Category: Slum tourism

Slumming it, nineteenth-century style: Part 2, we stayed to change

1 July, 2011 (10:00) | Cities, History, London, New York City, Slum tourism, Slums, Theory, Urbanization |

By: David A. Smith   [Continued from yesterday's Part 1.]   Yesterday’s post concluded with the New York Times’ 1884 slumming reporter venturing deep into the darkest Bowery, where he was surprised by the humanity he found:   A comparatively small environment on the west side may be called the microcosm of the “slummer” for [...]

Slumming it, nineteenth-century style: Part 1, we came to gawk

30 June, 2011 (10:00) | Cities, History, London, New York City, Slum tourism, Slums, Theory, Urbanization |

By: David A. Smith    Ever wonder where the term “slumming it” came from?    The latest craze?    With its aura of raffish licentiousness, of sexually dallying below one’s class:   Who’s slumming with whom?   We have all seen those mismatched couples from time to time, the beautiful, could-be model, and her boyfriend [...]