Creating an East vs. West Altadena

Drawing Borders With Redlining 

In the wake of the Great Depression, as all Americans struggled with unemployment and foreclosures, the US government stepped in with The New Deal, a set of federally funded programs to stimulate the economy and increase homeownership. In 1934, when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Housing Act as part of The New Deal and established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), he helped formalize the redlining process.

When it was created, the FHA offered prospective home buyers invaluable assistance, from extended repayment periods to lowering mortgage rates and ensuring loans. The government, however, ensured this timely support only benefited white buyers by restricting federal loan backing from buyers of color. The FHA incentivized developers to maintain racial segregation by only backing loans for developments built in white areas not in proximity to Black neighborhoods. 

The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) secured these housing investments by categorizing cities into risk-based zones for lending. The zones deemed hazardous were primarily home to Black and minority communities. Redlining flagged hazardous zones for loan denial or assistance. Being restricted from financial assistance kept homeowners in redlined zones, struggling to afford their homes, leading to abandoned buildings, increased poverty, and crime.

Enforcing the Status Quo

Today, we know Altadena as a vibrant, multiracial community in Southern California located between the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, above Pasadena, and downtown Los Angeles —but it once catered to a distinctly different demographic. 

As the influx of new settlers came to California in the 1920s, real estate brokers quickly adopted restrictive covenants to ensure that incoming Black people stayed contained in specific areas. In communities like Altadena, organizations like the Altadena Property Owners’ League and the Los Angeles Realty Board worked to incentivize racial covenants and establish boundaries on where minorities could live. Within their first year of operation, 80% of homes in Altadena had restrictive deeds prohibiting Black people from purchasing them. 

Altadena’s Shifting Demographics

The redlining that came to define the Greater Los Angeles area started to shift with the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. While the real estate and lending practices that underlined redlining persisted, changes in the US social climate influenced shifts in Altadena’s demographics. In the 1960s, racial covenants kept Altadena 95% white and 4% Black. As nearby Pasadena was amidst urban renewal, the Watts Uprising, and other pivotal changes that triggered racial upheaval, white residents fled the neighborhood. With this opening, Altadena became an attractive option for African Americans seeking affordable housing and their California Dream. 

Altadena was the destination of choice for African Americans seeking a middle-class experience. From renowned creatives, activists, and blue-collar workers to highly educated professionals, Altadena developed into an affluent Black hub with high homeownership rates. As Altadena’s vibrant community developed, a clear geographic line formed between the growing Black community and its white residents. Lake Avenue became the line of demarcation, and prospective Black homebuyers were designated to the west side of the street. As a result, Altadena’s Black community became concentrated on the west side.

Many people relocated to the neighborhood for the next two decades, reaching a peak of 43% of Altadena’s Black residents in the 1980s. The neighborhood demographics shifted in the 1990s as more Asian Americans and Latinos followed, and the West Side became a multicultural hotspot, home to economically and culturally diverse residents.   

Unfortunately, today, Altadena’s West side residents still experience the consequences of its unequal division of assets. They are still provided fewer resources and face more social challenges. Residents have fewer trees and power lines, yet more liquor stores. These disparities extend to insurance coverage. 

Disaster Strikes

On January 7th, a frightening set of wildfires sparked in the Los Angeles area, including the Eaton Fire, took the lives of 18 residents and incinerated over 9,000 homes in the Altadena community. These fires ripped through Altadena, exposing tears in the fabric of the community. Leaving residents fighting to rebuild homes and preserve a community they fought to build.

Even before the Eaton Fire, climate and housing experts raised the alarm about the impending climate risks redlined communities face. In 2024, a study highlighted the dangers of extreme heat in urban, redlined communities and the need to invest in green space to mitigate it. The redlining of Altadena made it more susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Studies have shown that historically, redlined communities are 5 degrees warmer and at higher risk for flooding than non-redlined communities. Additionally, long-term disinvestment from redline communities has made them less prepared for climate shocks. Journalist Lily Katz’s study described the situation, 

“Decades of segregation and economic inequality shoehorned many people of color—especially Black Americans—into living in neighborhoods that are more vulnerable to climate change,…..Redlining kept home values in Black neighborhoods depressed, which in turn meant there was less money invested and reinvested in those neighborhoods for decades to come.”

In the face of the climate threats and historically underresourced conditions these neighborhoods face, insurers have chosen to abandon homeowners in fire-prone neighborhoods. Since 2020, insurers have increasingly dropped Altadena and other Californian policyholders or required expensive adjustments and rate increases to maintain coverage.

Mobilizing in the Face of Tragedy

Altadena represents an intergenerational struggle for many of its residents, one they aren’t willing to abandon due to climate change or economic pressures. A UCLA study found the Eaton Fire disproportionately impacted Black residents, destroying or significantly damaging 48% of Black households in Altadena, and of those, 57% of Altadena’s Black homeowners are over 65.

Altadena’s residents understand the stakes of their rebuilding journey. As a neighborhood already battling gentrification and rising property values, the loss of these homes, combined with new challenges, may further accelerate the decline of its Black community.

In the aftermath of the Eaton fires, residents are mobilizing to advocate for collectively rebuilding their homes and community. They’ve formed an organization called Eaton Fire Residents United to crowdsource contamination data to confront the insurers attempting to invalidate their environmental testing and remediation requests. They’ve mapped results supporting the claims of residents who’d otherwise be unable to afford to test and contest their insurers. Other initiatives are being formed to meet the abundant needs of Altadena residents who’ve lost homes and livelihoods that were hard-won.

With all the uncertainty, Altadena residents are optimistic about rebuilding their community. They are seeking to rebuild a more equitable community that combats the community’s redlining legacy. In the words of Veronica Jones, President of Altadena,

“Altadena … I don’t really want it to come back the same. I want it to come back better. I would like the west side and the east side to look more alike,….to correct those things [from redlining] that happened in the ’60s and ’70s.”

The residents of Altadena understand what their community means to them, and other communities of color are facing similar struggles of climate gentrification. They are committed to doing the work to preserve. Resident Al Bailey expressed the sentiment,

“My prayers that both my wife and myself are able to see what happens. That we’re still here when Altadena gets rebuilt,”…This is my community, and I can’t leave it.”

About the Author

Kathleen Anaza

Freelance Writer

Kathleen ‘Kat’ Anaza is a multi-genre storyteller, organizer, and entrepreneur whose works center on narratives and experiences of the Black Diaspora. She has been featured in Vogue Magazine, Lonely Planet, Viator, and more. Connect with her work at https://linktr.ee/Kat_Anaza.

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