The Gilded Age

Immigrants during the Gilded Age had little to live on.  Many had families working long hours for small wages, and no chance of bettering themselves through opportunity.  Cities sprung as millions of immigrants moved in with little room for them to stay.  Tenement housing was a way to allow immigrants to live close to work, but also a way to keep them isolated from the upper and middle class populations.  The families living in these housing complexes often took in others in order to maintain payments, and some even worked second jobs inside their apartments to supplemental income.  Adolescents living in these crowded and often loud places sought somewhere else to spend time.  Because of this, places like Coney Island became a popular outlet for teenagers to enjoy time away from their living situations.