According to a new report detailing discriminatory lending in Chicago, people in majority-white neighborhoods continue to receive more loans, and in greater amounts, than people in majority-Black and majority-Latino areas.
New analysis from WBEZ and City Bureau shows the massive disparity in lending to residents of white neighborhoods compared to residents of black and Latino neighborhoods in Chicago. Linda Lutton, Andrew Fan, and Alden Loury call the practice "Modern-day redlining," describing "a pattern that locks residents out of home ownership, deprives communities of desperately needed capital investment and threatens to exacerbate racial inequities between neighborhoods."
When WBEZ and nonprofit newsgroup City Bureau reviewed 168,859 home loans between 2012 and 2018 made by banks and non-bank mortgage companies, they found that of the $57.4 billion loaned, 68.1% of cash funded people in majority-white neighborhoods with only 8.1% going to majority-black neighborhoods and 8.7% ending up in majority-Latino neighborhoods. Their report notes that while higher home prices in majority-white neighborhoods can explain part of the imbalance, the fact that "financial institutions made four times more loans in Chicago’s white neighborhoods than they did in black or Latino areas" obviously points to a much larger problem.
According to the authors, injecting money into neighborhoods in the form of home loans is a fundamental way to impact the health of communities and the quality of life of its residents.
FULL STORY: Where Banks Don’t Lend
Putting the Myth of the Redlining Maps to Rest
Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps have long been blamed for racial inequities in today’s Black neighborhoods, but recent research shows that’s misleading.
Formerly Redlined Neighborhoods Continue to Suffer Disparate Air Pollution
How did ZIP codes become such powerful determinants of public health? New new evidence of the disparate air pollution of redlined neighborhoods partly answers that question.
New Research Reexamines HOLC's Role in Redlining
New Deal agencies did engage in discriminatory lending practices–but not quite in the way we think.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research