Editing Palo Alto, California (section)

===History of housing===
In the 1920s, [[Exclusionary covenants|racial covenants]] were used that banned "persons of African, Japanese, Chinese, or Mongolian descent" from purchasing or renting homes in many neighborhoods throughout Palo Alto.<ref name=notallequal>{{cite news |last1=Kenrick |first1=Chris | date=July 3, 2020 | title=Not all neighborhoods were created equal in Palo Alto – A look at how real estate policies undermined Black homeownership |url=https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2020/07/03/not-all-neighborhoods-were-created-equal-in-palo-alto |work=[[Palo Alto Online]] |language=en}}</ref> In the 1950s, some movements opposed these policies, including the Palo Alto Fair Play Association, as well as architect and developer [[Joseph Eichler]], who built almost 3,000 homes in Palo Alto.<ref name=notallequal/>

Blockbusting strategies were also employed to instill fear in white neighborhoods and cause [[White flight]] out of areas on the outskirts of the city. Blockbusting refers to a practice realtors adopted in which they would advertise the incoming presence of a black family to a neighborhood, causing panic among the white residents who would consequently sell their houses at deflated prices very quickly.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gaspaire |first1=Brent |title=Blockbusting |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/blockbusting/|website=Blackpast.org |date=January 7, 2013}}</ref> One famous blockbusting event is responsible for the prevailing demographic divides between Palo Alto and East Palo Alto.<ref name=BelongingBerkley>{{cite web |url=https://belonging.berkeley.edu/rootsraceplace |title=Roots, Race & Place: A History of Racially Exclusionary Housing in the San Francisco Bay Area |date=October 2, 2019 |access-date=October 14, 2022 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411221757/https://belonging.berkeley.edu/rootsraceplace/exclusionaryrealestateindustrypractices |last1=Montojo |first1=Nicole |last2=Moore |first2=Eli |last3=Mauri |first3=Nicole |publisher=Othering and Belonging Institute<!-- the Haas Institute name is listed in the PDF linked from the web page  --> |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

One of the most destructive policies at the time was redlining. Redlining was a policy put in place by the Federal Housing Association starting in 1937.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Candace |date=2021-08-17 |title=What Is Redlining? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/realestate/what-is-redlining.html |access-date=2025-02-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Through the program, the association could rank neighborhoods from Type A, which was desirable, to Type D (outlined in red) which was deemed hazardous. Residents in Type D neighborhoods were ineligible for loans to buy or fix houses. The program was implemented in a way so that neighborhoods with any kind of African American population were ranked type C or D.<ref>{{cite web|title=Palo Alto History|url=http://www.paloaltohistory.org/discrimination-in-palo-alto.php|website=Paloaltohistory.org}}</ref> This was also the case in Palo Alto and the surrounding areas. Palo Alto's White neighborhoods were ranked mostly Type A and B, allowing for wealth accumulation and eventually resulting in the high housing prices we see today. On the other hand, the surrounding areas were all marked Type C and D, and African Americans found themselves being driven to the outskirts of Palo Alto, what is now mostly East Palo Alto, where there was no money from loans in the economy, leading to a state of decay.<ref name=BelongingBerkley />

However, for the most part, Palo Alto's housing was built on policies that are still reflected in the current demographics.<ref name=BelongingBerkley />