Barrio

Initial Era of Barrio Formation

Barrios during the initial period of urbanism in the early twentieth century were generally located in ethnically specified, segregated sections of towns and cities. Colonias were characterized by declining housing conditions; poor internal roads (in reality, dirt streets); and limited or no basic infrastructure in relation to water, sanitation, and flood control. Ethnic spatial separation was impacted by natural barriers or features of the built environment, including rivers, railroad tracks, and agricultural buffer zones. Latinas/os also resided in small agricultural encampments on the periphery of cities and towns. They constituted a renter class, with limited land ownership patterns through the mid-twentieth century.

Numerous colonias developed adjacent to local employment centers, railroad yards, manufacturing districts, and in agriculture zones, on the urban fringe. These “livable spaces” ranged from substandard homes, to tents, to shantytowns constructed from a potpourri of local materials. The conditions of these urban residential zones established the negative characterizations of Latinas/os in urban space. Locked into substandard, deteriorating conditions, the barrio was viewed as a repository of [Page 60]marginalized families with limited desire for improving their lifestyle. Regressive ethnic stereotypes reinforced situating Latina/o culture as a legitimation for the evolution of systemic residential apartheid and social repression.

Two typologies of barrios evolved during this period. Barrios in close proximity to civic centers, which were enclosed by rapid urbanization, experienced improvements in basic infrastructure associated with the conventional extension of urban systems. San Antonio, Denver, Phoenix, and El Paso typify this type of barrio–city relationship. Streets, sewers, water, and electricity were generally provided in these barrios. Although the quality and maintenance suffered from disparity in the allocation of government resources, the provision of these services was necessary in relation to the economy of the city.

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