US neighbourhoods hit by foreclosure crisis at a crossroads

New York

BACK when the storm clouds of the Great Recession were still gathering, an old Cleveland neighbourhood called Slavic Village was branded as the epicentre of the foreclosure crisis. The reputation stuck, and over the past nine years the neighbourhood has become a symbol for journalists and policymakers trying to understand what went wrong or to gauge the progress of the housing recovery.

Now, as the Republican National Convention plays out in a city where home prices are still near bust-era lows, local officials and non-profit groups are facing a decision: Should neighbourhoods such as Slavic Village be saved or torn down?

"At the height of the meltdown, we were losing two houses a day to foreclosure," said Tony Brancatelli, who represents the East Side neighb…