Redlined
Similar concerns plagued municipal governments all over the country during the Depression. Hoping to stabilize housing values nationwide, the federal government asked local mortgage lenders and real estate developers to assess the relative risk of investing in different neighborhoods. The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) created color-coded maps of more than 200 American cities. As Atlanta’s HOLC map shows, the neighborhoods of the “Capitol Avenue section” (today’s Summerhill, Mechanicsville, Peoplestown, and northern Grant Park) were graded “D,” or “hazardous,” and color-coded red. In other words, they were “redlined,” a designation that made these neighborhoods ineligible for federal loans and repelled private investors.
For a dynamic view of interactive HOLC maps with area descriptions, see Mapping Inequality.
The Area Description form for the “Capitol Avenue Section” points to the mix of racial and ethnic groups, the high proportion of rental properties, the low income of many residents, and the age and condition of the housing stock as among the “detrimental influences” on the neighborhood. In fact, however, all areas with a substantial Black population received a “D” rating – even the middle-class Black neighborhood surrounding Atlanta University and Washington Park, which the HOLC called the “best negro section in Atlanta.”
In the decades to follow, the attitudes about race, class, and real estate values reflected in the HOLC report would play a role in transforming the neighborhoods surrounding Georgia Avenue. But for now, the area’s commercial district flourished. Dense residential settlement meant lots of local customers, and the storeowners geared their wares and services toward what their neighbors were buying.