Grand Island Urbanized

1. Grand Island Urbanized
Hunter Engelhardt
Community Studies 0W1
Photowalk Slideshow

2. The Urban World
• The urban world has had a rapid acceleration of growth in the past
150 years. 150 years ago not a single nation was as urban as it is
today. Urbanization began in Europe and quickly spread across the
countries. These places began to develop modern agricultural,
transportation, and industrial technologies. In the United States we
define urban by using population criteria along with some
geographical and political elements.

3. Palen Definition:
• As defined by Palen, urban areas are defined based on their city or
location. Each country typically has a different definition for Urban. As
for the United States, we define urban as using population along with
geography and politics. For 39 other countries, urban is defined
through the economic activity. Other countries or cities are
considered urban just based on their sizes. For instance, 250 persons
are only needed in Denmark to be considered urban. In the twentieth
century, 86% of the globes inhabitants were rural. Today most are
urban. The term urbanization refers to the portion of persons living
urban places. Theorists have focused on how the alteration from rural
to urbanized area have changed people’s economic behavior, social
outcomes, and family organizations.

4. Why did I choose this topic?
• I chose this topic because I was interested in the idea of Grand Island. To
my understanding, there are different types of urban areas, towns for
instance are considered urban because they are a local self-government,
and they may grow around specialized economic activities, such as mining
or railroading. Typically, you’d see urbanized towns in western United
States. There are more types of urbanized areas, for example, the suburbs,
which are smaller areas that are around cities. For example, Grand Island is
considered a suburb because it is just outside of the city of Niagara Falls
and the city of Buffalo. The last type of urban area is smart growth which is
a more recent type. Smart growth communities are considered new types
of development. Some have large amounts of undeveloped "green space,"
organic farms, and lakes. Furthermore, I am interested in looking deeper
into the urbanized suburbs of Grand Island.

5. • Typically, you’d see urbanized towns in western United States. There
are more types of urbanized areas, for example, the suburbs, which
are smaller areas that are around cities. For example, Grand Island is
considered a suburb because it is just outside of the city of Niagara
Falls and the city of Buffalo. The last type of urban area is smart
growth which is a more recent type. Smart growth communities are
considered new types of development. Some have large amounts of
undeveloped "green space," organic farms, and lakes. Furthermore, I
am interested in looking deeper into the urbanized suburbs of Grand
Island.

6. This was the first location I observed on
Grand Island. Before I went on this
photowalk I wen through old pictures of
Grand Island that I could find to see if I could
recognize the place and revisit them. I found
this picture of the High School. To the left is
14 years after the school first opened which
was in 1963, to the right is today. As you can
see the school was urbanized and much
bigger than it was 54 years ago. Although
even in 1963 Grand Island was considered
urban it has become more urbanized as the
years have past because the population has
grown.
Some Differences:
The school had an
addition put into place
about 3 years ago which
made the school look
noticeably larger. Also, in
the front of the school in
the first picture is just a
wall that says Grand Island
Senior High School. Today,
that wall was replaced
with huge windows from
the ceiling to the
pavement.

7. As most people that live
around WNY know, Grand
Island did not always have
bridges. Before the 1930s
when the bridges were
built steam boats were
used to transport people,
cars and goods from the
main land to the Island. The
steam boat house was
removed and replaced with
a hotel now called The
Holiday Inn. There is still a
boat that does launch off
the Holiday Inn but it is for
tourists.

8. I then compared the bridges together. The south
bridge was first built in the 1930s but instead of
having the north and south bridges with two on
each side there was one built. Only one bridge was
built in the 1930s to enable people to transport
themselves from off island. Today, there are two
bridges that are used by people to either get to
Niagara Falls (north bridge) or buffalo (south
bridge). I found this incredibly interesting because
it is a clear example of urbanization and
development of this town.

9. These pictures were particularly interesting to me. Although I do not live on
the Island I am on it quite often and in these pictures it shows a lot of open
land. Especially in the right picture, the roads are even different as well as
more are placed. This is an example of urbanization because it is an example
of rural areas being transformed into urban areas. The term is also used to
describe changes in social organization that occur as a consequence of
population concentration.

10. Lastly, I decided it was appropriate to
include a birds eye view of the island
today. Much more filled and urbanized as
there are more people living there as
there is a census of 20,500 people. In
1860 there was a census of 954 people.
Within 150 years this has increase 22X
the beginning amount.

11. Demographic Makeup of Grand Island, NY
• The demographic makeup of this town holds 7,000 households with
close to 5,500 families. The racial makeup is 95.80% White, 3%
African American and the rest is a mixture of Native American, Asian
and other races.
• The median income for a household in the town is close to $60,500
and a median for a family is $70,500

12. History of Grand Island
• In the early 1800s the island was visited by French traders, hunters
and missionaries. It is believed that this Island was founded by the
French and the Dutch after the Indians such as the Seneca’s because
of Fort Niagara. After the French and Indian Wars, Grand Island
became part of the British domain. Sir William Johnson visited Grand
Island, spending a night here in 1761. He encamped on the West Side
of the island, near the mouth of Sixth Creek. Today, when facing the
north bridge, on the left there are fields where the Burnt Ship Creek is
at. This is where the British burnt their ships to keep the French from
taking them over.

13. How these findings enhance my learning:
• Looking through the history of Grand Island and comparing them to
today really helped me understand the meaning of Urbanization. The
Island was once rural and became urbanized as the population grew
and the more housing that was put up. Eventually they had sort of
like their own self government as they have a Superintendent that is
in charge of the Island. They have their own town hall, own police
station and their own town commons where all of their stores are
placed. Most days the people that live on the Island do not need to
leave unless they have work off the Island

14. My Experience:
• My experience with this town has enhanced my ability on this topic. I
know this because not only do I know a lot about this towns history
but I know a lot about its present as well.

15. References:
• Grand Island, Ny. Wikepedia, 22 Oct. 2017,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Island,_New_York.
•
• Linenfelser, Teddy . “Grand Island Pictures from the Past .” Islanddegrand,
www.isledegrande.com/picpage/images/picpage2009.htm.
•
• “Urban Area.” National Geographic , 1996,
www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/urban-area/.
•
• Palen, John. The Urban World. 10th ed., Oxford University Press.