Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | December 12, 2022 | wbjournal.com A s part of the then-new Federal Housing Admin- istration's effort to give out more home loans, a 1936 assessment of the neighbor- hoods in Worcester was commissioned by the Home Owners' Loan Corp. Below are snippets of the language used in that report to rank neighborhoods, with those ranked highest considered prime for bank investment and those at the bot- tom hampered by lack of investment for decades. To read the whole descriptions, see the Worcester Regional Research Bureau's "Static Income, Rising Costs" report at wrrb.org. Disclaimer: e language used in these snippets is taken directly from the 1936 Home Owners' Loan Corp. Some of this language may be offensive, and WBJ doesn't condone its use. 1936 zone: 1 1936 rank: Best Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Salisbury Street and Hammond Heights Ranking criteria: "High class residential section. Many of the more well-to-do live in the Hill section … Other homes … are occupied by professional men and business executives." 1936 zone: 2 1936 rank: Still desirable Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Tatnuck and West Side Ranking criteria: "It is occupied by business and professional men … Some of the better class Jewish people are concentrated in the portion around S. Lenox Street." 1936 zone: 3 1936 rank: Still desirable Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Indian Lake and Assumption University Ranking criteria: "Mostly single homes in good condition." 1936 zone: 4 1936 rank: Still desirable Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Burncoat and Greendale Ranking criteria: "A Swedish concen- tration in the Greendale area … e large Norton Company, manufacturers of grinding machinery and abrasives, is located on New Bond Street (R-8), and although many of these people are em- ployed here, they are skilled artisans and office workers for the most part. Many of the unskilled laborers live in #11 and #13 areas." 1936 zone: 5 1936 rank: Still desir- able Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Co- lumbus Park and around Clark University Ranking criteria: "Resi- dents mostly business men and office workers." 1936 zone: 6 1936 rank: Still desirable Includes modern-day neigh- borhood: Elm Park Ranking criteria: "One of the older sections of the city, containing many fine old residences 50 years old or more, but well kept up and still occupied by descendants of the original owners." 1936 zone: 7 1936 rank: Still desirable Includes modern-day neighborhood: Vernon Hill Ranking criteria: "ere is a concentra- tion of Irish in the western section and of Jewish in the southeastern section of this area." 1936 zone: 8 1936 rank: Definitely declining Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Northern Indian Hill and Burncoat Ranking criteria: "A small sparsely set- tled section housing some of the poorer class." 1936 zone: 9 1936 rank: Definitely declining Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Webster Square and Beaver Brook Ranking criteria: "ere is a small con- centration of negroes southeast of Beaver Brook playground (J-19) although it is not spreading to adjacent streets. e area contains many of the poorer classes." 1936 zone: 10 1936 rank: Definitely declining Includes modern-day neighborhood: Morris Square Ranking criteria: "Many industrial workers live in this area as well as a few negroes … ere is very little tendency for the area to spread beyond its present limits." 1936 zone: 11 1936 rank: Definitely declining Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Plantation Street and Chandler Hill Ranking criteria: "ere is a concen- tration of Swedish industrial workers … Negroes live in a small section … e section along Shrewsbury Street … is in- habited by Italian industrial workers and the laboring class. Toward the business district there is a scattering of Syrians and Armenians." 1936 zone: 12 1936 rank: Definitely declining Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Graon Hill and Union Hill Ranking criteria: "e Union hill section (P-23) is principally inhabited by Jewish people of the poorer class. South of Oak Hill … is the French section … e area is mostly composed of the poor- er class." 1936 zone: 13 1936 rank: Definitely declining Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Quinsigamond Village and Broadmeadow Brook Ranking criteria: "e majority of the residents of this area are Swedish indus- trial workers of the poorer class." 1936 zone: 14 1936 rank: Hazardous Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Indian Lake East and North Lincoln St. Ranking criteria: "Inhabited by the poorer class. Industrial workers. Cheap tenements in poor condition." 1936 zone: 15 1936 rank: Hazardous Includes modern-day neighborhoods: Main South and South Worcester Ranking criteria: "A concentration of French industrial workers … and a Pol- ish settlement north of Compton Park … Lithuanians occupy the area down as far as Maxwell Street (M-25). e majority are industrial workers and laborers of the poorer class." Sources: The University of Richmond provided the Worces- ter Regional Research Bureau with the original 1936 Home Owners' Loan Corp. report; Clark University also provided the report to Worcester Business Journal REDLINING: An Economic Legacy Discrimination from 1936 W

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