This eight page undergraduate paper examines why and how Harlem changed over the years. Historians have cited economic forces as well as social and political factors, and in a general sense, the real estate speculation that began just after 1900 played a role in influencing the economic cycles experienced by New York City and its suburbs, for these factors combined to produce boom and bust periods. The building of mass transit systems providing quicker access to upper Manhattan also served to change the demographics and economy of Harlem.
