River, Race, and Redlining:
Racialized Wealth & Environmental Injustices Along the Mississippi River
MS-STEP Professional Paper
In Partial Fulfillment of the Master of Science in Science, Technology and Environmental
Policy Degree Requirements
The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs
The University of Minnesota
Antara Mandal
1 May, 2023
Signature below of Paper Supervisor certifies successful completion of oral presentation and completion
of final written version:
_______________________________ 24 April, 2023 1 May, 2023
Dr. Bonnie Keeler,
Associate Professor, Paper Supervisor Date, oral presentation Date, paper completion
________________________________________ ___________________
Rebecca Walker, Ph.D. Candidate, Second Committee Member Date
Signature of Second Committee Member, certifying successful completion of professional paper
________________________________________ ___________________
Natalie Warren, Ph.D. Candidate, Third Committee Member Date
Signature of Third Committee Member, certifying successful completion of professional paper
1
Subject Keywords:
Redlining, property values, Mississippi River, HOLC, real estate, property appraisals,
environmental justice, environmental gentrification.
Abstract
This paper examines the historical social and spatial dynamics that underlie urban environmental
injustices along the Mississippi River. Focusing on three riverfront cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul
and New Orleans, I have used the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC)’s City Survey Area
Description sheets (ADS) to investigate how real estate appraisers have interpreted the values of
the Mississippi River for different demographics and how this has contributed to environmental
injustice. In doing so, I analyze how the changing values of the river as either an environmental
amenity or disamenity have shaped injustices. It is a mixed methods paper using qualitative and
comparative spatial analyses. The dramatic changes in property values indicate signs of
environmental gentrification in all three cities, but the causes are different. There are multiple
policy implications of this research highlighted in the last section.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Positionality Acknowledgment..................................................................................................... 4
Introduction....................................................................................................................................6
Research Motivations: Urban Nature, Wealth & Redlining...................................................... 9
HOLC City Survey Programs: History, Design, and Implementation.....................................10
The Science of Property Valuation: Racial Capitalism Shaping HOLC Redlining................. 13
Early Residential Stratifications Along the Mississippi River.................................................17
Twin Cities & the Mississippi................................................................................................17
The Mill City...................................................................................................................... 17
Harnessing the Falls’ Power............................................................................................. 17
The Railroad Era: Segregation Along the River................................................................18
New Orleans and the Mississippi..........................................................................................20
Batture Controversies Shaping the Value of the Mississippi River....................................20
Environmental Hazards Shaping Residential Patterns......................................................22
Methodology................................................................................................................................. 24
Study Sample & Data Collection.............................................................................................24
Spatial Methodology................................................................................................................26
Qualitative Coding of Descriptions of River, Property Values, and Race............................... 28
Historic & Contemporary Property Values Data.............................................................. 30
Results & Analysis....................................................................................................................... 31
Race & Property Values........................................................................................................... 31
River, Race, and Property Values.............................................................................................34
Spatial Analysis: Comparison of Historical and Current Property Valuation..........................37
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul........................................................................37
New Orleans.......................................................................................................................41
Analysis of Increased Contemporary Property Valuation: Environmental Gentrification..44
Twin Cities Analysis: Environmental Gentrification in North and Northeast Minneapolis....45
Climate Gentrification in New Orleans................................................................................... 47
Policy Implications & Conclusions.............................................................................................49
Bibliography................................................................................................................................. 53
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Positionality Acknowledgment
My intellectual curiosity on this topic and the research questions of this paper stem from
a collaborative effort. This paper builds on the contributions of my lab led by Dr. Bonnie Keeler
at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs who is also my paper supervisor. I have been working
as a Graduate Research Assistant in Bonnie’s lab for the past 2 years as part of the
Minneapolis-St. Paul Long Term Ecological Research (MSP-LTER) program (MSP-LTER, n.d.).
This is an urban LTER program funded by the National Science Foundation looking into the
long-term impacts of various urban stressors on the ecological structure and functioning of urban
nature in the Twin Cities (MSP LTER | Overview, n.d.). While there are multiple research
questions involving multidisciplinary expertise, I am looking into the coupling between urban
nature and wealth led by Dr. Bonnie Keeler and Dr. Kate Derickson. Building on existing
research on disparities in environmental benefits and distribution as well as wealth (measured in
homeownership), our research is investigating the role of nature in the past and current
distribution of wealth in the cities.
Among the multiple lines of evidence being studied under this research question, one is
concerned with the impacts of historical housing policies on the coupling of nature and
whiteness, and the construction of real-estate value. The team involved with this particular
research includes Bonnie Keeler (Principal Investigator), Kate Derickson (Principal
Investigator), Rebecca Walker (Ph.D. candidate), Hannah Ramer (Postdoc), and myself. We have
been conducting a broad analysis of the Midwest cities using HOLC Area Descriptions to
understand the relationship between urban nature, race, and wealth, the manuscript of which is
currently in preparation. This was achieved through extensive qualitative coding. I would like to
acknowledge that this paper's qualitative coding originates from this research work. The
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methodology and this paper were only possible with this collaborative effort and the people
mentioned above.
I also acknowledge that my findings in this paper are based on my identity as an
international student from India at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Even though I have a
minority identity that falls under the Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) in the US,
my reality of experiencing race and color vastly differed from the US context before being a
student here. The policy implications in this paper concern race, racism, and environmental
injustices, some things I did not experience growing up. I believe in upholding just and
inclusionary principles and uprooting racism and other forms of discrimination in all spheres of
life, especially in environmental policy spaces. I’m deeply passionate about environmental
justice and the decolonization of environmental policy. Given this context, this paper is grounded
in my academic training and the knowledge I have gathered over two years of participating in the
MSP-LTER project and through my graduate program.
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Introduction
Urban environmental injustices along the Mississippi River are rooted in historical social
and spatial dynamics. Past research by Environmental Justice (EJ) scholars has extensively
asserted the links between race, class, and environmental quality in the United States (Bullard &
Wright, 1993). While much attention has been paid to the toxic waste facilities sitings near the
rivers, where communities of color and the working class have resided historically, there is less
focus on the role of changing values of the river present in past segregationist policies in
producing environmental injustices. The Mississippi River is seen as both an environmental
amenity providing scenic vistas, recreation, and other ecological benefits for some but also an
environmental disamenity characterized by toxic pollution in other areas, particularly in
low-income communities and communities of color. Drawing from evolving EJ literature,
various contextual factors at the intersection of urban nature, race, and wealth accumulation
shape these riverfront injustices. This paper contributes to this growing body of literature by
focusing on the Mississippi River injustices reinforced by redlining in three historically
significant riverfront cities, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and New Orleans.
I define riverfront injustices in this paper as the burdens of the Mississippi River, such as
flooding, industrial odors, and pollution disproportionately borne by the working class and
communities of color living near the river. At the same time, the river has been accessible in its
pristine conditions for wealthier neighborhoods for centuries. Recent EJ discourses have
emphasized the role of different but related forms of racism, such as white supremacy, white
privilege, and settler colonialism, inherent in past urban development policies in shaping such
starkly disparate environmental patterns that continue to shape contemporary geographies
(Pulido, 2015). Poor and minority communities are more likely to live near environmental
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hazards like toxic waste facilities and experience higher air and water pollution (Bullard &
Wright, 1993; Mohai & Saha, 2007). Additionally, they also lack access to environmental
amenities such as parks and other green spaces that provide the benefits of climate regulation
(Rigolon & Németh, 2018). By virtue of their white privilege, white communities have
historically been able to relocate from areas with environmental hazards such as industrial
pollution to cleaner suburbs with abundant green spaces and accumulate wealth there (Pulido,
2000). Meanwhile, poor and racialized minorities, due to systemic exclusions, have had limited
access to capital that would allow them to do the same resulting in disproportionate exposure to
environmental harms (Pulido, 2000). Today, these effects appear in other areas of life, such as
disparate health outcomes among people of color, further complicated by rising temperatures and
climate change (Wilson, 2020).
A host of historical policies and laws on urban planning, banks' lending practices, and
general real estate practices have co-produced racially disparate geography and environmental
infrastructure. In other words, along with environmental governance, multiple policies and
factors situated outside environmental policy structures have been instrumental in shaping these
spatial patterns. Notably, these environmental injustices have been further solidified through
property valuation. Recent studies show that property values increase with a higher presence of
tree canopy, park proximity, and improvements in the water quality of nearby lakes (Bon Woo
Koo et al., 2019; Crompton, 2005; Mamun et al., 2023). At the same time, in an attempt to
reckon with past racial disparities, green investments today in previously underserved
neighborhoods have triggered gentrification and displacement of communities of color (Rigolon
& Németh, 2018).
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Past research underscores the importance of grounding contemporary issues like
environmental gentrification in historical contextual factors. Historical redlining and real estate
practices provide one avenue to inform current concerns about environmental gentrification. A
recent study on Minneapolis explains environmental injustices in park access linked to the use of
racial covenants, clauses in property deeds stipulating restrictions of property sales to non-white
racial groups (Walker et al., 2023). This research reveals that environmental injustices in parks
were strategies to boost property values as racial covenants guaranteed exclusive green spaces
with legal guarantees of whiteness. Redlining, the discriminatory practice of systematic denial of
mortgages and financial services to individuals based on their race or ethnicity, has similarly
shaped the landscape of modern environmental injustices. Redlining is a specific practice of
racial segregation originating from the 1930s New Deal era federal housing programs evident in
the practices of mortgage vetting and risk assessment practices (Jackson, 2021). Federal agencies
prepared residential security maps to vet neighborhoods for their mortgage riskiness. While there
were several federal agencies that made their own residential security maps, the Home Owners’
Loan Corporation (HOLC)’s redlining maps are most widely available today used extensively by
EJ scholars. Redlining policies are essential to examine because, apart from reflecting systemic
biases, they reveal housing as a primary driver of wealth accumulation. Such analysis improves
our understanding of the coupled dynamics of urban nature investments and wealth creation.
EJ research on redlining has mainly focused on environmental issues such as the urban
heat island effect, green space distribution, and accessibility injustices (trees, parks, etc.)
(Hoffman et al., 2020; Locke et al., 2021; Wilson, 2020). Given the lack of similar analysis on
the Mississippi River, I attempt to bridge that research gap via this paper. Using HOLC’s City
Survey Area Description sheets (ADS), I explore the following questions:
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1. How have real estate appraisers interpreted the values of the Mississippi River for
different demographics?
2. How has constructing such values contributed to environmental injustice along
the river?
3. How does the historical valuation of the river compare to contemporary
valuation?
Understanding historical factors of socioeconomic segregation has several environmental
policy implications, and this paper aims to highlight them. Armed with historically informed
research, policymakers can promote a more environmentally just future along the Mississippi
River.
Research Motivations: Urban Nature, Wealth & Redlining
In a separate paper currently in preparation, we conducted a qualitative analysis of HOLC
ADs of 9 Midwestern cities1 revealing environmental injustices disproportionately evident in
low-graded neighborhoods.
We found that highly-graded neighborhoods, associated with high property values and
whiteness, had a disproportionately greater number of environmental amenities, defined as the
presence of lakes, parks, trees, landscaping, etc. Conversely, low-graded neighborhoods,
associated with low property values and a working-class and racially diverse population, were
exposed to more environmental disamenities, defined as industry, railroad, and poor topography
(Walker et al., In Preparation). Our analysis shows that features like parkways and golf courses
1 Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Duluth, Milwaukee, Madison, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis,
Rockford, and Kansas City
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positively impacted property values, most notably in higher-graded neighborhoods. We also
found that the relationship between rivers and property values was more ambivalent.
This finding inspired me to dig deeper into the questions of values associated with the
Mississippi River, one of the world’s most economically important rivers. In our 9-city analysis,
the Twin Cities was especially interesting, where the Mississippi River assumed a dual character.
I was interested to learn how HOLC appraisers discussed and produced the duality in other cities
along the river. After considering major cities along the river, I landed on a comparative analysis
of the Twin Cities and New Orleans.
HOLC City Survey Programs: History, Design, and Implementation
On June 13, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Home Owners’ Loan Act
into law in response to mortgage defaults and foreclosures in the wake of the Great Depression.
The law established HOLC, a government-sponsored corporation, to refinance mortgages at risk
of foreclosures (The Living New Deal, 2016). HOLC was mainly charged with acquiring
distressed mortgages by issuing government-insured mortgages at a lower interest rate to prevent
foreclosures (Divers et al., 1952).
In the following years after its establishment, HOLC undertook a nationwide city survey
program in over 200 American cities to determine the riskiness of lending these
government-issued mortgages. The surveys vetted neighborhoods through color-coded maps.
The colored codes corresponded to a grading scale from “A” to “D” assigned by the surveyors,
who were real estate professionals consisting of lenders, developers, and appraisers (Nelson et
al., 2016). A neighborhood receiving an “A” grade and color-coded green was deemed the best
neighborhood regarding mortgage lending. The grades “B” and “C” were respectively colored
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blue and yellow, meaning they were “still desirable” or “declining.” The areas that received the
lowest grade, “D” were deemed hazardous for lending purposes and color-coded red, hence the
term “redlining” emerged. Along with the maps, local assessors attached Area Description sheets
(ADS) containing information on the neighborhoods surveyed. These ADS written by local
HOLC appraisers— typically white male real estate agents — described their judgment of each
city's neighborhoods’ physical, economic, and racial aspects.
Efforts by Mapping Inequality to digitize these historical redlining maps (Nelson et al.,
2016) have opened up several opportunities to analyze the extent to which HOLC redlining maps
explain contemporary environmental outcomes in relation to wealth measured in property values.
In particular, the ADS prepared by HOLC appraisers are instrumental in such research. The
language used in these sheets was explicitly racist, justified by a highly systematized
pseudoscience of the era that promulgated minority races and ethnicities, particularly African
Americans, as detrimental to property values (Slater, 2021). The appraisers noted certain human
factors to be “detrimental,” “unfavorable,” and “infiltrating” in the ADS. The language and
structure of these sheets varied across cities, but the descriptions of “infiltrating” human factors
were consistently associated with the Black or other minority populations, which were used to
justify a lower HOLC grade. For instance, a D-graded neighborhood in St. Paul’s AD sheets
contains descriptions of the infiltration of the “colored” population (Nelson et al., 2016).
In the history of the US housing policy, HOLC has been seen as both a savior of the
housing market for pulling the country out of the Great Depression and as a driver of racial
segregation (Nelson et al., 2016). Michney & Winling (2019) highlight that the HOLC’s mission
consisted of two distinct phases, the first of which was a “rescue” phase in 1933-1935, during
which they refinanced distressed mortgages. The redlining maps were created in the second
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phase, which the authors call the “consolidation” phase from 1935-1951. Contrary to popular
belief that HOLC maps were used to racially discriminate against individual homeowners in
determining mortgage lending decisions, HOLC increasingly lent to African Americans, who
had dramatically lower homeownership rates (Michney & Winling, 2019). Financial assistance
during the “rescue” phase improved their circumstances. However, this does not absolve
HOLC’s legacy of racially discriminatory practices. They provided these mortgages to African
Americans precisely to maintain racial segregation: refinancing homes owned by African
Americans in already-established centers of black residence would ensure they remained
concentrated in one specific area (Michney & Winling, 2019). Such practices had been prevalent
since the early twentieth century within the private real estate realm enabled by institutional
racism, including Jim Crow laws and immigration policies favoring certain white Europeans.
HOLC and other federal lending programs reinforced racial segregation in housing as a
state-sanctioned feature resulting in longer-lasting impacts felt in minority communities even
today.
Though outlawed in 1968 with the Fair Housing Act, redlining has resulted in low
homeownership rates and less equity among Black households in contemporary times. For
instance, the typical homeowner today in a formerly redlined neighborhood has not seen an
increase in personal wealth generated by property values when compared to homeowners in a
formerly “A” graded neighborhood. This loss in wealth gain is as much as $212,023 or 52% less
than properties in an “A” graded neighborhood, indicating a significant racial wealth divide
(Richardson, 2020). Such a substantial racial wealth gap due to redlining has created a domino
effect of inequities in other aspects of life. Redlining produced racial geographies, which remain
a strong predictor of opportunity in American cities (Faber, 2020). Apart from inequalities in
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access to credit and mortgages, housing segregation has produced inequities in educational
opportunities, labor markets, and multiple other aspects shaping life in the US (Faber, 2020),
making intergenerational upward mobility difficult, if not impossible, for BIPOC populations. It
is important to note these inequalities are only the legacy of racial discrimination and housing
segregation , and the HOLC is not the sole cause (Gioielli, 2022). Redlining was the product of
decades of racist lending practices and property value “science” institutionalized in the early
twentieth century. HOLC maps “provide a historical snapshot of a community at one place in
time, but they are not destiny” (Gioielli, 2022).
HOLC utilized industry best practices of real estate valuation, and was one piece of the
puzzle in furthering racial segregation. Other agencies, such as the Federal Housing
Administration (FHA), created their security maps and were far more instrumental in
formulating discriminatory policies and shifting capital from the cities to the suburbs (Michney
& Winling, 2019). The exclusionary practices themselves, however, predate both FHA and
HOLC (Amy E. Hillier, 2003; Fishback et al., 2022).
The Science of Property Valuation: Racial Capitalism Shaping HOLC Redlining
Racial segregation was a product of racial capitalism, not just a consequence of federal
policy. In other words, the relationship between both state and private capital must be examined
to understand the conditions of possibility that gave birth to redlining. As noted before, redlining
practices were prevalent before both FHA and HOLC maps. This section will dig deeper into the
history of real estate and the language of racial exclusions used for early appraisals that paved
the way for segregationist policies at the federal level later.
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Land development in the early twentieth century was unregulated, and speculation was
rampant. To ensure that the lands were protected from eyesore developments, often considered to
be factories, liquor stores, and cheap-built homes, realtors formulated restrictive covenants to
gain control of the market. Covenants were deed restrictions on what the lot buyers could do
with the land and its buildings. Duncan McDuffie from the Bay Area and J.C. Nichols of Kansas
City were two influential realtors who promoted high-end development with racially restrictive
covenants (Slater, 2021). They envisioned exclusive residential development with green spaces
and restricted to “only persons of the Caucasian race…except servants” (Slater, 2021). Racial
covenants became a national model in 1905, and soon after, predominated real-estate practices
that later trickled over in the language used in HOLC Area Description sheets. For instance,
McDuffie believed that racial restrictions were a “shield” from “undesirable neighborhoods” and
“inharmonious houses” (Slater, 2021), descriptors used in HOLC Area Descriptions as well. In
Kansas City, Nichols built the famous Country Club Plaza neighborhood in 1923 which
continued to appreciate in value a century later with racial covenants in-built into the deeds. For
decades, these restrictions kept Blacks, Jews, and other minorities from living in Nichols’
exclusive landscaped neighborhoods (Moxley, 2020). These early instances of racial exclusion
through property deeds sowed the seeds for more systematized appraisal methods.
In 1924, Herbert U. Nelson, the Executive Secretary of the National Association of Real
Estate Board (NAREB), introduced Article 34 to the realtors’ Code of Ethics: “A realtor should
never be instrumental in introducing into a neighborhood a character of property or occupancy,
members of any race or nationality, or any individuals whose presence will clearly be detrimental
to property values in that neighborhood” (National Association of Realtors, 1924). NAREB was
also instrumental in disseminating covenants to “protect” neighborhoods after the Supreme Court
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rejected racial zoning in 1917 (Winling & Michney, 2021). Nelson encouraged other local realty
boards to ensure African Americans remained concentrated in “black belts” (Helper, 1969).
Following the establishment of Article 34, several appraisal manuals were soon published
that cemented a segregationist standard of real estate valuation and promoted racial homogeneity.
By the mid-1920s, these standards were portrayed as objective economic science, rather than
subjective discrimination, using eugenic justifications and scientific racism (Winling & Michney,
2021). The role of academia and professionalization of the real estate field was paramount in
cementing this “science” of property valuation. Richard T. Ely, a prominent economist and
founder of the American Economic Association, established a land economics institution at the
University of Wisconsin that frequently researched the role of race— among other risk factors—
in mortgage denials (Winling & Michney, 2021). Ely also collaborated with NAREB to promote
the importance of real estate education and established a series of textbooks. This
systematization was crucial in elevating the importance of expertise in the real estate profession.
Article 34 and the plethora of appraisal manuals that were published, spearheaded by Ely,
became immutable laws of real estate valuation. Frederick Morrison Babcock, a real estate
appraiser at the time, was an associate of Ely and had published a manual for a series of his
textbooks. Babcock was a prominent advocate for racial homogenization who argued that race
affected real estate values (Babcock, 1936). Babcock’s views on racial homogenization were
shared by many White real estate appraisers. Stanley McMichael, another prominent real estate
agent and appraiser, authored a manual in 1931 describing “social or racial changes” in a
neighborhood as signs of “invasion by incompatible uses.” He advised appraisers to look for
“undesirable racial elements in the neighborhood” (McMichael, 1931). McMichael’s manual was
endorsed by NAREB. They talked about infiltration, invasion, control, handling, and keeping
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them “within boundaries” (Slater, 2021), terminologies later inherited by HOLC appraisers as
evident in the descriptions sheets. This highly destructive notion that minorities depreciated
property values quickly became a “fact” that would last from 1922 to the 1950s (Slater, 2021).
With Roosevelt’s inauguration in 1933 and the incoming New Deal housing programs,
real estate agents saw an opportunity to institutionalize property value science federally. Many of
Ely’s students and colleagues left academia and private institutions to occupy government
positions, including Babcock, who became the head of underwriting at FHA. There were
opposers, too, with solid evidence disproving the property value axiom. Charles Johnson, a
prominent Black sociologist at the time, and his staff disproved this theory by using basic
economics at a national conference that would determine the future of homeownership in the US
He asserted with incontrovertible evidence that the presence of African American people in a
neighborhood raises the property value due to “pent-up demand from these communities” (Slater,
2021). However, it made little impact as the opinions and practices of NAREB prevailed, which
would later translate into federal housing programs, including HOLC city surveys. In fact,
Nelson — who developed Article 34 — helped design the HOLC in 1933. Winling & Michney
(2021) show that the relationship between private industry and government was much more
fluid, and therefore, the notion of assigning culpability to HOLC as one entity behind
contemporary injustices is questionable. This becomes an important consideration when drawing
conclusions about environmental injustices originating from past segregation. Despite
opposition, Ely’s notions, the network he created, and NAREB enabled the federal government
to pursue policies that would “stabilize” property values based on racial homogeneity. By the
1930s, racial segregation in housing became state-sanctioned.
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Early Residential Stratifications Along the Mississippi River
Twin Cities & the Mississippi
The Mississippi River has been vital for the growth of the Twin Cities in every aspect of
life. The Twin Cities area is the original homeland of the Dakota people, who have considered
the Mississippi River culturally and spiritually crucial for centuries before the US colonized their
lands for setting up industries and hydropower stations. The ever-evolving industrial activities
along the river, transportation, and urban planning defined the residential patterns of the Twin
Cities.
The Mill City
Today known as the “mill city,” Minneapolis’ developmental history begins with St.
Anthony Falls, where many milling industries were set up in the nineteenth century. Back then,
St. Anthony and Minneapolis were two different cities, with the former sitting on the east bank
of the Mississippi River and Minneapolis on the west bank. St. Anthony Falls is the only major
waterfall on the Mississippi River (Minnesota Historical Society, 2023). Owamniyomni, the
Dakota name for St. Anthony Falls, has been spiritually significant to the Dakota, Ojibwe, and
Ho-Chunk peoples. Near the falls, the Dakota harvested tree sap and maple sugar on Nicollet
Island (Minnesota Historical Society, 2023). Ongoing colonization by the United States
government paved the way for white settlers to build Minnesota’s first profitable lumber
industry. In 1872, the two cities of St. Anthony and Minneapolis merged into the city of
Minneapolis.
Harnessing the Falls’ Power
The first phase of riverfront development was marked by rapid commercial growth in
what is now Minneapolis. The falls provided an endless power source for the lumber and flour
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milling industries. River navigation via steamboats was prominent between the mid to late
nineteenth century. Dams and waterpower canals were constructed to funnel water into the mills,
consequently accelerating the soil erosion rate under the falls. The riverfront was transformed,
and Minneapolis became a world-leading flour-producing city for nearly half a century from
1888 (Minneapolis Riverfront, n.d.). The land use was a mixture of residential, industrial, and
commercial. Although housing did appear near Nicollet Island by the 1840s, the railroad system
would overtake residential uses in later years. To the east in St. Paul, residential patterns were
defined by military or commercial activities owing to the location of the historic Fort Snelling
from 1820 to 1837 (Anfinson, 2003). However, most of the shoreline was uninhabitable due to
marshy soil. But with the land-ceding treaties of 1837, settlements near marshy lands
downstream of present-day St. Paul began to take place, and urban population growth exploded
in St. Paul (Millet, 1992).
The Railroad Era: Segregation Along the River
The first railroad connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul in 1862 completely transformed
the Twin Cities’ relationship with the Mississippi River. The land uses along the river shifted
rapidly with industrial and commercial zones predominating, replacing residential uses for all but
the poorest people (Anfinson, 2003). Millet (1992) notes that residential patterns became socially
and economically stratified during the railroad development era (1862- the1940s). As industrial
expansion brought noise, bad smells, flooding, and other dangers, the richest Twin Cities
population began to settle away from these industries in the mansions of Summit Hill in St. Paul
and Lowry Hill in Minneapolis (Millet, 1992). Meanwhile, the poorest and most ethnically
diverse populations resided near these harmful industries, particularly immigrants.
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The river flats community emerged in the 1880s in the Twin Cities as the population of
immigrants rose. River flats are the low-lying areas adjacent to a river. In Minneapolis,
Bohemian Flats located below the University of Minnesota West Bank campus was the most
prominent river flats community home to recent immigrants from East Europe. This
neighborhood was prone to frequent flooding and sanitation issues. These issues and proximity
to the industry made this land undesirable, so poor immigrants could afford their homes (Hines,
2015). Many believed they owned their houses as they purchased them, but they were considered
squatters by law. The land was owned by the milling company nearby until it was sold to a real
estate developer named Charles H. Smith in 1921, who later evicted residents when they refused
to pay rent (Hines, 2015). In St. Paul, the river flats communities consisted of the Italian
neighborhood of Upper Levee and the first Jewish —later Latin American— community of St.
Paul in the West Side Flats. The river flats communities across the Twin Cities had the common
characteristic of being home to the working-class and ethnically diverse population (Anfinson,
2003).
These socio-economic stratifications in housing near the river have led many historical
geographers to conclude that the river assumed a dual character to residents during this period
(Hesterman, 1986). The river simultaneously became an aesthetic amenity for the wealthy who
could afford to move uphill, away from the industrial pollution and danger, and an unattractive
amenity closer to the river on the flats. The redlining era further preserved this dual spatial
characteristic of the river. In the HOLC redlining maps, most neighborhoods adjacent to the river
were deemed “declining” or “hazardous” (Nelson et al., 2016).
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New Orleans and the Mississippi
The city of New Orleans sits on the Native American land of the Chitimacha tribe along
with three other federally recognized tribes of Louisiana (National Park Service, 2022).2 Before
French colonization, the Chitimacha was the most powerful tribe between Texas and Florida.
They relied on the Mississippi River for sustenance, transportation, and their river cane basketry
(Sovereign Nation of the Chitimacha, n.d.). After a French victory, La Nouvelle-Orléans, or New
Orleans was established in 1718 by Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville on Chitimacha
territory. New Orleans derives its nickname “Crescent City” from the shape of the course of the
Lower Mississippi River running through and around the city (Welsh, 2019). Early urban
planners took advantage of the city’s topography since it was built on a natural levee of the
Mississippi River (Kelman, 2003). The city of New Orleans was also the largest slave market in
the US with the city’s ports serving as sites for the purchase and sale of over 135,000
African-Americans, many of whom were forced into building levees for flood control, and drain
ditching (Rothman, 2021; Seicshnaydre et al., 2018). In many ways, New Orleans exists today
because of the complex interactions between riverfront development and slavery.
Batture Controversies Shaping the Value of the Mississippi River
Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, a batture controversy shaped the city’s
development. A batture is a land formed by the accumulation of sedimentary deposits between
the low tides of the river and the levee (The Law Library of Louisiana, n.d.). This land is
valuable for various reasons, such as temporary storage of goods, fishing, farming, and
recreation. In the early nineteenth century, batture in New Orleans doubled in size, making it a
valuable piece of land attracting several real estate investors (The Law Library of Louisiana,
2 They are: the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, and the Coushatta
Tribe of Louisiana. There are also 11 State recognized Tribes.
20
n.d.). As a result, two hotly contested views came to define the riverfront in New Orleans. Jean
Gravier, a shrewd entrepreneur, owned a parcel of land on the batture and wanted to divide the
plot for private real estate development. Opposing this development were citizens of New
Orleans with the support of the city government, who advocated for keeping the waterfront
accessible to the public, as many New Orleanians had used this land freely since the city’s
founding (Kelman, 2003).
Although the latter view ultimately prevailed, batture controversies continued to shape
the city’s history as the batture land accumulated and expanded. In 1836, an issue surrounding
the batture was even taken to the Supreme Court when the federal government tried to block the
city from selling contested portions of the land (The Law Library of Louisiana, n.d.). In all legal
battles, the public control over the waterfront was sustained, with the city even gaining tighter
control in 1851. The evolving batture controversies reveal that the Mississippi River has been
valued as an open and accessible river. The river’s importance for economic prosperity was
perhaps the most important aspect for Western settlers. President Thomas Jefferson, while
justifying the importance of the Louisiana Purchase in his Mississippi policy, alluded to “the will
of nature” to advocate for the river as a free natural outlet for commerce (Kelman, 2003). To the
settlers, a Christian-esque anthropocentric view of nature— that all non-human elements are
God’s providence to serve human needs (Kelman, 2003)—was vital to ensure that access to the
Mississippi waterfront remained public in New Orleans. Any enforcement of private real estate
rights threatened this economic ideal. Regular flooding of the river would also disrupt a smooth
flow of commerce. Artificially raising levees was thus crucial for New Orleans’ economy.
21
Environmental Hazards Shaping Residential Patterns
The waterfront came to define the city of New Orleans for its markets, port, and
municipal entryway (Kelman, 2003). The city’s port was one of the busiest ports in the world in
the nineteenth century. The predominant industries were cotton and sugar, maintained via forced
labor and enslavement of African Americans, which made the New Orleans port a key hub for
exporting these important crops (Rothman, 2021; Welsh, 2019).
A flourishing economy brought huge population growth. Between 1810 and 1900, the
population of New Orleans boomed, going from 17,000 to nearly 390,000 (The Data Center,
2020). As the city was prone to frequent flooding, elevation increasingly defined the segregated
residential patterns. The high elevation created by the river’s natural levee attracted wealthy
white settlers in the city's inner ring. On the other hand, recent immigrants, working-class
Whites, and free people of color were concentrated behind the levee in low-lying swamps where
the flood risk was higher (The Data Center, 2020). However, the swamps were drained in the
1920s to pave the way for new development in the middle and outer rings of the city (see map
below), further enforcing “geographies of race and class” (The Data Center, 2020).
22
Map by The Data Center (2020)
Just like many other American cities in the twentieth century, the institutionalization of
racial segregation was accelerated in New Orleans with a host of discriminatory policies ranging
from the city’s racially restrictive zoning to federal redlining and urban renewable programs. In
the New Orleans’ HOLC redlining map, nearly 85% of the HOLC areas were either designated
“C” or “D” grades (Nelson et al., 2016). In these two areas, a majority of African-Americans
resided. The new development further out of the city explains why a majority of the HOLC areas
in the historic inner ring were redlined, and the outer rings earned the few “A” or “B” grades the
city had. Although such segregation was prominent throughout the country, New Orleans’
patterns of racial segregation were uniquely defined by established environmental risks posed by
the Mississippi River.
In the Twin Cities and New Orleans, the Mississippi River played an essential role in
shaping the residential patterns that later trickled down to the HOLC redlining maps and other
racially discriminatory policies. Although the two metropolitan regions ecologically and
demographically differ, they share the commonality of waterfront development. The river played
a double role in that environmental hazards were concentrated in working-class and BIPOC
neighborhoods. Below is a summary of the aforementioned historical narratives on the Twin
Cities and New Orleans.
Table 1. A summary of riverfront development histories in the Twin Cities and New Orleans.
Twin Cities New Orleans
Ecology River Region: Upper Mississippi River
Topography: flat terrain
River Region: Lower Mississippi River
Topography: low-lying delta region
Riverfront
Industries
Milling, railway, manufacturing Shipping and transportation; cotton and sugar
23
Residential
Patterns (19th
century)
1. The land proximal to the river was
undesirable due to flooding,
industries, and marshy soil.
2. Working class and racial minorities
resided near the river
1. The land proximal to the river was
greatly valued for its high elevation
2. Settlements of wealthy communities
near the river due to natural levee +
high elevation
HOLC Redlining 1. River played socially and
economically important role
2. Much of the 19th residential
landscape was preserved: a mix of A,
B, C, D neighborhoods near the river
1. River, elevation, and property values
have strong links
2. Wealthy communities flocked outside
and away from the river
3. No A neighborhoods near the river
Methodology
This study relies on a mixed methods approach based on qualitative analysis of HOLC
Area Descriptions (ADs) textual data. It utilizes digital mapping tools available for HOLC City
Survey maps to understand the interconnections between the Mississippi River, property values,
and racialization.
Study Sample & Data Collection
This study is designed to be a comparative analysis of cities sharing river development
history. The sample is restricted to three major cities or two metropolitan areas along the
Mississippi River for which HOLC City Surveys were completed: the Twin Cities (Minneapolis
and St. Paul, MN) and New Orleans, LA. Initially, nine cities were considered but six did not
have adequate data. The decision was made after analyzing the AD sheets of all major cities
along the Mississippi River. Cities initially considered were: Minneapolis, St. Paul, Davenport,
Dubuque, East St. Louis, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. These were first analyzed for
mentions of the river and property values, and only Minneapolis, St. Paul, and New Orleans had
complete information desired for the study. All the other cities were excluded because they either
did not have ADS or lacked relevant narrative data. There are other compelling reasons for
bounding this analysis to the three cities:
24
● The Mississippi River has historically been significant in the Twin Cities and New
Orleans.
● Of all HOLC City ADs, these three had the most mentions of the Mississippi River.
● The river is associated with property valuation and is therefore relevant for the research
scope.
The ADS provide general information about building conditions, physical characteristics,
and demographic aspects such as the percentage population of Black, White, and foreign
families. The Twin Cities and New Orleans ADs differed in their writing styles. New Orleans
followed a standardized form containing information on population such as class and occupation,
percentage of foreign families, and Black families. On the other hand, HOLC appraisers in the
Twin Cities followed a more narrative style mentioning the neighborhood characteristics in
paragraph form (Figure 1). The information in all three cities was more or less the same. The
HOLC maps and the ADS were obtained from the University of Richmond Digital Scholarship
Lab’s Mapping Inequality that contains the digitized repository of HOLC City Survey data
(Nelson et al., 2016).
25
Figure 1. An Area Description sheet from New Orleans (left) and one from St. Paul (right)
Spatial Methodology
Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), spatial analyses were conducted on
several datasets. The first dataset consisted of HOLC area shapefiles of Minneapolis, St. Paul
and New Orleans extracted from Mapping Inequality. The shapefiles were uploaded on ArcGIS
Online as hosted feature layers (Walker & Mandal, 2023). A 0.5-mile buffer from the Mississippi
River was created and used to extract only those HOLC polygons that fell within a 0.5-mile
distance from the river. Area Description data for HOLC polygons that fell within the 0.5-mile
buffer was exported as a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file for qualitative analysis. The final
84 areas obtained from the buffer analysis were considered for the study. A summary table is
provided below along with the maps of the HOLC polygons.
26
Table 2. City Summaries. A total of 86 areas fell within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi.
HOLC Grade # of Area Descriptions (ADs)
Minneapolis St. Paul New Orleans
A 14 6 9
B 22 12 22
C 20 8 52
D 14 10 43
Total 70 36 126
Total ADs within
0.5 mile
23 15 46
Map 1.Minneapolis & St. Paul: HOLC polygons that fell within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi River.
Data from Mapping Inequality.
27
Map 2. New Orleans: HOLC polygons that fell within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi River. Data from Mapping
Inequality.
Qualitative Coding of Descriptions of River, Property Values, and Race
An iterative process of coding was followed after the development of a deductive
codebook. The codebook was adapted from our broader analysis of race and nature in the 9
Midwestern cities using HOLC City Survey area descriptions (Walker et al., In Preparation). For
the analysis in this paper, I coded for mentions of HOLC grade, city, race/ethnicity, and the
Mississippi river. Mentions of home values were also recorded in a separate spreadsheet.
The mentions of the river were divided into three categories: “positive,” “negative” and
“neutral.” The categorization was based on the values expressed by HOLC appraisers in the
description sheets. These values relate to mortgage lending security and property values. Positive
aspects of the river were generally associated with an increase in property values. For example,
an area that was located high above and overlooking the Mississippi was described as “beautiful”
(Figure 1.) which meant the river was assigned a“positive” mention. Similarly, the river mention
28
was “negative” if the presence of the Mississippi harmed property values. Negative connotations
associated with the river included flooding or pollution due to industrial presence.
Figure 2a. An “A” graded neighborhood in Minneapolis. Views of the Mississippi are
mentioned positively.
While in some instances (like above), the positive and negative connotations were
straightforward, in other cases, the river didn’t seem to affect property values. In such instances,
we coded for “neutral” acknowledging that the river is mentioned in a particular area but did not
necessarily affect property values. Of the 84 areas that fell within 0.5 miles from the river, 33 had
mentions of the Mississippi River. A decision summary of the codes is provided in Table 2
below.
Figure 2b. A “D” graded neighborhood in New Orleans. A classic example of real estate appraisers racializing an
area.
29
Table 3. Code classification and the qualifying aspects that justify the classification.
Code Classification # of Mentions Qualifiers HOLC Grades
Associated
River Positive 16 Scenic views, proximal location,
transportation, (Industrial)
Employment
A, B, C, D
River Neutral 12 Only mentions the river without
any qualifier or ambiguous.
C, D
River Negative 5 Industrialization, flooding,
distance from city center
C, D
Total 33
Similarly, mentions of race and ethnicity were coded as described by HOLC assessors.
The codes indicate either a presence or absence of the race or ethnicity they described. In New
Orleans, assessors were explicitly asked to identify presence of foreign and Black populations.
These were sometimes reported in percentages but following Walker et al. (In preparation)’s
codebook, I only noted for presence or absence of foreign and Black populations. For foreigners,
assessors did not report a percentage and instead only noted the nationality of the predominant
foreign populations. When they did not mention any race, I coded “No Mention” following the
justification of Walker et al. (in preparation) that assessors perceived these areas as racially
homogenous, indicating whiteness. However, New Orleans is an exception since assessors
explicitly mentioned the race White for reasons I will elucidate in the results section.
Historic & Contemporary Property Values Data
We identified historical home values from AD data for all river-proximal HOLC areas.
The historical home values for the Twin Cities were dated 1937, and the New Orleans ones were
in 1939, the years when HOLC commissioned the surveys for the respective cities (Nelson et al.,
30
2016). They reported a minimum and a maximum value for the properties they assessed.
Mid-range property values were considered for ease of analysis by averaging the reported
minimums and maximums. These historical home value data were appended onto the HOLC
spatial data (shapefiles) and uploaded as a feature layer on ArcGIS Online for spatial analysis of
the property values. To compare these prices with contemporary data, the historical values were
adjusted for inflation, considering 2022 prices using an inflation calculator (Federal Reserve
Bank of Minneapolis, n.d.). After this data cleaning step, the historic home values of the
river-proximal polygons were overlaid with the HOLC areas to study the spatial patterns of
HOLC grades and property values.
Next, contemporary property value data were obtained. The data came from Esri’s 2022
home value estimates. For the purposes of this study, Esri estimates on median and average
home values were derived and then overlaid on the historic river-proximal HOLC grades using
the “enrich” feature on ArcGIS Online. The final dataset included data on historical and
contemporary home values, as well as qualitative coding data (mentions of river and race) on the
84 river-proximal polygons.
Results & Analysis
Race & Property Values
The results from the qualitative coding analysis reveal the coupled dynamics of race and
the river influencing property values. The categories constructed were based on most frequently
mentioned race or ethnicity.
In the Twin Cities (Figure 3), Scandinavians were categorized based on mentions of
immigrants from Sweden or Norway. Europeans included mentions of Germans, Italians, East
31
Europeans like Slovakia. The graphs are shown by increasing mentions of race or ethnicity in
D-graded areas. The numbers in the parentheses after each category indicate the total mentions
of that category. Within half a mile from the river in the Twin Cities, most mentions of Black
residents were concentrated in D-graded neighborhoods since 71% of mentions of Black
residents were found in grade D areas. This is consistent with the assertion that African
Americans were disproportionately redlined (Rothstein, 2018). A significant number of
Europeans also lived in D-graded neighborhoods, particularly people from East European
countries.
Figure 3. Twin Cities:% mentions of race/ethnicity by HOLC grades
In New Orleans (Figure 4), the category of Europeans included populations of French,
Italian, German, and Irish nationalities, with French mentioned most frequently. There were only
two B-graded areas which is why a majority of the percentage mentions appear in C or D graded
neighborhoods. One interesting thing to note is assessors only mentioned the race White in
32
D-graded neighborhoods. There were no specific descriptors used for them, except to note their
presence in relation to Black population. The majority of the Black population lived in D areas,
as noted in the graph. Even when White was mentioned in a D area, the population largely living
there was Black and that was often used as a justification for classifying the grade.
Figure 4. New Orleans:% mentions of race/ethnicity by HOLC grades
In the D-10 neighborhood (Figure 5), also known as the historic French Quarter, the
descriptions ran one and a page long with a good portion of it describing why such a historically
significant neighborhood was categorized as D. One of the reasons they describe was the large
population of “undesirable” element. In the D-10 form, assessors noted that 85% of the
population here were Black (Nelson et al., 2016).
33
Figure 5. New Orleans: ADS of the D-10 neighborhood.
Due to the standardized nature of the ADS in New Orleans, associations between race
and property values were more explicit. For example, in one D grade (Figure 6), assessors
correlate the presence of white people with “fairly well maintained” properties and Black people
“present a very dilapidated appearance.”
Figure 6. New Orleans: ADS of the D-32 neighborhood.
River, Race, and Property Values
The standards for the Mississippi River’s desirability changed according to the
population, physical characteristics such as elevation and river flats, and riverfront spaces were
managed (as park space vs. industry). The pie chart below shows the property values by
34
mentions of the river (either positive or negative). Since both the Twin Cities and New Orleans
had different years for home values, the prices were adjusted for inflation in 1940 prices (i.e.,
adjusted to the nearest decennial). The only negative mention of the river considered in this
graph is “industrialization” since this was the most frequently cited reason for categorizing the
river negatively.
Figure 7. Values Associated with the Mississippi River vs. Property Valuation
The graph demonstrates the double standards associated with the positive valuation of the
river. The characterization of the river as an environmental amenity correlates with higher
property values and is only found in A & B neighborhoods of the Twin Cities. On the other hand,
the river’s positive qualities associated with industrial employment correlated with lower median
property values, notably in C or D-graded neighborhoods. In other words, those living high up
35
the hill enjoyed the views of the river behind landscaped and wooded boundaries (Figure 8). This
was especially prevalent in the Twin Cities. Neighborhoods situated uphill from the river
provided scenic views, and hence property values were higher thus receiving either an “A” or
“B” grade. In the neighborhoods that received a “C” or “D” grades, the same standards could not
be applied (i.e., scenic/locational aspects) due to the presence of the industry, which was
prominent in low-lying terrains adjacent to the river. At the same time, communities on the
low-lying plains working in the industries lived among pollution and noise. This also reflects that
wealthier neighborhoods were prioritized for green space management adjacent to the river.
Figure 8. An “A” graded neighborhood in Minneapolis.
Since industries provided employment in proximity to the river, it also became a positive
aspect for the working-class BIPOC population. But in some instances, the standards were also
arbitrary, particularly in New Orleans. For instance, the shipyard industry provided employment
opportunities surrounding the river, which kept the demand for properties high. But when
appraisers racialized specific neighborhoods (Figure 9.), the predominant minority
race—particularly African Americans— inhabiting that area became the driver of diminishing
property values rather than an environmental feature. Even if such areas were near the
Mississippi and the proximity provided industrial employment (which was positively described
36
otherwise), the presence of a certain race or ethnicity seemingly downgraded the influence of the
river. Much like the areas themselves, the values associated with the Mississippi were
determined by race/ethnicity and class. Racialization of neighborhoods and deeming certain
classes of people as detrimental to property values had resulted in class/race-based spatial
separation that defined who and where one could amass intergenerational wealth and who had
access to the river in its scenic or polluted conditions.
Figure 9. Two D-graded neighborhoods describing the influence of the river and race.
Spatial Analysis: Comparison of Historical and Current Property Valuation
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul
The maps below show the spatial patterns of historical and contemporary property values
overlaid on HOLC polygons. After adjusting for inflation (in 2022 prices; Map 3), the
differences between historical and contemporary data became comparable.
37
Map 3. 1937 Home Values (in 2022 $) overlaid on HOLC polygons within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi. Darker the shade, higher
the property values. Data from Mapping Inequality.
In 1937, the year HOLC surveyors completed the residential assessments for the Twin
Cities, higher HOLC grades were associated with higher property values. In Map 3, darker red
polygons indicate a home value falling above $245,662. The darker red polygons indicate
significant outliers deviating from the mean price of $65,220. The outlier polygons correspond to
A or B grade neighborhoods in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
38
Map 4. 2022 Average Home Values overlaid on HOLC polygons within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi. Darker the
shade, higher the property values. Data from Esri Demographics.
Comparing these 1937 home values with 2022 home values, the majority of the areas
previously redlined saw a significant rise in property values (Map 4). Most neighborhoods in the
Twin Cities observed an increase in property values from 1937 to 2022. Particularly, in
Minneapolis, the entire North side looks either orange or red, indicating a dramatic shift.
However, an interesting point to note is that the magnitude of the difference is much higher in
previously C or D-graded neighborhoods. In fact, some higher graded neighborhoods even saw a
slight decrease in 2022. For instance, in A2 area in St. Paul, the shift was $553,802 in 1937 to
$502,633 in 2022. C or D-graded neighborhoods that were previously undervalued during the
39
redlining area today are valued at a much higher price, as indicated in the change in colors from
yellow in 1937 to either orange or red in 2022. The D12 area went from yellow in 1937 at
$40,833 to dark red at $537,825. Overall, higher grades have seen a rise in their property values,
but only slightly with some even observing a slight decrease. Neighborhoods that received a low
grade and were typically historically disinvested now have higher property values. This pattern,
however, is variable across all HOLC grades. One limitation of the data is that HOLC appraisers
did not report a range for some grades, so the maps did not capture property valuation for those
grades.
Map 5. 2022 Median Differences overlaid on HOLC polygons within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi. Darker the shade,
higher the property values. Data from Esri Demographics.
40
The shift in prices is better captured with median differences in 2022. In Map 5, the
median differences are shown. The dark red color means a positive median, implying that the
median prices in those red HOLC polygons are higher than the entire city’s median. Even though
A2 saw a slight decrease in average home values, from this map it is clear that the median home
values in this neighborhood are higher than St. Paul’s median value by $162,785.
New Orleans
Map 6. 1939 Home Values (in 2022 $) overlaid on HOLC polygons within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi. Darker the shade, higher
the property values. Data from Mapping Inequality.
The HOLC assessments were completed in 1939 in New Orleans. All but two HOLC
grades were either C or D rated neighborhoods. The two exceptions are B-graded areas. Similar
to the Twin Cities historical property valuation results, there were significant outliers in New
41
Orleans values. The darker red indicate these outliers in B-graded neighborhoods deviating from
the mean value of $65,220. The deviance is higher in New Orleans since that one B-graded
neighborhood shown on the map (B-21) was priced at $620,319.
Map 7. 2022 Average Home Values overlaid on HOLC polygons within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi. Darker the
shade, higher the property values. Data from Esri Demographics.
Comparing these prices with 2022 average values, the transformation is significant
particularly in the inner ring of the city (Map 7). Unlike the Twin Cities, all HOLC grades saw an
increase in property values. Like the Twin Cities, redlined neighborhoods saw a significant
increase in average property values. Notable difference is in the two B-graded neighborhoods
42
that now have an average value of more than a million dollars. The D-35 area, also known as the
Irish Channel area, went from $36,489 to $508,131.
Map 8. 2022 Median Differences overlaid on HOLC polygons within 0.5 miles of the Mississippi. Darker the shade,
higher the property values. Data from Esri Demographics.
The median differences capture the big transformation (Map 8). The two B-graded
neighborhoods have median home values that are drastically different from the New Orleans
median value. For instance, in B-21 the median value is higher by $579,098 than the city median
value.
43
Analysis of Increased Contemporary Property Valuation: Environmental
Gentrification
The spatial findings in this paper demonstrate that previously redlined areas have
undergone a massive transformation, as illustrated by increased property values. Though multiple
factors contribute to this transformation, environmental gentrification is a common theme in the
Twin Cities and New Orleans. It is a process in which green investments lead to increased
perceived desirability of a neighborhood resulting in increased property values and rents (Klein
et al., 2020). Environmental gentrification could trigger an influx of wealthy residents and luxury
businesses that cater to their lifestyle, displacement of long-term residents, and vanishing local
institutions. In an era of ecological crisis, green investments have been at the center of
sustainability initiatives. The concept of “urban greening” emerged in the 1970s that sought to
redevelop former industrial areas and working waterfronts into livable spaces for the creative
class and improve quality of life (Angelo, 2019). However, the process became seemingly
divorced from the socio-political context as most sustainable redevelopment projects
hyperfocused on technological fixes. The allure of a clean, green, and economically thriving
neighborhood has compounded environmental gentrification. It has been described as a product
of advanced capitalism “operating under the seemingly a-political rubric of sustainability” by
co-opting environmental justice activism “to serve high-end redevelopment that displaces
low-income residents” (Checker, 2011). This is one common factor explaining the rise in
property values in the Twin Cities and New Orleans. However, the causes of gentrification in
both are different.
44
Twin Cities Analysis: Environmental Gentrification in North and Northeast Minneapolis
A study by the University of Minnesota between 2000-2015 in Minneapolis and St. Paul
reveals a correlation between redlined neighborhoods and gentrification. Redlined
neighborhoods resulted in lower land values, making them attractive destinations for business
and real estate investments today, inviting the potential for rising property values and
gentrification. This pattern is consistent across the Twin Cities since median home values in
gentrifying neighborhoods increased by 31% compared to 13% in non-gentrifying
neighborhoods (Goetz et al., 2019).
As described in the riverfront development history, many neighborhoods that received a
low HOLC grade were located near industries and pollution. North and Northeast areas of
Minneapolis near the Mississippi River used to be a major industrial spot historically inhabited
by Jewish and African American people in the North and by Eastern Europeans, Scandinavians,
and Germans in the Northeast (graded C or D in HOLC redlining map) (City of Minneapolis,
2013). Today, Northeast Minneapolis has been designated as an arts district by the City of
Minneapolis, consisting of an artist demography, breweries, high-end restaurants, and bars.
Northeast Minneapolis, once considered undesirable, is now a highly economically desirable
neighborhood attracting business development, tourism, and investments for the city (Goetz et
al., 2019).
Environmental gentrification concerns over Mississippi riverfront revitalization in North
and Northeast Minneapolis are more prevalent today. In 2000, the City of Minneapolis and the
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB) adopted the Above the Falls Master Plan, laying
out an ambitious vision for revitalizing the upper Mississippi riverfront into a regional park
system consisting of new parks, trails, and transformed land uses adjacent to the river
45
(Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, 2019).The MPRB, with jurisdiction over the park
planning process, proposed the redevelopment of the 48-acre Upper Harbor Terminal (UHT) into
new parks, parkways, and a concert venue. Although this plan attempts to rectify past
segregation decisions that resulted in an unequal green landscape and health disparities,
Northside residents are legitimately skeptical.
Firstly, the UHT project is proposed in an area already undergoing gentrification.
Property values and taxes have been on the rise in the North side, along with the establishment of
new upscale bars, breweries, and luxury businesses (O’Keefe, 2020). There is a growing concern
that communities of color in the Northside are only invested when white individuals can
capitalize on it. The Friends of the Mississippi (FMR), a non-profit advocacy organization, has
expressed concerns that the City’s leaders are approaching the UHT project as a real estate
development project rather than one creatively led by the community (Friends of the Mississippi
River, 2019).
Secondly, the City still needs to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact study
using the Alternative Urban Areawide Review3 standards (Friends of the Mississippi River,
2021). A group of Minneapolis residents even sued the City for pushing the project ignoring
environmental impact concerns raised by the community (Ewald, 2021). The FMR highlights
that climate change and pollution impacts from nearby traffic have not been adequately studied.
Moreover, the standards to address the environmental burdens of air pollution are bare
minimum—FMR has expressed the City’s standards as “just don’t make things worse” (Friends
of the Mississippi River, 2021).
They urge that in an area rife with pollution from the Northern Metal recycling facility
3 It is functionally similar to traditional Environmental Impact Study, but is specifically done in urban areas
where there might be several different projects in one geographic area.
46
and I-94 contributing to poor air quality and high asthma rates, the standards for environmental
impact assessments need to be robust. Unless a comprehensive environmental study is done and
homegrown businesses drive the economic boosts, the UHT redevelopment project could risk
being a mere checkbox exercise and continue to perpetuate environmental gentrification. The
good news is that the City owns the UHT project site, and any City-owned land requires public
input. This will at least ensure the project remains community-driven, possibly reducing the
chances of environmental gentrification.
Climate Gentrification in New Orleans
In the spatial results for New Orleans, I found that previously all redlined and better
graded areas have substantially increased property values. The only two B neighborhoods near
the Mississippi River are valued at over 1 million dollars today. Unlike the Twin Cities, climate
gentrification is the primary force behind increasing property values. It is a specific kind of
environmental gentrification in which residents flee from climate-risky areas to places with high
elevations, which drive up the desirability and prices of those places. It is also a more aggressive
form of gentrification (Tolan, 2021).
New Orleans is a geographic paradox. While generations of settlers and governments
have attempted to build levees to make the city more resilient to river floods, the ground the city
sits on exists due to the river's natural flooding (Seicshnaydre et al., 2018). Consequently, the
land needs nutrients and sediments from the river to continue existing. Artificial drainage
systems have deprived the land of water and nutrients, and as a result, the land has been sinking.
This is further exacerbated by climate change. Levees have also failed during major hurricane
flooding, particularly during Hurricane Katrina (The Data Center, 2020). The sinking land and
47
frequent hurricanes have made high-elevation ground extremely valuable in New Orleans. As a
result, climate gentrification is occurring (Aune et al., 2020).
Today, all the previously redlined neighborhoods near the river are valued highly because
they sit on high elevations and have a lower flood risk (Mire, 2021). The natural levee
historically created by the Mississippi River may give these areas an advantage. Historically
undesirable neighborhoods that have faced decades of disinvestment and segregation are
suddenly desirable in the face of climate change. The Irish Channel neighborhood, located close
to the river, was designated “D35” in the HOLC redlining map, was described as “a regular
conglomeration of the worst features found in the city” (Nelson et al., 2016) and priced at
$36,489 (in 2022 prices). Today, some houses in this area are listed at half a million dollars
(Tolan, 2021). Demand for housing on higher elevations became prominent, especially after
Hurricane Katrina. Many families in predominantly Black and working-class neighborhoods
survived the hurricane because their homes were in higher elevations. However, they were
eventually pushed out due to the gentrification that followed. One census tract in the Irish
Channel neighborhood saw a dramatic decline in the Black population, going from 74% Black in
2000 to 71% White in 2019 (Tolan, 2021). This is the general trend in all census tracts with the
highest elevations. Although there have been attempts to secure affordable housing, the effort has
been met with opposition especially from White neighbors.
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Policy Implications & Conclusions
The Twin Cities and New Orleans cases show that contemporary green investments are
caught up in the same systems of racial capitalism, perpetuating wealth inequality, housing
inaccessibility, and disparate environmental patterns that promoted racial segregation in the past.
HOLC appraisers interpreted the Mississippi River differently for different demographics evident
in the way they constructed positive values for different demographics. The river was an
environmental amenity in wealthier and whiter neighborhoods and was managed as such.
Choosing to describe the river in a certain way— whether as an environmental amenity or
proximity to industrial employment— cemented early environmental injustices normalizing
siting of industries and toxic waste sites in poor and BIPOC neighborhoods. This relationship
between wealth, race, and river was locked in for generations until sustainability concerns grew
which gave rise to newer environmental injustices stemming from the same systems. Property
values dramatically rose in previously redlined neighborhoods as industrial sites on riverfronts
were revitalized for urban greening efforts.
I have often encountered questions on whether gentrification due to environmental
investments is inevitable. Through this paper, I aim to challenge that inevitability. Sustainable
policies cannot exist in a vacuum by just focusing on technological fixes. The comparative
analysis done in this paper, both between Twin Cities and New Orleans and between historical
and contemporary property valuation, emphasize the various socio-economic contextual factors,
often complicated ones, shape environmental greening decisions. There are several policy
implications lying broadly at the intersection of environmental policy, economics, and urban
planning.
49
1. Implementing existing anti-green gentrification policy tools to riverfront
redevelopment. The University of Minnesota’s CREATE Initiative has a
comphrehensive toolkit, Sharing in the Benefits of a Greening City, on combating green
gentrification which strongly challenges the notion of inevitability of gentrification
(Klein et al., 2020). The toolkit draws from a long history of EJ activism and community
buy-in which serve as a good guidance for public agencies and developers. While all the
policy tools can be applied to river revitalization projects, one important one is
community-based agreements between the community that is being redeveloped and the
developers. This is crucial especially when considering redevelopment projects controlled
by private developers. In the UHT case, the land was controlled by the City but future
river redevelopment programs may center private control of land. These agreements
could be coupled with regulatory policies like rent control.
2. Affordable housing and rent control must be integrated into disaster planning in
vulnerable locations. New Orleans shows that disasters can trigger gentrification,
making previously disregarded neighborhoods suddenly valuable. The aggressive nature
of climate gentrification induced by disasters and panic that follows require a solution
that is just as aggressive and centers equity. Affordable housing is often opposed in New
Orleans, but it is ultimately detrimental to the safety and well-being of poor and Black
New Orleanians as they get pushed out of high grounds. The fact that property values
have increased rapidly in recent decades, particularly post-Katrina, show that affordable
housing is need of the hour. However, policy tools for climate gentrification are scarce in
the literature. There is tremendous potential to build a similar toolkit such as the
CREATE one but specific to climate gentrification.
50
3. What are the grassroots EJ activists saying?While EJ is at the forefront of many green
and blue infrastructure projects, in an era of advanced capitalism, they risk being
co-opted by private interests in service of high end development. Unfortunately,
sometimes EJ can become lipservice or an act of checking boxes. The Above the Falls
master plan is a well-intentioned one but it needs far greater engagement with the
Northside community members. How can we ensure a truly environmentally just future?
How do we move from activism to action, from commitments on paper to actually
realizing them?
4. Transforming academic disciplines to transform policies. One key takeaway of this
research is intersectionality of oppressions (in housing, wealth, environment). Racial
segregation was premised on the economic conception that racial minorities decrease
property values. While that is no longer believed, we need to fundamentally transform the
way we approach traditional disciplines such as economics, policy, and planning.
Environmental gentrification stems from the same systems of inequality rooted in racial
capitalism and it is only inevitable if we assume that social and political transformation
are not possible. It is, however, possible to disconnect gentrification with environmental
investments. One way to do that is to transform our academic disciplines. This is already
happening with the emergence of inclusionary and alternative disciplines such as
ecological economics, advocacy planning, housing justice, etc. The CREATE toolkit is
also a product of transformed and inclusionary academic discipline. Since academic
research informs environmental policies at local, state and federal levels, transforming
academia itself is crucial.
51
The list of policy implications are certainly not exhaustive and there is much more that
can be done with this research. A potential future research direction is identifying contemporary
values of the Mississippi River by various stakeholders like communities living adjacent, river
advocacy organizations, government conservation policies, etc. There also needs to be more
research on the river’s changing values in relation to extreme weather events and climate change.
This paper aims to address just one piece of a big puzzle: past production of environmental
injustices indicate contemporary environmental policies cannot be divorced from
socio-economic factors situated outside the environmental governance structures. Armed with
this analysis and future policy implications, policymakers and planners can better address
contemporary issues of environmental gentrification in an intentional way that encourages
rectification, remediation, and reparations.
52
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