Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would argue that in the 50's, many of those cities weren't really in their "prime." Although their populations are smaller now, I would argue that, certainly, Boston, DC, and maybe even LA and Chicago are at their primes *now*, not back then.
The 50's was the height of tearing down slums for urban renewal projects. Don't you think there was a reason for that? If they weren't already in such decline (at least in some parts of town), there would have been no reason to tear down slums for urban renewal projects.
My father lived in Boston in the 50's and has told me it was a dump back then. Now it's a high tech heaven, practically.
chicagos mercantile exchange has been surpassed by n.y.c.'s wall street begining in the maybe 1920's so i would assume chicago would be still going strong.
also fallout-4 would be a pretty good simulation of what life was like in boston during the 1950's.
As a black man in 1950 I'd have to know what is luring me to which city, and for what, so it's tough for me to answer. If I was born in California as I was in '89 anyway, LA would be the easiest draw...
I'm not sure which city was strongest so I'm really interested in hearing from our older posters who were around then, or close to the 50s!
I'm not sure a black guy would have great choices in the 50's. Who was the comic who said "I'm white I could have a time machine and go to any period of time and be pretty much OK..." I think it was public masturbator Louis CK, but he's still funny.
The south wasn't the only place that had segregation. D.C isn't the south anyway. We've had enough of these pointless debates.
DC was way more of a southern city in 1950 than it is now. Maryland also had legal segregation back in the 1950s. My sister-in-law remembers segregated lunch counters in NW Maryland in the 1950s. Pennsylvania, just across the, er, Mason-Dixon line, did not. https://www.laurelhistoricalsociety....the-1950s.html "In 1950 the population of the City of Laurel numbered just over 4,000. The residents went to Main Street to shop and to spend time with friends and neighbors. The schools were segregated and so largely was the community." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desegr...Public_Schools "Desegregation of the Baltimore City Public Schools took place in 1956..."
Segregation existed everywhere in the 50s so I picked the places I perceived to have the strongest black middle classes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
