Post by dgriffin on Jun 10, 2009 7:50:59 GMT -5
Ralph wrote: "Cornhill was at one time one of the most vibrant areas of the city. It was filled with homeowners…..and those that rented from them. Most of the housing stock was two or three family, and the owners lived there. What killed that whole philosophy and contributed to the downfall of the “inner city” was something that Strikeslip always goes back to as well…….urban sprawl."
Yes, and one factor in urban sprawl was transportation and another was increased incomes. Two family housing in Cornhill had worked because that was often the only way a family could afford to own a home, with a tenant upstairs or downstairs helping to pay the mortgage. Mr. Cornhill held a factory job, usually, and often his most prized toy was a television set. When the government began to push post high school education, his kids went to college and became the new technical workers of the late 20th century, and they could buy a TV for every room, plus one for the boat.
With improved roads and two cars in every garage, Mama was now more willing to move to the country and/or also take a job, yielding mobility and even more income. The jobs were there for the taking, and when that was no longer true ... well, that's another story.
But meanwhile, Cornhill was emptying out like a tipped over milk bottle. People were moving to cheap housing in the suburbs. If my father had at that point quit his long standing job and become a lawn mower salesman, I would today be writing this from a castle in Spain, the family having moved with its fortune many years ago.
Alas, I hear more Spanish accents these days, but without ever having left the country.
Housing prices plummeted in Corhnill. The paradigm of living on top of someone else and sharing a driveway lost its allure. Mowing your lawn in under three minutes held only so much attraction. When the residents left, so did the small businesses, along with their owners who were often also residents.
The vacuum left behind began to be filled by the next in line of the ECONOMIC generation AT THAT TIME, a qualified statement, so read it again. These were successful blacks. And I do remember the early black migration to Cornhill. These people were no different in manners and outlook and job-holding ability than the Italians, Irish or Jews who were now heading to New Hartford and Whitesboro. They were nice folks, and they began to buy ... yes, buy ... houses down around South street and north toward Eagle. They were factory workers, like our ancestors, but they unfortunately arrived on the factory floor just as the final whistle for manufacturing was being blown. Soon they were out of work, the spiral began, the absentee landlords descended (black and white, by the way) and that's how I remember what happened to Cornhill.
Yes, and one factor in urban sprawl was transportation and another was increased incomes. Two family housing in Cornhill had worked because that was often the only way a family could afford to own a home, with a tenant upstairs or downstairs helping to pay the mortgage. Mr. Cornhill held a factory job, usually, and often his most prized toy was a television set. When the government began to push post high school education, his kids went to college and became the new technical workers of the late 20th century, and they could buy a TV for every room, plus one for the boat.
With improved roads and two cars in every garage, Mama was now more willing to move to the country and/or also take a job, yielding mobility and even more income. The jobs were there for the taking, and when that was no longer true ... well, that's another story.
But meanwhile, Cornhill was emptying out like a tipped over milk bottle. People were moving to cheap housing in the suburbs. If my father had at that point quit his long standing job and become a lawn mower salesman, I would today be writing this from a castle in Spain, the family having moved with its fortune many years ago.
Alas, I hear more Spanish accents these days, but without ever having left the country.
Housing prices plummeted in Corhnill. The paradigm of living on top of someone else and sharing a driveway lost its allure. Mowing your lawn in under three minutes held only so much attraction. When the residents left, so did the small businesses, along with their owners who were often also residents.
The vacuum left behind began to be filled by the next in line of the ECONOMIC generation AT THAT TIME, a qualified statement, so read it again. These were successful blacks. And I do remember the early black migration to Cornhill. These people were no different in manners and outlook and job-holding ability than the Italians, Irish or Jews who were now heading to New Hartford and Whitesboro. They were nice folks, and they began to buy ... yes, buy ... houses down around South street and north toward Eagle. They were factory workers, like our ancestors, but they unfortunately arrived on the factory floor just as the final whistle for manufacturing was being blown. Soon they were out of work, the spiral began, the absentee landlords descended (black and white, by the way) and that's how I remember what happened to Cornhill.
