The practice of redlining was codified by a series of maps created as part of the New Deal by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, which evaluated the mortgage lending risk of neighborhoods.

Redlining Los Angeles, Tile 2. From Richmond DSL

Redlining Los Angeles, Tile 3. From Richmond DSL

The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) was a U.S. government-sponsored program initiated in the 1930s to evaluate mortgage lending risk. The program resulted in hand-drawn ‘security risk’ maps intended to grade sections of cities where investment should be focused (greenlined areas) or limited (redlined zones). The security maps have since been widely criticized as being inherently racist and have been associated with high levels of segregation and lower levels of green amenities in cities across the country. Our goal was to explore the potential legacy effects of the HOLC grading practice on birds, their habitat, and the people who may experience them throughout a metropolis where the security risk maps were widely applied, Greater Los Angeles, California (L.A.). We used ground-collected, remotely sensed, and census data and descriptive and predictive modeling approaches to address our goal. Patterns of bird habitat and avian communities strongly aligned with the luxury-effect phenomenon, where green amenities were more robust, and bird communities were more diverse and abundant in the wealthiest parts of L.A. Our analysis also revealed potential legacy effects from the HOLC grading practice. Associations between bird habitat features and avian communities in redlined and greenlined zones were generally stronger than in areas of L.A. that did not experience the HOLC grading, in part because redlined zones, which included some of the poorest locations of L.A., had the highest levels of dense urban conditions, e.g., impervious surface cover. In contrast, greenlined zones, which included some of the city's wealthiest areas, had the highest levels of green amenities, e.g., tree canopy cover. The White population of L.A., which constitutes the highest percentage of a racial or ethnic group in greenlined areas, was aligned with a considerably greater abundance of birds affiliated with natural habitat features (e.g., trees and shrubs). Conversely, the Hispanic or Latino population, which is dominant in redlined zones, was positively related to a significantly greater abundance of synanthropic birds, which are species associated with dense urban conditions. Our results suggest that historical redlining and contemporary patterns of income inequality are associated with distinct avifaunal communities and their habitat, which potentially influence the human experience of these components of biodiversity throughout L.A. Redlined zones and low-income residential areas that were not graded by the HOLC can particularly benefit from deliberate urban greening and habitat enhancement projects, which would likely carry over to benefit birds and humans. Methods We used point count data to collect bird data, remote sensing, and field approaches for the predictor data. We also used Census data from existing products. Please reference our paper for the full methodology.

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.This layer is an extract of the ArcGIS Online nationwide layer, clipped to Los Angeles County.For more information about this dataset, please contact egis@isd.lacounty.gov

The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) was a New Deal era program that graded neighborhoods based on perceived loan risk, but largely based on immigrant status and populations of color. Affluent areas were often graded as “A” or “Best” due to the low perceived risk of loan default. The riskiest grade was “D” or “Hazardous” and were predominantly communities of color and immigrant neighborhoods. These practices, while banned in 1968, have been linked to significant and increasing economic and demographic disparities through time. We are now also finding that these redlined areas are also associated with more extreme urban heat island effects, and that this is likely due to their lack of tree canopy and greater impervious surface (things like asphalt and cement roads) percentage. A recent paper by Hoffman et al. (2020) has connected these borrowing practices with the resulting impacts on local climate impacts along with human health. This map includes the following information for U.S. city neighborhoods:HOLC Grade (from the University of Richmond Digital Scholarship Lab)Average land surface temperature difference from citywide HOLC normal (reported in Hoffman et al., 2020)Tree cover percentage (from the National Land Cover Database)Impervious surface percentage (from the National Land Cover Database)Demographic information (from the American Community Survey)

Redlining is a process the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation gave neighborhoods to guide investment in the 1930’s. “Hazardous” neighborhoods were coded as red and were deemed riskiest. Often, these neighborhoods were predominantly in communities of color as the “hazardous” ranking included racial demographics. In redlined areas, it was hard for residents to get home ownership and maintenance loans. Despite these policies no longer existing, the legacy of long-term disinvestment can still be seen today. The SoCal Greenprint includes historically redlined communities in the City of Los Angeles, but does not have data covering the rest of the SCAG region. Preprocessing methods: kept all historic redlining categories to display on the web map.

There is a newer and more authoritative version of this layer here! It is owned by the University of Richmond's Digital Scholarship Lab and contains data on many more cities.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. This layer includes 7,148 neighborhoods spanning 143 cities across the continental United States. NOTE: 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. More cities are available in this feature layer from University of Richmond.Cities included in this layerAlabama: Birmingham, Mobile, MontgomeryCalifornia: Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, StocktonColorado: DenverConnecticut: East Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, StamfordFlorida: Jacksonville, Miami, St. Petersburg, TampaGeorgia: Atlanta, Augusta, Chattanooga, Columbus, MaconIllinois: Aurora, Chicago, Decatur, Joliet, GaryIndiana: Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Gary, Muncie, South Bend, Terre HauteKansas: Greater Kansas City, WichitaKentucky: Lexington, LouisvilleLouisiana: New OrleansMassachusetts: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Braintree, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Dedham, Everett, Haverhill, Holyoke Chicopee, Lexington, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Needham, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Saugus, Somerville, Waltham, Watertown, Winchester, WinthropMaryland: BaltimoreMichigan: Battle Creek, Bay City, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Pontiac, Saginaw, ToledoMinnesota: Duluth, MinneapolisMissouri: Greater Kansas City, Springfield, St. Joseph, St. LouisNorth Carolina: Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Winston SalemNew Hampshire: ManchesterNew Jersey: Atlantic City, Bergen Co., Camden, Essex County, Hudson County, TrentonNew York: Bronx, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Elmira, Binghamton/Johnson City, Lower Westchester Co., Manhattan, Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Queens, Rochester, Staten Island, Syracuse, UticaOhio: Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Hamilton, Lima, Lorrain, Portsmouth, Springfield, Toledo, Warren, YoungstownOregon: PortlandPennsylvania: Altoona, Erie, Johnstown, New Castle, Philadelphia, PittsburghSouth Carolina: AugustaTennessee: Chattanooga, KnoxvilleTexas: DallasVirginia: Lynchburg, Norfolk, Richmond, RoanokeWashington: Seattle, Spokane, TacomaWisconsin: Kenosha, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, RacineWest Virginia: Charleston, WheelingAn example of a map produced by the HOLC of Philadelphia:

The Health Atlas for the City of Los Angeles 2021 presents a data-driven snapshot of health conditions and outcomes in the City of Los Angeles. It illustrates geographic variation in socio-economic conditions, demographic characteristics, the physical environment, and access to support systems and services, and provides a context for understanding how these factors contribute to the health of Angelenos.The data underscore a key issue: where Angelenos live often influences their health and well-being. Los Angeles is a city with great health disparities and the patterns of inequality are reflected in many of the indicators highlighted in the Health Atlas. The spatial characteristics of physical and social determinants of health have roots in structural racism and historic and ongoing discrimination. Historic policies such as redlining have had lasting effects in Los Angeles. The analysis is a first step in understanding the areas of the City burdened with the most adverse health-related conditions in order to improve health outcomes and environmental justice for all Angelenos.The Health Atlas contains 115 maps covering regional context, demographic and social characteristics, economic conditions, education, health conditions, land use, transportation, food systems, crime, housing, and environmental health. In addition to displaying US Census Bureau, City, County, and other data, the Health Atlas contains several indices to facilitate comparisons across the city on subjects including environmental hazards (Map 113: Pollution Burden Index), transportation quality (Map 84: Transportation Index), and economic conditions (Map 19: Hardship Index). The Health Atlas culminates in a Community Health and Equity Index (Maps 114 and 115) which combines many of the above variables into a single index to compare health conditions across the City of Los Angeles. The Community Health and Equity Index can be used to understand the areas of the city with the highest vulnerabilities and cumulative burdens as compared to other portions of the City.The Health Atlas for the City of Los Angeles was originally developed in 2013 as an early step in the process to develop a Health, Wellness, and Equity Element of the General Plan (also known as the Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles). This data set is an update of the Health Atlas, completed in 2021. The Health Element and both editions of the Health Atlas are available as PDFs on the Los Angeles City Planning website, https://planning.lacity.gov.