NEW: ABC looked at 138 formerly redlined cities and found most were still segregated––just like they were designed to be. Explore the legacy of redlining in your city and read more on America’s “Housing Divide,” our partnership with FiveThirtyEight:
But it’s not just Cleveland. In its 20 years of existence, the now-defunct HOLC drew hundreds of these maps across the country. In total, we analyzed the demographics of 138 metropolitan areas where HOLC drew maps, using data provided by the University of Richmond’sproject and by the 2020 census.
You can see the effects of that institutionalized segregation clearly in this national map of formerly greenlined and redlined zones:Estimated 2020 share of non-Hispanic white residents living within greenlined and redlined boundaries drawn by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation between 1935-40, by metropolitan areaIncludes only micro- and metropolitan areas with both A- and D-rated zones in their redlining map — 138 of a total 143 metropolitan areas in the University of Richmond’s Mapping...
Formerly redlined zones in the Northeast and Midwest are among the most segregated areas in the country. In those regions, a higher proportion of Black Americans live in redlined zones compared with those zones’ surrounding areas — and a higher proportion than can be found in other regions of the country. Meanwhile, in the South, formerly redlined zones aren’t as segregated.