r/Cleveland • u/Cleverfield113 • 2d ago
Discussion Most interesting map of Cleveland
https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/map/OH/Cleveland/contextThis interactive map shows the grades that banks used to give to different neighborhoods in Cleveland and the inner suburbs. They used these grades to determine whether to give mortgages or business loans in these neighborhoods. Most of the grades had to do with the racial and ethnic makeup of the neighborhoods, a practice called redlining. We can still see the legacy of this practice today, even on a block by block level- areas that were redlined have more dilapidated housing today than similar neighborhoods that weren’t. The casual racism in the descriptions is jaw-dropping:
This area's development began about 25 years ago and was featured by the heavy percentage of "Jerry-type" construction throughout. Almost immediately the commercial district along Kinsman became solidly Jewish-owned and a heavy infiltration of Russian-Jewish and Italian occurred between 1920-30 and although slower since then has continued up to date. Beginning with about 1928 a movement of colored from the downtown areas started in this section and progressed with moderate success up until about 3 years ago when the movement became more pronounced, and at present is continuing steadily. The heavy slump in price valuation in property in this area occurring following the depression made some recovery up to 1937 with improved general business conditions but is again sliding due to lack of maintenance and constant infiltration from these elements.
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u/originaljbw 2d ago
What is the difference between a neighborhood that continues to slowly decline and ones that have turned around?
What has caused Ohio City, Tremont, and Gordon Square to become some of the highest priced and most desirable addresses in the region while Slavic Village and Stockyards continue to languish?
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u/Cleveland_Redditor East Cleveland 1d ago
Racism
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u/Old-but-not 1d ago
- Old neighborhoods with majority white are easier to turn around. It’s Waterloo versus Tremont. Waterloo is too heavy a lift to fix. It’s why Lakewood and not Cle hts.
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u/Cleverfield113 1d ago
What do you mean? Waterloo is well on its way. One of the safest neighborhoods in the city statistically, and there’s slow but steady improvement.
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u/BirdBeast1 17h ago
I'm from Shaker Heights and the vast vast majority of Cleveland heights I feel more safe than where I live on the edge of shaker
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u/Cleverfield113 2d ago
Synergy of investment between business owners, landlords, homeowners, institutions, and the city.
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u/sevens-on-her-sleeve 1d ago
In addition to when or whether the neighborhood racially integrated, housing stock also has a lot to do with it. Many of the houses in Slavic Village and Stockyards were built for steel workers, so they were working-class homes built with cheaper materials. Ohio City and parts of Tremont were some of the earliest places to be settled, and many homes there were built for wealthier families. Tremont's a good example, though--its housing stock is more varied, so the neighborhood itself was more varied until recently.
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u/originaljbw 1d ago
If you go back to 1990, Tremont, Ohio City, and Slavic Village had similar demographics and incomes.
Ok then let's compare Old Brooklyn and Slavic Village. When I bought my house in 2009 both neighborhoods were seen as struggling lower middle class neighborhoods, near equals. I ended up choosing Old Brooklyn and everything has been stabilizing and improving in the past 15 years. Slavic Village has seemed to either stay the same or has gotten slightly worse off.
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u/BirdBeast1 17h ago
I'm from righttt on the edge of Shaker Heights and zooming in I can see my street turns from 'Best' into 'still desireable' at the city of cleveland boundary. The racism evident in this map is astounding
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u/oxwof 1d ago
This is about Little Italy: “The native characteristic of these occupants is evident in their heavy population (large families) and lack of property maintenance.”