Map Legend
A
Best
lowest risk
best property values
white population
B
Good
low risk
buffer zones
white population
C
Declining
high risk
decreased investment
mixed population
D
Hazardous
highest risk
no investment
mixed population
Area Descriptions
These documents included surveys, paragraphs, and other written statements that laid out in detail exactly why each neighborhood got the color it received. Lenders, bankers, and real estate agents completed surveys for their personal organizations looking at where loans were being granted across the city. These surveys were then used to help form the maps and the more detailed area descriptions. Within these descriptions, language such as “infiltration of hazardous populations” or “invasion of hazardous groups” was used to describe the desire for separation based on race, and were often found in the paragraphs referring to yellow and red neighborhoods.
