New York City immigrants of the past—as we all know—were not very fortunate when it came to settling down and finding a place to stay. Individuals like Jacob Riis forced us to open our eyes to the housing issues and abysmal tenement lifestyle that most immigrants had no choice but to acquiesce to. Tenement lifestyle was absolutely horrid as many immigrants had no alternative but to crowd into small rooms, live in dimly lit spaces, expose themselves to extreme temperatures, and put themselves in great jeopardy of developing health problems due to unimaginably unsanitary living conditions. Ethnic clustering, as depicted through the dominance of the Lower East Side before the early 1900s by immigrant Jews, was also very pervasive since it made the newly arrived feel much more comfortable and in touch with their identity.
A great deal of time has passed since the early 1900’s. However, Foner shows us that there are still some undeniable similarities and patterns that exist between the housing of past and contemporary immigrants. When I think of where today’s immigrants live, my mind does not conjure up images of tatterdemalion and dark tenement style housing. An immigrant myself, I settled down in a small but comfortable apartment with my parents when I came to NYC at the age of two. While our living standard was far from luxurious, it definitely did not compare with the wretched descriptions given by individuals like Riis. I always thought that like my family, most immigrant families settle down in decent housing in lower-middle class neighborhoods, and therefore, I wasn’t surprised when Foner revealed that this is mostly the case. I was horrified, however, by her vivid descriptions of Mexican and Chinese immigrants living in claustrophobic and unimaginable circumstances. She purports that a very small number—seventeen percent to be exact—of immigrants live this way, but this piece of information is what I found to be the most disturbing.
What I found to be the most interesting was Foner’s take on ethnic clustering in the past and the present. One does not have to live in the city for very long before uncovering that ethnic clustering is still very much rampant today for pretty much the same reasons why it was so common back in the day. In short, ethnic clustering brings about a sense of community. Foner states, however, that more and more immigrants, especially Asian Americans, are choosing to venture out of their safe havens and into more affluent regions that are common amongst native born whites, signifying that the immigrants of today are quickly making progress in both their financial and social lives.
