The document discusses the challenges of urbanization in the late 19th/early 20th century, including problems related to housing, transportation, water, sanitation, crime, and fire. Tenement housing for immigrants was often overcrowded and unsanitary. Gangs were sometimes connected to politicians and fire departments. Major fires in Chicago and San Francisco highlighted these issues and led reformers like Jane Addams to establish settlement houses to help the poor and advocate for solutions like improved infrastructure and social services.

1. Section 2 The Challenges of Urbanization