An enduring scar left behind by 1940s-era redlining languishes at the block of South Spaulding Street and West 16th Street in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side.

Across the street from a boarded-up greystone, foot-high grass covers vacant lots strewn with trash. Some weed-covered parcels serve as makeshift parking. In all, the block comprises 43 properties, and as a new report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas states, 19 of those lots are vacant — many of them abandoned for decades.