Nenova: Orange

Abandoned lots are a serious problem in many Midwestern cities. The decline of heavy industry in the United States heralded a rapid population decline in the cities that depended on this industry, which was often built up in cities around the great American rail hubs of Chicago and Kansas City. Often, a decreasing population also diminishes the ability of the city and county governments to revive and diversify the city, or even just to demolish the buildings or clean up the lots. This is not to say that there have not been efforts to do so- especially in Detroit, St. Louis, and Cleveland. This problem of urban decay has been exacerbated by the United States government through the discriminatory process of redlining where minority communities were labled as "infiltrations". Communities were ranked by nationality and income and many poorer and diverse communities were refused housing loans from the Federal Housing Association, a practice which was picked up by many other banks.

The Orange neighborhood of Nenova is one that would have been redlined. Many of its residents live in townhouses and work manufacturing jobs by the neighboring rail yard. Abandoned lots are common, and represented by grass. Apartments are present, which are often used as a means of recovering abandoned places. The region at the corner of South Huntington Street and Josephs Crescent was likely considered unacceptable, especially for a neighborhood in such a visible location. Wilkinson Yard, part of which is visible here, is a place for trains containing a variety of cargo- from wheat and other cereals to materials for concrete production. This neighborhood lacks a park, which is another way which the government has failed this community and reflects many comparable neighborhoods in the real world.

Nenova Community College is in this neighborhood, likely because the college is underfunded and because of the cheaper price of lots in the area. It is rare to see a college so close to the rail tracks, but it is not unheard of, and reflects Wayne State University in Midtown Detroit. There are some small details not readily visible in this screenshot, including the abrupt stopping of sidewalks in most of the neighborhood as well as allotments (a community garden). Some larger homes are copy-pasted, and reflect the development of newer model homes. Many apartments have simple shapes, which reflect government-sponsored brutalist architecture.

Like I mentioned in the pinned "geofiction" blog post, the purpose of my mapping is not to be ideal, but to reflect the real world, including all of its problems. This has called my attention to many of these issues, and this blog has given my mapping more meaning in that I am able to teach these problems through my artwork. There are, of course, realistic ways to escape these problems, and many places in which they do not exist, or at least are not as prominent. But in the United States, especially since the glorification of suburban life, the growth of car culture, and the development of the Interstate Highway System, we have failed our urban and rural areas alike.

Please explore this digital recreation of the original redlining maps: https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining

Thanks for reading,
Jacob