The Color of Suburbia: A History of Housing Segregation in Palo Alto
Palo Alto’s carefully cultivated image as a progressive, meritocratic community belies a century-long history of racial exclusion in housing. From restrictive covenants and federal redlining to exclusionary zoning and urban renewal, this article traces the deliberate policies and practices that segregated the city and shaped the racial geography of the mid-Peninsula, creating a legacy that persists in the region’s contemporary housing crisis.