Housing
After the industrial revolution began and cities grew, the only housing options were to either buy a house on the outskirts of town or to rent small rooms in a boarding house in the city. Eventually row houses were built to accommodate the increasing urban population, and as those began to fill up with citizens, the immigrants took over their original small living space. Overcrowding became an issue as two or three immigrant families occupied the small housing. Jacob Riis was able to capture these overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions by photographing urban living areas to show the rest of the United States the reality of the slums. In 1879, New York City passed a law that set standards for plumbing and ventilation in apartments.