City BossesCity bosses established virtual dictatorships over their cities, using illegal means to do so. Bosses, however, did make some improvements in city life during the late 1800s and the early 1900s. As industrialization occurred and thousands of Americans moved to cities seeking employment, city governments had tremendous difficulty providing necessary services to the city's residents. City bosses commonly filled that void by having streets cleaned, by enforcing laws (at least the ones they chose to enforce), and by providing other services.