countries, 1970-2003.” Social Forces (Oxford University Press / USA) 91.3 (2013): 785-812. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 May 2013.
“Deindustrialization.” Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web.
