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This map contains of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC)'s historical redlining grade includes 7,148 neighborhoods spanning 143 cities across the continental United States. Opens in Sacramento, CA. A brief summary of the item is not available. Add a brief summary about the item.

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Item created: Jul 23, 2020 Item updated: Jan 17, 2024 View count: 60,204

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The Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) was created in the New Deal Era and trained many home appraisers in the 1930s. The HOLC created a neighborhood ranking system infamously known today as redlining. Local real estate developers and appraisers in over 200 cities assigned grades to residential neighborhoods. These maps and neighborhood ratings set the rules for decades of real estate practices. The grades ranged from A to D. A was traditionally colored in green, B was traditionally colored in blue, C was traditionally colored in yellow, and D was traditionally colored in red.   

A (Best): Always upper- or upper-middle-class White neighborhoods that HOLC defined as posing minimal risk for banks and other mortgage lenders, as they were "ethnically homogeneous" and had room to be further developed.
B (Still Desirable): Generally nearly or completely White, U.S. -born neighborhoods that HOLC defined as "still desirable" and sound investments for mortgage lenders.
C (Declining): Areas where the residents were often working-class and/or first or second generation immigrants from Europe. These areas often lacked utilities and were characterized by older building stock.
D (Hazardous): Areas here often received this grade because they were "infiltrated" with "undesirable populations" such as Jewish, Asian, Mexican, and Black families. These areas were more likely to be close to industrial areas and to have older housing.

Banks received federal backing to lend money for mortgages based on these grades. Many banks simply refused to lend to areas with the lowest grade, making it impossible for people in many areas to become homeowners. While this type of neighborhood classification is no longer legal thanks to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (which was passed in large part due to the activism and work of the NAACP and other groups), the effects of disinvestment due to redlining are still observable today. For example, the health and wealth of neighborhoods in Chicago today can be traced back to redlining (Chicago Tribune).   

In addition to formerly redlined neighborhoods having fewer resources such as quality schools, access to fresh foods, and health care facilities, new research from the Science Museum of Virginia finds a link between urban heat islands and redlining (Hoffman, et al., 2020). This layer comes out of that work, specifically from University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab. More information on sources and digitization process can be found on the Data and Download and About pages. 

NOTE: This map has been updated as of 1/16/24 to use a newer version of the data layer which contains more cities than it previously did. As mentioned above, over 200 cities were redlined and therefore this is not a complete dataset of every city that experienced redlining by the HOLC in the 1930s. Map opens in Sacramento, CA.  Use bookmarks or the search bar to get to other cities.

Cities included in this map
Alabama: Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery
Arizona: Phoenix
Arkansas: Arkadelphia, Batesville, Camden, Conway, El Dorado, Fort Smith, Little Rock, Russellville, Texarkana
California: Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Stockton
Colorado: Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Fort Morgan, Grand Junction, Greeley, Longmont, Pueblo
Connecticut: Bridgeport and Fairfield; Hartford; New Britain; New Haven; Stamford, Darien, and New Canaan; Waterbury
Florida: Crestview, Daytona Beach, DeFuniak Springs, DeLand, Jacksonville, Miami, New Smyrna, Orlando, Pensacola, St. Petersburg, Tampa
Georgia: Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah
Iowa: Boone, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Sioux City, Waterloo
Illinois: Aurora, Chicago, Decatur, East St. Louis, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield
Indiana: Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lake County Gary, Muncie, South Bend, Terre Haute
Kansas: Atchison, Greater Kansas City, Junction City, Topeka, Wichita
Kentucky: Covington, Lexington, Louisville
Louisiana: New Orleans, Shreveport
Maine: Augusta, Boothbay, Portland, Sanford, Waterville
Maryland: Baltimore
Massachusetts: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Braintree, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Dedham, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Holyoke Chicopee, Lawrence, Lexington, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Needham, New Bedford, Newton, Pittsfield, Quincy, Revere, Salem, Saugus, Somerville, Springfield, Waltham, Watertown, Winchester, Winthrop, Worcester
Michigan: Battle Creek, Bay City, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Muskegon, Pontiac, Saginaw, Toledo
Minnesota: Austin, Duluth, Mankato, Minneapolis, Rochester, Staples, St. Cloud, St. Paul
Mississippi: Jackson
Missouri: Cape Girardeau, Carthage, Greater Kansas City, Joplin, Springfield, St. Joseph, St. Louis
North Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Elizabeth City, Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Greensboro, Hendersonville, High Point, New Bern, Rocky Mount, Statesville, Winston-Salem
North Dakota: Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, Williston
Nebraska: Lincoln, Omaha
New Hampshire: Manchester
New Jersey: Atlantic City, Bergen County, Camden, Essex County, Monmouth, Passaic County, Perth Amboy, Trenton, Union County
New York: Albany, Binghamton/Johnson City, Bronx, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Elmira, Jamestown, Lower Westchester County, Manhattan, Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Queens, Rochester, Schenectady, Staten Island, Syracuse, Troy, Utica
Ohio: Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Hamilton, Lima, Lorain, Portsmouth, Springfield, Toledo, Warren, Youngstown
Oklahoma: Ada, Alva, Enid, Miami Ottawa County, Muskogee, Norman, Oklahoma City, South McAlester, Tulsa
Oregon: Portland
Pennsylvania: Allentown, Altoona, Bethlehem, Chester, Erie, Harrisburg, Johnstown, Lancaster, McKeesport, New Castle, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, York
Rhode Island: Pawtucket & Central Falls, Providence, Woonsocket
South Carolina:  Aiken, Charleston, Columbia, Greater Anderson, Greater Greensville, Orangeburg, Rock Hill, Spartanburg, Sumter
South Dakota: Aberdeen, Huron, Milbank, Mitchell, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Vermillion, Watertown
Tennessee: Chattanooga, Elizabethton, Erwin, Greenville, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville
Texas: Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Dallas, El Paso, Forth Worth, Galveston, Houston, Port Arthur, San Antonio, Waco, Wichita Falls
Utah: Ogden, Salt Lake City
Virginia: Bristol, Danville, Harrisonburg, Lynchburg, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Phoebus, Richmond, Roanoke, Staunton
Vermont: Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Montpelier, Newport City, Poultney, Rutland, Springfield, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, Windsor
Washington: Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma
Wisconsin: Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee County, Oshkosh, Racine
West Virginia: Charleston, Huntington, Wheeling

An example of a map produced by the HOLC of Philadelphia:

An in-depth description of the item is not available.

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No special restrictions or limitations on using the item's content have been provided.

Comments (2)

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karen.suarez_llugis Item Owner commented a year ago Delete Reply

Greetings, is there a way to request to get a map of a city not listed? I am looking for a map for the City of San Bernardino. Thank you!

dianaclavery_uo Item Owner commented a year ago Delete

Hello, while the University of Richmond Digital Scholarship Lab just put out a new layer with a whole bunch more cities, San Bernardino is not one of them unfortunately.

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