Redlining Ohio: How 1930s maps determined income and housing

In the 1930s, the Great Depression wreaked havoc on the country. Housing was in crisis, more than a million homes were in default. As a solution, the newly created Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), a federally funded program, made “security maps” of cities to determine which areas would get housing loans. Despite the passage of almost 90 years, those maps continue to affect the economic development and levels of income in many neighborhoods in U.S. cities.

This map shows the city of Lorain’s grades lined up against current household income figures.

Several Ohio cities were once growing districts with jobs aplenty and healthy populations. But now, they’ve faced a steady decline and continued problems with income and segregation. Some of that can be pointed to a historical process called redlining.

In Ohio, cities used to be growing enterprises with jobs aplenty and healthy populations. But now, they’re faced with steady declines in population and continuing problems with dropping incomes and segregation. Some of that can be blamed on a historical practice called redlining.

This discriminatory practice was based mostly on income and race and led to highly outlined maps defining different areas based on their “desirability” for mortgage loans. Sections of cities that were predominantly white and wealthy were graded favorably, typically shaded in green and blue, while sections that were either poor, largely minority or immigrant were graded badly and shaded in orange and red.

Most of the redlined cities also used descriptions for each area that explained why each section received its particular grade. Those descriptors often revealed the racism and classism behind the designations.

“They gave access to white individuals in white neighborhoods to capital,” said Katie Fallon, director of housing policy at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. “And it also gives people an entree into the owners’ market. Owning gives you a return on your investment; you have a stake in something that you don’t have when you’re renting. And so, on the flip side, black communities, black minority communities, lacked that investment.”

Fallon said the lack of investment in the poorly graded communities led to crumbling infrastructure and a lack of new housing development. Because of that, people who lived in those areas were also unable to buy houses.

“Beyond that, this deconcentration of investments in redlined areas also created a system where landlords were able to charge tenants a lot more rent to live in these crumbling, disinvested neighborhoods,” Fallon said. “It really created a very unequal landscape.”

The maps were created using crayons to color the graded areas; the descriptors were handwritten. Several universities worked together to put the maps online as part of a project called “Mapping Inequality.”

“While working with some of the collaborators who were collecting all of these maps, came out the idea of why don’t we put these online for everybody to see for every city that HOLC created security maps for,” said Justin Madron, a project manager and analyst with Mapping Inequality. “And, make this freely available and searchable.”

The city of Lorain, Ohio, once a growing community, was also rooted in the gritty steel industry. No sections of the city in the redlined maps received an A, which was the best grade possible. Most of the areas were working class or had mostly black or eastern European communities, which means it got lower grades.

As a result, Lorain housing received less investment. On top of that, the steel jobs left the city, leaving many unemployed.

The redlined districts from the 1930s, for the most part, still overlap with the current neighborhood boundaries in Lorain. The red and orange districts, which received the worst grades, still have low household incomes compared to other parts of the city, according to U.S. household income data.

Redlined areas in other cities, such as Youngstown, used racist language in its maps, noting an “infiltration” of people of color in many districts. Because the grades were based on race, it perpetuated segregated neighborhoods that  in many cases remain today. Madron said the maps prevented minorities from being able to move up economically.

The maps, commonly known as redlining, were based mostly on income and race. Sections of cities that were predominantly white and wealthy were graded favorably, and were colored green and blue, while sections that were either poor, minority or immigrant were graded badly and colored orange and red.

Most of the redlined cities also had descriptions attached to them, which explained why each section received its particular grade. It was in those descriptors that revealed racism and classism.

“They gave access to white individuals in white neighborhoods to capital,” said Katie Fallon, director of housing policy at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. “And it also gives people an entree into the owners’ market. Owning gives you a return on your investment; you have a stake in something that you don’t have when you’re renting. And so, on the flip side black communities, black minority communities, lacked that investment.”

Fallon said the lack of investment in the poorly graded communities led to crumbling infrastructure and no new housing was developed. Because of that, people who lived in those areas were also unable to buy houses.

“Beyond that, this deconcentration of investments in redlined areas also created a system where landlords were able to charge tenants a lot more rent to live in these crumbling disinvested neighborhoods,” Fallon said. “It really created a very unequal landscape.”

The maps were created using crayon to color the graded areas and the descriptors were handwritten. Several universities worked together to make the maps digitally available to look at and explore in a project called “Mapping Inequality.”

“While working with some of the collaborators who were collecting all of these maps came out the idea of why don’t we put these online for everybody to see for every city that HOLC created security maps for,” said Justin Madron, a project manager and analysis with Mapping Inequality. “And make this freely available and searchable.”

The city of Lorain, Ohio, was once a blossoming community, but it was also based in the steel industry. No sections of the city in the redlined maps received an A, which was the best grade possibly. Most of the areas were working class or segregated, which means it got lower grades.

As a result, Lorain received less investment and then the steel jobs left the city. Today, it’s struggling to return to its former glory. The redlined districts still mostly align with where Lorain is currently. The red and orange districts, which were the worst grades, still have low household incomes compared to other parts of the city.

Other cities, such as Youngstown, had much more racial language in its maps, noting an “infiltration” of people of color in many districts. Because the grades were based off of race, it created a place for segregation to remain, even to this point today. Madron said the maps prevented minorities from being able to move up.

This map shows the city of Youngstown’s 1930s grades lined up against current household income figures.

“It created more segregation than the norm for these neighborhoods because you’re kicking people while they’re down and building the people that are already wealthy up,” he said. “You’re just exasperating those methods of keeping people in place and denying capital to these C and D neighborhoods.”

Houses are often handed down generation-to-generation. If someone’s parent owns a house, it’s likely they will someday own one, as well. Fallon said generational inheritance was taken away from minorities due to redlining.

Although racial segregation in Youngstown improved since the 1970s, it’s still concentrated on Youngstown’s east side. And income segregation actually increased over the years.

In Akron, the story is similar.

Once the fastest growing city in the country from 1910 to 1920, with the steel and rubber industries taking off, Akron was the 32nd largest city in the United States by 1920. Around that time, Akron saw an influx of southern and eastern European immigrants, as well as African-Americans, move to the city.

Before that, the city was mostly New England Protestants and German Quakers. But the wave of new jobs brought new nationalities to Akron. Most neighborhoods were divided by ethnicities. And then redlining came in the 1930s. That map still reflects where the city is today.

Although all three cities — Akron, Lorain and Youngstown — faced job losses associated with rust belt cities,  Fallon said that’s not the only thing that contributes to a city’s decline. Redlining played a predominant role because it created a lack of investment for certain areas.

“There’s a lot of research done on the fact that it’s not just jobs, it’s not just class,” she said. “And part of what happened in the ‘40s and the ‘50s with that is yes, jobs left inner cities, jobs left a lot of those areas that were redlined. But because of racialized policies in lending and in development, not only did you have an exodus of jobs, but you also had a barrier that kept a certain group of non-white people in the city.”

Fallon said it’s hard to know what would have happened if manufacturing jobs remained in the cities, but redlining created a lack of investment, particularly in poor and immigrant or black communities.

In some areas, redlining doesn’t have the same hold that it used to, which could be due to city revival. In Columbus and Cincinnati, many of the redlined patterns look a little different today as both cities experienced turnarounds in population growth.

Fallon said to be able to change the redlining impact in cities, people need to have access to opportunities for a better life.

“A lot of investment based on where jobs go is based on what the population looks like that they could either hire from or that they could market to,” she said. “And we’d have redlining practices that segregate things, that keep people that are lower income, that have less access to resources in one place, while encouraging people with resources to move elsewhere. You’re just going to reproduce any of those inequalities that existed to begin with.”

“It created more segregation than the norm for these neighborhoods because you’re kicking people while they’re down and building the people that are already wealthy up,” he said. “You’re just exasperating those methods of keeping people in place and denying capital to these C and D neighborhoods.”

Homes are often handed down generation-to-generation. If someone’s parent owned a home, it’s likely that they will someday own as well. Fallon said that generational inheritance was taken away from minorities due to redlining.

Although since the 1970s, racial segregation in Youngstown has improved, it’s still concentrated in East Youngstown. And income segregation has actually increased over the years. And in Akron, the story is similar.

It was once the fasting growing city in the country between 1910 and 1920, with the steel and rubber industry taking off. By 1920, Akron was the 32nd largest city in the United States. Around the time, Akron saw an influx of southern and eastern European immigrants and African-Americans move to the city.

And then redlining came in the 1930s. That map still reflects where the city is today.

Although all three cities — Akron, Lorain and Youngstown — saw a lot of jobs leave the area, Fallon said that’s not the only thing that contributes to a city’s downfall. Redlining still played a predominant role because it created a lack of investment.

“There’s a lot of research done on the fact that it’s not just jobs, it’s not just class,” she said. “And part of what happened in the 40s and the 50s with that is yes, jobs left inner cities, jobs left a lot of those areas that were redlined. But because of racialized policies in lending and in development, not only did you have an exodus of jobs, but you also had a barrier that kept a certain group of non-white people in the city.”

Fallon said it’s hard to know what would have happened if jobs had stayed in the city, but because redlining was so segregated, it still comes down to a lack of investment.

In some areas, redlining doesn’t have the same hold that it used to, which could be due to city revival. In Columbus and Cincinnati, many of the redlined patterns look a little different today as both cities have had turnarounds in population density.

Fallon said to be able to change the redlining impact in cities, people need to have access to opportunities for a better life.

“A lot of investment based on where jobs go is based on what the population looks like that they could either hire from or that they could market to,” she said. “And we’d have redlining practices that segregate things, that keep people that are lower income, that have less access to resources in one place, while encouraging people with resources to move elsewhere. You’re just going to reproduce any of those inequalities that existed to begin with.”