A snowy view down Hulett Street in Schenectady on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill. ReTree Schenectady, in recent years, has partnered with community groups and the city's summer youth employment program to plant hundreds of trees in areas throughout Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill, where urban forestry has been historically lacking.
A snowy view down Hulett Street in Schenectady on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill. ReTree Schenectady, in recent years, has partnered with community groups and the city's summer youth employment program to plant hundreds of trees in areas throughout Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill, where urban forestry has been historically lacking.
Members from Schenectady's Summer Youth Employment Program have been planting trees throughout the Electric City in coordination with ReTree Schenectady, a nonprofit that has planted more than 3,000 trees throughout the city since the 1990s. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill.
Members from Schenectady's Summer Youth Employment Program have been planting trees throughout the Electric City in coordination with ReTree Schenectady, a nonprofit that has planted more than 3,000 trees throughout the city since the 1990s. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill.
A snowy view down Hulett Street in Schenectady on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill. ReTree Schenectady, in recent years, has partnered with community groups and the city's summer youth employment program to plant hundreds of trees in areas throughout Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill, where urban forestry has been historically lacking.
Erica Miller
A snowy view down Hulett Street in Schenectady on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill. ReTree Schenectady, in recent years, has partnered with community groups and the city's summer youth employment program to plant hundreds of trees in areas throughout Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill, where urban forestry has been historically lacking.
Erica Miller
Members from Schenectady's Summer Youth Employment Program have been planting trees throughout the Electric City in coordination with ReTree Schenectady, a nonprofit that has planted more than 3,000 trees throughout the city since the 1990s. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill.
Provided photo
Members from Schenectady's Summer Youth Employment Program have been planting trees throughout the Electric City in coordination with ReTree Schenectady, a nonprofit that has planted more than 3,000 trees throughout the city since the 1990s. Allison Malatesta and Union College professor Jeffrey Corbin's study of how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill.
SCHENECTADY — Allison Malatesta noticed years ago that some parts of Schenectady had fewer trees than others.
“It was always something I was aware of,” said the 22-year-old Niskayuna High School graduate.
Malatesta went on to major in biology at Union College, where she had an opportunity to study abroad in Australia. While down under, she completed a project for an ecology class that examined the differences in flora in the front yards of homes based on socioeconomic status.
It was that class that inspired Malatesta to further examine the tree disparities in Schenectady neighborhoods for a senior thesis project, which she worked on with Jeffrey Corbin, a biological sciences professor at Union. Their work was recently published in the scientific journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.
The pair examined how the 1930s policy of “redlining” has led to modern discrepancies in Schenectady’s urban forest — a finding that aligns with similar studies completed in Baltimore and cities throughout California.
But the study also highlighted efforts that have been happening in Schenectady to right the wrongs of the past, particularly the efforts of the nonprofit ReTree Schenectady, which has planted more than 3,000 trees throughout the city since the 1990s. Betsy Henry, the group's leader, is a co-author of the study.
“Trees are a huge part of the city’s infrastructure,” Henry said. “It contributes not just things like cooling the air, but also aesthetics. The sight of a green street is really important for a lot of people.”
Redlining is a federal policy that dates back to the 1930s that saw the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corp. (HOLC) rate neighborhoods in more than 200 cities across the country into four categories based on perceived levels of risk in mortgage lending. The categories were ranked “A” through “D,” with the latter being the greatest perceived risk.
Neighborhoods deemed the highest risk were often core urban centers that were populated by people of color. Those areas were shaded in red on maps during that period, which is from where the term derived its name.
The policy prevented minorities from obtaining mortgages and led to disinvestment in those neighborhoods. Redlining was eventually outlawed as part of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discriminatory practices for the sale, rental and purchase of homes.
But ramifications from the policy are still being felt today.
The study found there are twice as many trees located in Schenectady neighborhoods graded A and B than there were in lower-rated neighborhoods graded C and D. The higher graded neighborhoods also had more species of trees.
Malatesta and Corbin were able to overlay data collected through the HOLC with results from a city-commissioned tree inventory completed in 2021 that examined how many trees are located in the city and where they are placed.
The survey tallied 5,242 trees in areas graded by the HOLC, with 2,174 located in A- and B-graded areas. There were 2,447 found in C-graded areas and another 621 in those with a D grade, according to the study.
“The consistency of the patterns of unequal tree canopies across HOLC grades is evidence of a nationwide trend that certain neighborhoods, especially those with high proportions of people of color, are not receiving equivalent environmental benefits as wealthier, whiter neighborhoods,” the study reads.
Those benefits include shade from tree canopies that can dramatically reduce surface temperatures during the summer months and help mitigate flooding. Studies have also found that areas with a higher tree density have lower crime rates and slower traffic.
“I think that this is a really important issue, and it’s something that a lot of us take for granted,” Corbin said. “We all look at certain streets and just think that that’s the way they are. This is a street that doesn’t have very many trees, and this is a street or neighborhood that does have a lot of trees, and we think of that as being some permanent situation.”
Key to the study are efforts to address the discrepancy, an essential part of the conversation that previous studies on the issue have not examined, according to Malatesta.
The study highlights work by ReTree Schenectady in addressing the tree discrepancy in redlined neighborhoods like Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill.
“Recent efforts in Schenectady have succeeded in closing the gap in tree equity between city areas, thanks to outreach that target low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.” the study reads. “These efforts emerged from community discussion and were funded by grants from a variety of courses including the federal government and local electrical utility.”
ReTree Schenectady, in recent years, has partnered with community groups and the city's summer youth employment program to plant hundreds of trees in areas throughout Mont Pleasant and Hamilton Hill, where urban forestry has been historically lacking.
But the solution goes well beyond simply planting trees, said Henry, who noted that things like sidewalks and other natural barriers prevent plantings in some areas. There are also issues around getting everyone on board to maintain the plantings and a general lack of education around the importance of trees.
“It’s a challenging place to plant trees, plus it’s a lot of rental properties, and what we usually do is make sure that the owner wants the tree so it doesn't die,” she said. “So there are a lot of challenges to planting in those neighborhoods.”
But Henry, who plans to step away from the organization this year after nearly three decades, said the importance of trees in urban areas is beginning to gain more steam in Schenectady, noting that the city has supported the effort and more community organizations are coming on board during summer planting season.
“Obviously it’s not as simple of an answer as plant more trees,” Malatesta said. “But the work that’s being done in Schenectady really is headed in the right direction, and it’s good that people are aware of that and learning more about the benefits of trees every day.”
An outdoor enthusiast her entire life, Malatesta is currently taking a gap year after graduating from Union last year. She is working as a ski instructor in Colorado, but is hoping to enroll in graduate school and hopes to enter the field of conservation biology.
“I think in today’s world it’s important to keep that at the forefront of conversations, because it sometimes does get shoved to the side and being replaced by corporations and things like that that are taking over public lands and destroying forests,” she said. “I think that’s a global issue, and it’s really unfortunate. So I’d like to be a part of the solution to that. There’s only one Earth, so you have to protect it.”
