In the first few
weeks of class we have been learning how certain areas have turned into these
cities of a big population. What causes these cities to increase or go into a
decrease. Growing up in a city it brings a different set of experience. It
broadens your knowledge of culture and you adapt into fast pace lifestyle. In
my section of blog I will talk about couple of my experiences from leaving a
rural setting into an urban setting in the city. But also how has my old town
in Mexico has experienced a new setting of urbanization.
I was born in Chicago, Illinois but
was raised in a small town in Guadalajara, Jalisco in Mexico. I grew up in a
town where there was a population of no more than 100 people. I was born in
1991, ten years prior that they had barely integrated electricity into the
town. It is a small town that relies on
agriculture as their financial income.
It is a whole different lifestyle compared to Chicago. Priorities,
culture and technology are way different from living in a city. I feel that
growing up in Mexico has given me an advantage that many people that live in
the city today forget to experience. As I was growing up more responsibilities
were given to me, I was six-seven years old and was in charge of milking cows
in the morning. To helping my grandfather fertilizes the corn in the fields. We
didn’t have television, computers, video games, or cell phones. Our fun was
playing soccer, fishing, hunting, or horse riding. The only time you get to
experience technology was when you went to a town that was 10 kilometers away.
I came into Chicago when I was
13-14. I still remember the first day I got here. I came to Chicago around
February; we arrived at the O’Hare airport. It was the first time I had ever
seen snow. Growing up in a small town I was definitely in a shock once I
started seeing the city. I was use to seeing small houses; there was no such
thing as pave roads in my town. When I
first heard English, I was very amused and curious with the language.
When I was
register to school, it was a big change for me. Our class was never as big as
15 students. I was shocked how big the classroom where, but the amount of
students that were there was a big shock to me. I learned to adapt to the
lifestyle of the city, but from going to a town where the population was 100
people into a city that has a population near 2 million it was a big change for
me.
The fact that people from my old
town have been immigrating into the United States, it has helped become more
urbanized. The income in families has grown, since money is being sent from the
U.S to Mexico. In 30 years it went from a town that didn’t have electricity, into a place
that has now Internet and Wi-Fi. The town little by little is experiencing
growth. I have been reading from the Chicago Census how Chicago started with
200 people and now it has population of more than two million people. As we
have been reading the book, The New Urban Sociology cities are not build from
one day to another it is a continual progress of adaption and change. I’m not
saying that my town will turn into a city. But I can’t deny how culture,
technology, and populations have come into an increased. The state where I am
from it is known for it’s Agave, and that is a plant where Tequila comes from.
A company has moved in and has purchase big amount of land and has opened a
distillery. It has created a bigger flow of people coming in and out. Due to
business that was open, it has brought in more opportunities for the town. The
structure of the town has experienced improvements. Economically this sounds
great for the people that live there, since they don’t only have to rely on,
agriculture, livestock, or construction as a form of income. But as I have learned in previous sociology courses, this can reduce the feeling of community. Their will be more strangers, coming in and out. It can bring a sense of alienation into your own town. At one time I considered it my home, but with all these new changes. I feel as "tourist" in this upcoming town.
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