Kalamazoo, then and now
1937
On the historic maps, click on an area to see the appraiser's description, which will appear on the right. Scroll down to see how they identified the neighborhood and its inhabitants and how appraisers felt about the area's long-term prospects.
2015
In 1937, blacks in the city lived north of town or in pockets south of the downtown (shaded red on the old map). That's true today: More than 75 percent of northside residents are black. And in the areas that had no blacks and the "best" rating in 1937 (and were shaded green on the old map), blacks today represent just 10 percent of the population (and are shaded blue in 2015 map).
See the other historic maps in this series:
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