Epicentre of the Great Recession: what happened to Cleveland's Slavic Village?

This neighbourhood was unfairly identified as ground zero for the foreclosure crisis. Eight years later, it's coming back up - without the help of federal funds

When Anthony Trzaska hears the words "Slavic Village" in news reports, he knows what is coming next. "It's almost like when the media reports anything on Slavic Village, it's followed with: 'Comma, where the foreclosure crisis in America started,'" says the 31-year-old resident. "It's not like the foreclosure mess didn't happen. But it didn't just happen here."

Cleveland's Slavic Village is widely perceived as the epicentre of the Great Recession. In 2007, when the media finally realised that the housing bubble was bursting wide open (about two years after 48 states had sued subprime lender Ameriquest for fraudulent loan practices), a few journalists decided to run some zip codes to see where the most foreclosures were happening.