By 1920 America had become an urban county, for the first time more people lived in urban areas then the countryside. The 1920s city life is commonly regarded as the era of prosperity. The rise of an urban society also profoundly changed attitudes as Americans strove to move in new directions, with much more industrialism. Per capita income increased a third during the decade. The Standard of living improved during this time of economic expansion.
With the 18th amendment in place, there was a great demand from younger people for alcohol. Although illegal, alcohol was not hard to come by in this time period. Places called Speakeasies illegally sold alcohol and yet were not raided and busted very often. This was also the perfect opportunity for organized crime to slip in and control the movement and distribution of alcohol. Gangs became not only very common in inner cities, but violent too.
Pictured above are what were called "Flappers" in the 1920s. Flappers were young women usually 18-30 that wore short skirts and short hair unlike traditional women of the past. Flappers were looked down apon because they not only smoked and drank in public, but were usually very open about their romantic life which was thought of as "not ladylike". The obvious demographic that looked down apon the youth of urban populations such as Flappers were people who lived in rural areas. Traditional farmers and families did not approve of what was going on in the cities and thought that it was "sinful" and not respectful