Makello is developing GIS services and creating maps useful to the solar power, electric vehicle, and energy storage industries, as well as for our teaming companies, including several non-profit organizations.  Maps are an important method for analyzing and presenting data.

We will examine redlining and clean-air technology access by the San Diego African American community in this blog. See the editor’s note below on how we will be using the Census Bureau term African American as defined by the Census Bureau: Race for Residents of African ancestry or birth including both US Citizens and non-US Citizens. For more info on data sources and terminology, references are provided at the end of this article.

The first question to answer is where are the communities with 10% or more of the African American residents? A map of the demographic data from the CalEnviroscreen 3.0 is the simplest method of discovery. CalEnviroscreen obtained demographic data from the US Census Bureau and retained the US Census Bureau demographic descriptors in their report. Our map above shows the population is largely concentrated in the area to the east of Downtown San Diego which will be the area we focus on for the purpose of this blog. 

Why is the population so heavily concentrated in this area?  With a special thanks to University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab, a look at the 1930s New Deal Era Home Owners’ Loan Corporation Redline Maps may help to answer this question.

The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (H.O.L.C.) was created during the Great Depression New Deal Era and the program trained many home appraisers in the 1930s. The H.O.L.C. created a neighborhood ranking system known today as redlining. Grades were assigned to residential neighborhoods by local real estate developers and appraisers in over 200 cities. These maps and neighborhood ratings set the rules for decades of real estate practices. The grades ranged from A to D.

The Green Area- Grade A = Best: Always upper-middle-class to upper class White neighborhoods defined as posing minimal risk for banks and other mortgage lenders, as they were “ethnically homogeneous” and had room to be further developed.

The Blue Area- Grade B= Still Desirable:  Neighborhoods with all or mostly White, U.S. born residents were defined as sound investments for mortgage lenders.

The Yellow Area- Grade C =Declining: Residential neighborhoods with working class and/or first or second generation immigrants from Europe. The housing stock was typically older and often lacking the current utilities of the day. 

The Red Area- Grade D= Hazardous: These neighborhoods were considered to be “infiltrated” with “undesirable populations” such as Jewish, Asian, Mexican, and Black families. The neighborhoods were more likely to be located near industrial areas and the housing stock consisted of older, less well maintained buildings.

These grades formed the basis for federally backed mortgages. Many banks refused to lend to areas with the lowest grade, making it impossible for people in these neighborhoods to become homeowners and preventing them from building generational wealth.

As you can see from the map, many of the areas that were labeled undesirable  in the 1930s are still the areas where African Americans are concentrated. The practice of redlining has had a long term impact on segments of our community that has yet to be resolved.

Makello is an advocate of green transportation options, providing FREE Energy Savings Estimate services including an analysis of potential electric vehicles to fit your needs, so it was only natural we take a look access to public charging stations African Americans have in the former redlined areas. The results were………….. well, see for yourself.

The data from the US Dept. of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center may be mapped and compared to the CalEnviroscreen Demographic Data. The neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of African American Residents  do not have easy access to public electric vehicle charging stations. One consequence is this discourages San Diegans with electric vehicles living outside these communities from driving to businesses in these neighborhoods and spending money. The lack of access to public charging stations also discourages the residents of these neighborhoods from purchasing electric vehicles because they don’t have the ability to conveniently charge their vehicle. This is especially true for multi-unit dwellers where there are structural and parking challenges to overcome when installing EV charging stations. This creates additional barriers to EV ownership, keeping the community from reducing pollution, developing business opportunities, and creating jobs in their neighborhoods.

We’re shifting gears now and will be examining the energy cost burden in the City of San Diego. The energy cost burden data was obtained from the 2019 San Diego Climate Equity Report and overlaid the demographic data from the CalEnviroscreen 3.0. Generally speaking, the energy cost burden was calculated as a weighted average for each census tract and divided by the median household income for each census tract to obtain the energy cost burden score. For more detailed explanation of the energy cost burden, please visit the San Diego Climate Equity Report page.

The white outlined areas in the map posted below have the lowest energy cost as a percentage of Median Household Income and the dark green areas have the highest energy cost burden. Most of the African American San Diegans are in the minty green areas and have an energy cost burden of 1.3%- 2.7%. There is one area with 18-28% of the African American residents and a 4-5.4% energy cost burden.

This cost puts an additional financial strain on those residents with more modest incomes and often prevents the residents from using air conditioning or heaters in bad weather, increasing some health risks especially for elderly and health challenged individuals. Or the residents may use older, less energy efficient equipment, increasing energy cost and pollution. 

One potential solution for reducing the energy cost burden and pollution is solar energy and battery storage. We mapped solar adoption rates from the San Diego 2019 Climate Equity Index report and again, overlaid the demographic data from CalEnviroscreen 3.0. The areas outlined in white have the least access to solar energy. Many African Americans are living in areas where at best, there are per capita 0.05 solar photovoltaic systems resulting in these residents having a low ability to decrease pollution due to electricity production and consumption in the home, reducing overall energy cost, and protecting against power outages.

Returning to redlining, banks’ historical unwillingness to loan money in these communities have left many residents underbanked and underserved. Solar Systems, Electric Vehicles, Battery Storage Systems are investments that can improve personal finances and the quality of life for anyone that can afford a purchase, or qualify for financing.  Beyond traditional loans or leases, community members can use the State of California’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing for home upgrades and energy upgrades. PACE is not a loan and does not appear on an individual’s credit report. PACE funds are repaid on the annual property tax bill.

This concludes our discussion for now. Please stay tuned for additional articles where we take a look at other issues and demographic segments of San Diego Residents. 

To learn more about Makello, click on the videos below.

Credits:

Caltrans https://dot.ca.gov/

OEHHA- https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen

University of Richmond Digital Scholarship Lab https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=12/32.776/-117.29&maps=0&city=san-diego-ca&area=D4

City of San Diego 2019 Climate Equity Report https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/2019_climate_equity_index_report.pdf

Health Resources & Services Administration https://www.hrsa.gov/

USGS https://www.usgs.gov/

SanDAG https://www.sandag.org/index.aspsubclassid=100&fuseaction=home.subclasshome

California Open Data Portal https://data.ca.gov/

Census Bureau  https://www2.census.gov/programssurveys/acs/methodology/design_and_methodology/acs_design_methodology_ch06_2014.pdf

US Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center https://afdc.energy.gov/stations/#/find/nearest

APA STyle Racial and Ethnic Guidelines https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/racial-ethnic-minorities

American Heritage Guide to Usage and Style- Person of Colour https://zourpri.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/the-american-heritage-guide-to-contemporary-usage-and-style-2005.pdf

Is the Term “People of Color” Acceptable in This Day and Age? https://www.sapiens.org/column/race/people-of-color/

Are Asian Americans White? Or People of Color? https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/01/15/asian-americans-people-of-color/

‘People of Color’ are protesting. Here’s what you need to know about this new identity. https://www.washingtonpost.com/

The Perils of “People of Color” https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-activism/the-perils-of-people-of-color

Where did BIPOC Come From? https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-bipoc.html