an incredible report --not many sources, mostly anecdotal, but powerful--on cleveland's astronomical number of home foreclosures and what a few heroic citizens--a city councilman, a judge, ordinary neighbors-- are trying to do to prevent worse conditions or further exploitation. practices by banks are shown to be partners in the social crimes laid out here.

A very interesting article explaining how severely the foreclosure crisis has hit Cleveland. It depicts the situation there as a constant battle between the neighborhoods' remaining residents to fight the parasitic tactics of banks and speculators to turn a quick profit without taking responsibility for their degrading properties. The article explains very well the challenges that citizens face with vacant properties, as well as the strategies they are using to fight back. Recommended read.

Quite a story, and a rather depressing one at that. My only criticism would be that one gets the impression Cleveland is an outright basket case, when in fact there are a number of bright spots. I suppose the housing wholesalers serve the same function as buzzards in the natural world, feeding off carrion and restoring health to the overall system. The article does an especially good job highlighting the irrationalities of the financial system as it interfaces with conditions on the ground during our current crisis..

Well done from start to finish, loads of depth and detail, good anecdotes. The perfect presentation of what happens to a vibrant city after nearly 50 years of bad government policy's on manufacturing and fewer restrictions on imports.

Superb in almost all ways. I fault it for not questioning the tactic of tearing down vacant buildings just because empty buildings draw crime. There are so many other strategies documented by a U. of MD study and other sources. Solar lights on motion detectors, for example. Buffalo, NY, paints murals on the boards that are covering windows and doors. Etc.

This letter is in response to the article "All Boarded Up" written by ALEX KOTLOWITZ. During my time (1993 to 1999) as President of {the now defunct} South East Clevelanders Together I worked to promote community organizing in Ward 12 {Slavic Village} to address quality of life issues {such as crime watch} in an aggressive and systematic manner. During that time, Ward 12 was represented by current City of Cleveland Director of Building and Housing Edward W. Rybka and the former Broadway Area Housing Coalition nka Slavic Village Development headed then by current Ward 12 Councilman Anthony Brancatelli. Needless to say, it did not take long for our organization to clash with the former Councilman's housing group. Their ... More »