<P> With the start of full - scale war mobilization in the summer of 1940, the economies of the cities rebounded . Even before Pearl Harbor, Washington pumped massive investments into new factories and funded round - the - clock munitions production, guaranteeing a job to anyone who showed up at the factory gate . The war brought a restoration of prosperity and hopeful expectations for the future across the nation . It had the greatest impact on the cities of the West Coast, especially Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle . </P> <P> Economic historians led by Price Fishback have examined the impact of New Deal spending on improving health conditions in the 114 largest cities, 1929 - 1937 . They estimated that every additional $153,000 in relief spending (in 1935 dollars, or $1.95 million in year 2000 dollars) was associated with a reduction of one infant death, one suicide, and 2.4 deaths from infectious disease . </P>

Characteristic of the growing urban centers of the united states before the civil war was