New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
The map that made Bridgeport what it is today
Why do our cities look the way they do? Why do some neighborhoods stagnate while others thrive?
Blame usually goes to anything from the market working its magic to personal choices. No one would argue there are many factors that determine an area’s growth or decline. But we shouldn’t ignore the lasting implications of official policy decisions made far in the past, which had wide-ranging impacts that continue to shape neighborhoods today.
The best-known of those policies is called redlining. This term refers to the practice of lenders writing off entire neighborhoods based on perceived risk, which often had nothing to do with wealth but were more closely linked with the skin color of residents. In maps produced by a long-defunct government agency, entire swaths of people were judged based on what were believed to be their worthiness for credit. Neighborhoods colored green were considered a safe bet, while red ones were to be avoided at all costs.
It was far from scientific. The mere presence of Black people, even in small numbers, could be enough to limit opportunities. If it was marked in red, lenders would steer clear.
That led to predictable results. Green neighborhoods thrived as homeowners were able to invest in their properties, build new stock and make improvements. Red neighborhoods, where financing was much harder to find, fell into disrepair or worse. Without lenders willing to do business, the cycle of poverty continued as conditions deteriorated.
When experts talk about the lasting effects of racism, even as publicly acceptable attitudes have changed, this what they’re talking about.
The Homeowners Loan Corp. map of 1937, when laid over a present-day map of Bridgeport and Stratford, is striking. Areas in red include what is now Steel Point, which was demolished decades ago in favor of redevelopment that is only now taking shape, along with other neighborhoods on the East Side. The area northwest of downtown, long one of the highest-crime parts in the city, is in red, as is the site of the present-day P.T. Barnum housing complex and parts of the East End.
All were set on a long-ago path of neglect, and nearly a century later not enough has changed.
In green on the Bridgeport map are some just-as-predictable neighborhoods
— Black Rock and a small strip of Brooklawn. Most of the rest is yellow or blue, marking some degree of caution required for lenders.
No map tells the whole story. Neighborhoods are not set in amber. But this map is a clear visualization of official neglect that dates back decades, and has not ended today. Redlining hasn’t been a part of federal planning materials for decades, but that doesn’t mean some banks don’t continue to practice a version of it.
The Bridgeport redlining map and much more are on display for the next several months at an exhibit called “The Practice of Democracy: A View from Connecticut.” It’s currently running at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport and will spend time at Gateway Community College in New Haven before moving to Norwalk Community College. The interactive exhibit, according to the Regional Plan Association, “explores how — and for whom — Connecticut’s communities were designed.”
If Bridgeport is a struggling city, it’s in large part because of government policy.
The purpose of the exhibit is to demonstrate the link between the built environment and the democratic values we profess to hold dear. People are shaped by their homes, their streets and their neighborhoods. By uncovering this history, the exhibit shows who we are holding back and who we are helping to rise. It’s not as simple a question as it might appear.
There’s also nothing past about the maps and exhibits. A section detailing a fight over affordable housing could have been written any time in the past 50 years, stating that a proposed regional approach to housing decades ago “was met by backlash from representatives in the suburban communities and townships, who insisted they have the prerogative to determine the amount and type of housing, not the state.” Those fights continue to this day.
Organizers wants visitors to look at the big picture. “The Practice of Democracy invites you to explore the ways democracy shows up in our everyday lives, neighborhoods, and world,” its website states. The idea isn’t that the history is the end of the story. People can and do rise from difficult circumstances every day. But we shouldn’t be so quick to cast blame when they fall short, either.
There’s been growing interest in redlining maps in recent years, with an understanding that much of what we see today can be traced back to decisions made by long-dead bureaucrats. There’s also a limit to such conclusions, both because neighborhoods deemed unfit for investment were neglected long before they were included in an official map, and because there are many instances of improved conditions.
As usual, market conditions play a huge role. Plenty of New York City was redlined, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t investment potential today in, say, the Lower East Side. If there’s money to be made, someone will find a way to do it. But the counterargument is the same — if the potential payoff is less obvious, conditions are as likely to stagnate, which is what you see in most Connecticut cities.
The work to change that continues. Advocates continue to push for more resources in the cities and, just as importantly, for well-off suburbs to finally do their part in meeting the region’s housing needs, in sharing access to education dollars and more. Resistance is as fierce as ever, but progress is slowly being seen.
The map alone didn’t make Bridgeport what it is. There are too many factors to pin everything to one policy. But it is a reminder. Decisions made by public officials matter. Long after the people who made those decisions are gone, the effects linger. As “The Practice of Democracy” shows, a century isn’t enough time to move on.
When experts talk about the lasting effects of racism, even as publicly acceptable attitudes have changed, this what they’re talking about.