1935 Home Owners' Loan Corporation residential security map for Philadelphia
The first residential security map created by Home Owners' Loan Corporation staff for Philadelphia was a draft done with colored pencils. It presented the most optimistic picture of real estate conditions in Philadelphia: 54 percent of the total appraised area was coded green (“best” or “first grade”) while just 18 percent was colored red (“hazardous” or “fourth grade”). Blue-shaded neighborhoods indicated that real estate was “still desirable” and yellow represented “declining” areas.
Source: Records of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Record Group 95, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
