Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | December 12, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 9 REDLINING: An Economic Legacy Trapped in a redlined cycle In 1936, seven white men judged which neighbor- hoods of Worcester were not viable for real estate financing using criteria like "industrial workers live in this area as well as a few negroes." Today, as rising costs overburden half of renters in the city, those impacted the most are from those neighbor- hoods still suffering from lack of investment BY KEVIN KOCZWARA WBJ Staff Writer W orcester is built on its hills. ere's Graon Hill, Ver- non Hill, Hancock Hill, Green Hill Park, Bell Hill, Chandler Hill. e hills define the city. e College of the Holy Cross is on a hill. Same for Worcester Academy and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Even Assumption University is near the top of an incline. When Adam Davidson wrote about Worcester for e New York Times Magazine in 2016 he called it the "the middle" and an "engine for betterment until the middle of the 20th century, a magical place that transformed lost and impoverished lives." It's a city he also said "wasn't anybody's first choice, at least not in my family." For Davidson, Worcester stood for something it was in the early 20th centu- ry: A city built on workers making a life for themselves. A Gateway City with the right mix of factory jobs, land, possibility, the potential for higher education, and affordable housing. Figuratively, people climbed the social ladder. While most of this is true, Worcester, like many other American cities, has its own uneven history as a gateway to a better life. It's not always been for everyone. Worcester has gone through many iterations – including plenty of tough times – but its growth, in a lot of ways, has been predictable. It's a city shaped not only by its hills, but also by a map. Specifically, a realty area map drawn and looked over by seven white men in 1936 with ties to the federal government, and the city's banking and real estate industries. e map was commissioned by the Home Owners' Loan Corp. and used problematic – and, in some cases, downright racist – criteria to classify the city into five areas: Best, Still Desirable, Definitely Declining, Hazardous, and Business. And today, the city, like so many others where these maps drawn, is still dealing with this legacy. A s part of its joint effort with the Worcester Business Journal on this "Redlining: An Economic Legacy" project, the Worcester Regional Research Bureau obtained a copy of the 1936 redlining map of Worcester from Robert Nelson at the University of Richmond. Nelson started the Mapping The Main South neighbor- hood was included in the worst-ranked section in the 1936 redlined map of Worcester, and the area has remained in a cycle of poverty and lack of invest- ment ever since. PHOTO | CHRISTINE PETERSON Continued on page 11

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