Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Race, historical redlining, and contemporary transportation noise disparities in the United States

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Legacies of discriminatory federal housing practices—e.g., racialized property appraisal by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) and institutionalized redlining by the Federal Housing Administration—include disparate present-day environmental health outcomes. Noise pollution is health-harming, but just one study has associated contemporary noise with redlining in some HOLC-mapped United States (US) cities, while two national studies found associations between greater neighborhood-level people of color composition and increased noise. No studies have examined noise pollution exposure disparities across all HOLC-mapped cities or based on the intersection of race/ethnicity and redlining.

Objective

We address three objectives: (1) Assess disparities in fine-scale, per person transportation noise exposures by historical redlining status across all HOLC-mapped cities. (2) Quantify disparities in noise exposures by race/ethnicity nationwide. (3) Explore interactions between redlining status and race/ethnicity in noise exposures.

Methods

We analyzed three data sources: (1) complete digital HOLC maps of ordered investment risk grades (A–D), (2) fine-scale (30 m) estimates of transportation noise levels (year-2020), and (3) sociodemographic characteristics of individuals in year-2020 census blocks.

Results

We find an approximately monotonic association for excess transportation noise with HOLC grade, marked by a pronounced exposure increase (17.4 dBA or 3× loudness) between contemporary residents of grade A (highest-graded) and D (lowest-graded) neighborhoods, a pattern consistent across HOLC-mapped cities. People of color experience ~7 dBA greater (2× louder) excess transportation noise exposures than White people nationwide, a pattern consistent across US counties. Noise exposure disparities are larger by HOLC grade than by race/ethnicity. However, contemporary racial/ethnic noise exposure disparities persist within each HOLC grade at levels approximating those disparities existing in ungraded areas, indicating that historical redlining is one of multiple discriminatory practices shaping contemporary national soundscape injustices.

Significance

Findings illustrate how historical redlining and broader racialized inequalities in US society have shaped environmental injustices nationwide.

Impact statement

Excessive noise exposures harm human health. Communities of color in the United States experience disparate noise exposures, although previous studies are limited by reliance upon aggregated data. They are also disproportionately concentrated in historically redlined areas. Legacies of redlining include persistent racial and economic inequalities and environmental health disparities. Here, we conduct the first complete national examination of contemporary noise pollution disparities with respect to historical redlining and race/ethnicity. Findings advance understanding of the historical roots and enduring salience of race-based disparities in noise pollution exposures and can inform efforts to address these disparities through noise pollution policy-making.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Maps of HOLC zones and transportation noise in and around four cities that exhibit among the highest population-weighted mean transportation noise disparities between D-graded and A-graded HOLC zones.
Fig. 2: Population-weighted distribution of excess transport noise for HOLC grades and racial/ethnic groups at the census block level, 2020.
Fig. 3: Geographic distribution of local excess transport noise exposure disparities.
Fig. 4: Population-weighted mean (PWM) excess noise (>45 dBA) levels in area-weighted dBA by HOLC grade for racial/ethnic groups.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data used in this analysis are publicly available, as described in the Methods and Materials section. Complete data used in the analysis of HOLC city-level disparities between HOLC D zones and A zones are provided in Supplementary Table 3. Complete data used in the analysis of CONUS county-level disparities between people of color and White people are provided in Supplementary Table 4. The complete integrated dataset used in census block-level analyses are available from the corresponding author (TWC) upon reasonable request.

References

  1. Babisch W, Beule B, Schust M, Kersten N, Ising H. Traffic noise and risk of myocardial infarction. Epidemiology. 2005;16:33–40.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Sørensen M, Andersen ZJ, Nordsborg RB, Becker T, Tjønneland A, Overvad K, et al. Long-term exposure to road traffic noise and incident diabetes: A cohort study. Environ Health Perspec. 2013;121:217–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Van Kempen E, Babisch W. The quantitative relationship between road traffic noise and hypertension: A meta-analysis. J Hypertens. 2012;30:1075–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Basner M, Clark C, Hansell A, Hileman JI, Janssen S, Shepherd K, et al. Aviation noise impacts: State of the science. Noise Health. 2017;19:41.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Dratva J, Zemp E, Dietrich DF, Bridevaux PO, Rochat T, Schindler C, et al. Impact of road traffic noise annoyance on health-related quality of life: Results from a population-based study. Qual Life Res. 2010;19:37–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Passchier-Vermeer W, Passchier WF. Noise exposure and public health. Environ Health Perspect. 2000;108:123–31.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Seidler A, Hegewald J, Seidler AL, Schubert M, Wagner M, Dröge P, et al. Association between aircraft, road and railway traffic noise and depression in a large case-control study based on secondary data. Environ Res. 2017;152:263–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Recio A, Linares C, Banegas JR, Díaz J. The short-term association of road traffic noise with cardiovascular, respiratory, and diabetes-related mortality. Environ Res. 2016;150:383–90.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Mindell JS, Anciaes PR, Dhanani A, Stockton J, Jones P, Haklay M, et al. Using triangulation to assess a suite of tools to measure community severance. J Transp Geogr. 2017;60:119–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Suau-Sanchez P, Pallares-Barbera M, Paül V. Incorporating annoyance in airport environmental policy: Noise, societal response and community participation. J Transp Geogr. 2011;19:275–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Andersson H, Jonsson L, Ögren M. Property prices and exposure to multiple noise sources: Hedonic regression with road and railway noise. Environ Resource Econ. 2010;45:73–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Nelson JP. Highway noise and property values: A survey of recent evidence. J Trans Econ Policy 1982;16:117–38.

  13. Nelson JP. Meta-analysis of airport noise and hedonic property values. J Transp Econ Policy. 2004;38:1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Biden J. Executive Order 14096-Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All. Federal Register. 2023;88:25251–61.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Brulle RJ, Pellow DN. Environmental justice: human health and environmental inequalities. Ann Rev Public Health. 2006;27:103–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Collins TW, Grineski SE, Shaker Y, Mullen CJ. Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to long-term and short-term PM2.5 in metropolitan America. Environ Res. 2022;214:114038.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Liu J, Clark LP, Bechle MJ, Hajat A, Kim SY, Robinson AL, et al. Disparities in air pollution exposure in the United States by race/ethnicity and income, 1990–2010. Environ Health Perspect. 2021;129:127005.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Mohai P, Pellow D, Roberts JT. Environmental justice. Ann Rev Environ Resour. 2009;34:405–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Casey JA, Morello-Frosch R, Mennitt DJ, Fristrup K, Ogburn EL, James P. Race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, residential segregation, and spatial variation in noise exposure in the contiguous United States. Environ Health Perspect. 2017;125:077017.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Collins T, Nadybal S, Grineski S. Sonic injustice: Disparate residential exposures to transport noise from road and aviation sources in the continental United States. J Transp Geogr. 2020;82:102604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bolin B, Grineski S, Collins T. The geography of despair: Environmental racism and the making of South Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Hum Ecol Rev. 2005;12;156–68.

  22. Pulido L. Rethinking environmental racism: White privilege and urban development in Southern California. Ann Assoc Am Geographers. 2000;90:12–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hoffman JS, Shandas V, Pendleton N. The effects of historical housing policies on resident exposure to intra-urban heat: A study of 108 US urban areas. Climate. 2020;8:12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Namin S, Xu W, Zhou Y, Beyer K. The legacy of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation and the political ecology of urban trees and air pollution in the United States. Soc Sci Med. 2020;246:112758.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Nardone A, Rudolph KE, Morello-Frosch R, Casey JA. Redlines and greenspace: The relationship between historical redlining and 2010 greenspace across the United States. Environ Health Perspect. 2021;129:017006.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Shaker Y, Grineski SE, Collins TW, Flores AB. Redlining, racism and food access in US urban cores. Agric Hum Values. 2022;40:101–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Swope CB, Hernández D, Cushing LJ. The relationship of historical redlining with present-day neighborhood environmental and health outcomes: A scoping review and conceptual model. J Urban Health. 2022;99:959–83.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Wilson B. Urban heat management and the legacy of redlining. J Am Plann Assoc. 2020;86:443–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hall M, Iceland J, Yi Y. Racial separation at home and work: Segregation in residential and workplace settings. Popul Res Policy Rev. 2019;38:671–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Massey DS. Residential segregation is the linchpin of racial stratification. City Community. 2016;15:4–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Massey DS. Still the Linchpin: Segregation and stratification in the USA. Race Soc Probl. 2020;12:1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Collins TW, Grineski SE, Nadybal SM. A comparative approach for environmental justice analysis: Explaining divergent societal distributions of particulate matter and ozone pollution across US neighborhoods. Ann Am Assoc Geographers. 2022;112:522–41.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Lopez R. Segregation and black/white differences in exposure to air toxics in 1990. Environ Health Perspect. 2002;110:289–95.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Schell CJ, Dyson K, Fuentes TL, Des Roches S, Harris NC, Miller DS, et al. The ecological and evolutionary consequences of systemic racism in urban environments. Science. 2020;369:eaay4497.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Rothstein R. The color of law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America. New York: Liveright; 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Mitchell B, Franco J. HOLC “Redlining” Maps: The Persistent Structure of Segregation and Economic Inequality. National Community Reinvestment Coalition; 2018. Available at: https://ncrc.org/holc/. Last accessed 15 December 2023.

  37. Fishback PV, LaVoice J, Shertzer A, Walsh R. Race, risk, and the emergence of federal redlining (No. w28146). National Bureau of Economic Research; 2020. https://doi.org/10.3386/w28146.

  38. Winling LC, Michney TM. The roots of redlining: Academic, governmental, and professional networks in the making of the new deal lending regime. J Am History. 2021;108:42–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Mujahid MS, Gao X, Tabb LP, Morris C, Lewis TT. Historical redlining and cardiovascular health: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2021;118:e2110986118.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Nardone AL, Casey JA, Rudolph KE, Karasek D, Mujahid M, Morello-Frosch R. Associations between historical redlining and birth outcomes from 2006 through 2015 in California. PloS One. 2020;15:e0237241.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Beyer KM, Zhou Y, Matthews K, Bemanian A, Laud PW, Nattinger AB. New spatially continuous indices of redlining and racial bias in mortgage lending: Links to survival after breast cancer diagnosis and implications for health disparities research. Health Place. 2016;40:34–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Nardone A, Casey JA, Morello-Frosch R, Mujahid M, Balmes JR, Thakur N. Associations between historical residential redlining and current age-adjusted rates of emergency department visits due to asthma across eight cities in California: An ecological study. Lancet Planet Health. 2020;4:e24–e31.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Li M, Yuan F. Historical redlining and resident exposure to COVID-19: A study of New York City. Race Soc Probl. 2022;14:85–100.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Lane HM, Morello-Frosch R, Marshall JD, Apte JS. Historical redlining is associated with present-day air pollution disparities in US cities. Environ Sci Technol Lett. 2022;9:345–50.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Nelson-Olivieri J, Layden T, Antunez E, Khalighifar A, Lasky M, Laverty T, et al. Inequalities in noise will affect urban wildlife. Nat Ecol Evol. 2024;8:163–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Manson S, Schroeder J, Van Riper D, Kugler T, Ruggles S. IPUMS National Historical Geographic Information System: Version 17.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS; 2022.

  47. Nelson RK, Winling L, Marciano R, Connolly N, Ayers EL. Mapping inequality. American Panorama. 2021. https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining. Accessed 1 Aug 2023.

  48. Collins T, Grineski S, Nadybal S. Social disparities in exposure to noise at public schools in the contiguous United States. Environ Res. 2019;175:257–65.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. USDOT (U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics). National Transportation Noise Map Documentation; 2020. https://doi.org/10.21949/1520433.

  50. Rochat JL, Fleming GG. TNM version 2.5 addendum to validation of FHWA’s traffic noise model (TNM): Phase 1. (No. FHWA-EP-02-031 Addendum). United States: Federal Highway Administration; 2004. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/8919. Accessed 24 February 2024.

  51. Wang C, Lei X, Liu W, Si P. Prediction method of ground vibration caused by high-speed railway based on the formula from the Federal Transportation Administration. J Transport Eng Part A Syst. 2023;149:04023090.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Willitt A, Bendarkar MV, Bhanpato J, Kirby M, Abelezele S, Mavris DN. Preliminary AEDT noise model validation using real-world data. In AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum. p. 2107. 2024. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2024-2107.

  53. Cohen JP, Coughlin CC, Crews J. Traffic noise in Georgia: Sound levels and inequality. J Housing Econ. 2019;44:150–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Nega TH, Chihara L, Smith K, Jayaraman M. Traffic noise and inequality in the twin cities, Minnesota. Hum Ecol Risk Assess. 2013;19:601–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Sobotta RR, Campbell HE, Owens BJ. Aviation noise and environmental justice: The barrio barrier. J Regional Sci. 2007;47:125–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Trudeau C, King N, Guastavino C. Investigating sonic injustice: A review of published research. Soc Sci Med. 2023;326:115919.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Ray M. Environmental justice: Segregation, noise pollution and health disparities near the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport area in Atlanta. Rev Black Polit Econ. 2023;50:18–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Taylor KY. Race for profit: How banks and the real estate industry undermined black homeownership. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press; 2019.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  59. Bayer P, Ferreira F, Ross SL. The vulnerability of minority homeowners in the housing boom and bust. Am Econ J. 2016;8:1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Brown LM, Dey J. The role of credit attributes in explaining the homeownership gap between whites and minorities since the Financial Crisis, 2012–18. SSRN Scholarly Paper. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network; 2020. 10.2139/ssrn.3327483

    Google Scholar 

  61. Immergluck D. Foreclosed: High-Risk Lending, Deregulation, and the Undermining of America’s Mortgage Market. Ithaca, NY.: Cornell University Press; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Reid CK, Bocian D, Li W, Quercia RG. Revisiting the subprime crisis: The dual mortgage market and mortgage defaults by race and ethnicity. J Urban Affairs. 2017;39:469–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Rugh JS, Massey DS. Racial segregation and the American foreclosure crisis. Am Sociol Rew. 2010;75:629–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. U.S. Census Bureau. Quarterly residential vacancies and homeownership, third quarter 2023 (October 31). 2023. Release number: CB23-173. https://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/files/currenthvspress.pdf. Accessed 21 December 2023.

  65. Bhutta N, Chang AC, Dettling LJ, Hsu JW, Hewitt J. Disparities in wealth by race and ethnicity in the 2019 survey of consumer finances. FEDS Notes, No. 2020-09-28-2. 2020. https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.2797.

  66. Ananat EO. The wrong side (s) of the tracks: The causal effects of racial segregation on urban poverty and inequality. Am Econ J. 2011;3:34–66.

    Google Scholar 

  67. Bullard RD, Johnson GS, Torres AO, (Eds). Highway robbery: Transportation racism & new routes to equity. Boston, MA: South End Press; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  68. Rose MH, Mohl RA. Interstate: Highway politics and policy since 1939. Knoxville, TN: Univ. of Tennessee Press; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  69. An B, Orlando AW, Rodnyansky S. The physical legacy of racism: How redlining cemented the modern built environment. SSRN Scholarly Paper. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network; 2019. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3500612.

  70. Adamkiewicz G, Zota AR, Fabian MP, Chahine T, Julien R, Spengler JD, et al. Moving environmental justice indoors: Understanding structural influences on residential exposure patterns in low-income communities. Am J Public Health. 2011;101:S238–S245.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  71. Jacobs DE. Environmental health disparities in housing. Am J Public Health. 2011;101:S115–S122.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  72. Rauh VA, Landrigan PJ, Claudio L. Housing and health: Intersection of poverty and environmental exposures. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008;1136:276–88.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Jackson KT. Crabgrass frontier: The suburbanization of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press; 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  74. Khubba S, Heim K, Hong J. National Census coverage estimates for people in the United States by demographic characteristics (U.S. Census Bureau 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey Estimation Report, No. PES20-G-01). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Publishing Office; 2022. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/coverage-measurement/pes/national-census-coverage-estimates-by-demographic-characteristics.pdf. Accessed 6 March 2024.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the guest editors of this special issue for inviting us to submit this study as well as the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. We are accountable for any errors of fact or omission.

Funding

This article is based on work supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under award R25 ES031497.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Society & Sustainability and Center for Natural & Technological Hazards, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Timothy W. Collins

  2. Department of Sociology, School of Environment, Society & Sustainability, and Center for Natural & Technological Hazards, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Sara. E. Grineski

Authors
  1. Timothy W. Collins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sara. E. Grineski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Both authors meet the four criteria for authorship as per the ICMJE Recommendations. 1) We have contributed to the conception and design of the work (TWC), the acquisition of the data (TWC) or the analysis and interpretation of the findings (TWC, SEG). And, 2) we have both contributed to the writing and revising of the manuscript and 3) have approved this version for submission to the journal. 4) We both agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Timothy W. Collins.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Collins, T.W., Grineski, S.E. Race, historical redlining, and contemporary transportation noise disparities in the United States. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-024-00682-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-024-00682-x

Keywords

Search

Advanced search

Quick links