Abstract:Project Objective: U.S. freeways have come under increasing scrutiny for their disproportionately adverse impacts on low-income populations and populations of color. This study uses empirical research to not only understand but also quantify and describe in detail the historical impacts of freeways, mainly built in the 1960s, on communities of color in four California cities/areas: Pasadena, Pacoima, Sacramento, and San José (See Figure 1). Collectively, these case studies add to existing scholarship by showing freeways’ effects on suburbs and the (then) edges of growing cities, as in city centers, using new quantitative as well as qualitative techniques.