Here’s a cool map I recently found from a 1939 Federal FHA report called The Structure and Growth of Residential Neighborhoods in American Cities. It’s very old-school urban geography, but has a bunch of cool maps including this one:
Here’s part of the text, describing the rent trends in 30s Minneapolis vs. New York City:
The growth of high rent neighborhoods continues in the same direction for a long period of time. — in New York City, the march of the fashionable areas continued up Fifth Avenue from Washington Square to Central Park for over a century. The high grade neighborhoods in Chicago moved south, west, and north from their starting points… In Miami, Fla., Minneapolis, Minn., Seattle Wash…. and many other cities, this same continuous outward movement of high rent areas has been maintained for long periods of time. (118)
Check out the entire book, a true relic of the “redlining” era, if you are bored or historically inclined.