From Past to Present: Examining the Associations Between Historical Racialized Housing Interventions and Current-Day Neighborhood-level Outcomes: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

backgroundA growing body of literature on the association of federal housing interventions from the 1930s and 1940s reveals the enduring legacy of legally sanctioned discrimination against marginalized and underserved communities in the United States.

methodsThis study examined the associations between two historical racialized federal housing interventions-HOLC security maps and urban renewal-and neighborhood racial composition, median household income, and food environment across six recruitment sites of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. We estimated mean census tract characteristics for each decennial census year from 1940 to 2010, overall and by exposure to HOLC Grade D, urban renewal, both, and neither. Additionally, we estimated associations between the same exposures and levels of healthier and less healthy food sources as a composite measure in 2010.

resultsCensus tracts affected by both interventions or HOLC Grade D only had a higher proportion of Black residents and consistently lower median household incomes. Census tracts that experienced urban renewal only had a lower proportion of Black residents and a higher median income but also had a higher food swamp score compared to those exposed to HOLC Grade D or both.

conclusionTracts exposed to HOLC Grade D -either alone or in combination with urban renewal are consistent with previous literature showing persistent trends associated with these federal housing interventions. Our findings for urban renewal in places that were not also exposed to HOLC Grade D indicate different trajectories of outcomes, more similar to places that experienced neither, which deserve further study.