Posted May 6, 200421 yr Welcome to Slavic Village/South Broadway/Warszawa! Settlement dates back to 1796 here. with the erie canaal completed, cleveland built a lot of iron stuff, and a lot of czech and polish immigrants moved here in the 1870s to work in the nearby factory. Today it is still home to many peoples of slavic and polish decent, but as people flocked into the burbs, the area has had some recent decline.... some stats: 20,695 people median household income 19k median housing value 32k Looking towards the western end of the hood where Fleet Ave meets I-77 good ol jaworski sausage.... mmmmm....lays, bet you cant photograph just one so right about here i met a man who warned me of local hoodlums known as the 59th street gang. Apparently they robbed this laundromat and blew out both of the guys knees who was walking just fine..... Buddy Christ sleva, rudowsky; i'm definately in slavic village not sure what happened to this home/business..... ahh, the good ol' polish legion of american veterans you don't want to be a loser, do you? italians? what the hell? yeah....more of fleet ave scooting on up E 65th well you can read the sign..... even polish people need clean teeth a purdy little home not much here, just homes.... wow, thats a helluva funeral home ahh, the magnificent St. Stanislaus Catherdral! The second largest gothic cathedral in the US (St. Pat's in NY is #1) there's my best friend, say hello to everyone st. stanislaus alice cooper yup, i'm definately in a church. The names listed are those of the parishners who perished in WWII (all listed in polish) beautiful detail god? is that you? this is just creepy.... when the church went through some restorations a few years back, they had to bring some guy in from italy, b/c no one in the states knew how to restore these monkey, err...saints blurry view of the balcony stainglasstacular go catholics! Tomorrow this church is officially becoming a Shrine, some guy from poland is visiting hey, its me! He actually visited here a while back, i mean i visited....yeah.... some homes around the church this poor little cemetary, like 20 headstones, and no way into the fence the reds? bears? what? one final view of my baby. The school dates to 1907, the church dates to 1891, with significant restoration in 1909 (a tornado) and 1998 more homey stuff...... runs new? huh? nothing special as i head up towards broadway our lady of lourdes, in the next hood, which i'll do later, i was tired..... fin
May 6, 200421 yr Not bad...great church! I think you also found your new SSP avatar with that Pope painting. Um, not that "won't you try the soup?" isn't great and all....
May 6, 200421 yr Hubcap Heaven. Nothing says Slavic Village than 24" rims. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 6, 200421 yr grasscat, where's the spoon???? coldayman, slavic village, is i guess a sub-neighborhood of south broadway (which is defined by the city of cleveland), but it might as well be its own hood. Hubcap heaven is directly on "Historic" Broadway, but i'm sure you've passed it before. Regardless it isn't in slavic village, but damn close enough, and funny.
May 7, 200421 yr Technically, the neighborhood is EITHER the Slavic Village OR South Broadway. The city combines the two names; I just put Slavic Village on UrbanOhio due to "more familiarity" from Clevelanders. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 10, 200421 yr Cool pics. Slavic Village is a cool area, but just hasn't caught on like other trendier parts of Cleveland. Too bad, it's a nice spot.
May 15, 200421 yr During my Cleveland vistit of a few years ago I made a point of visiting this neighborhood. I have to say the backstreets around St Stanislaus reminded me alot of my old neighborhood in Chicago, which was also built around a "St Stanislaus" (tho the architecture of mine was sort of deco romanesque, not Gothic). Theres also a Polish neighborhood in Toledo, on LaGrange Avenue, thats still somewhat Polish. There was one in Dayton, too, on Valley Street, around St Adalbert (also a Lithuanian and Hungarian community in the same area..Old North Dayton), but thats long gone, except for the parish churches, a grocery, and a restraunt.
March 6, 200520 yr I love Slavic Village. Part of me likes it as is, ungentrified and a little rough around the edges. It's just has a genuine feel as a struggling, immigrant neighborhood. That being said, the headquarters for Third Federal Savings Bank are pretty amazing (at Fleet and Broadway). Their headquarters stick out like a healthy thumb in a sore neighborhood. Despite growing into a good-sized company, I respect them for staying in the neighborhood where the bank was founded so long ago, plus they go out of their way to put their branches in other Cleveland neighborhoods that other banks won't go near, even if the branches don't do much business. In fact, I respect that approach so much that I go a little out of my way to give them my money. KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 7, 200520 yr That being said, the headquarters for Third Federal Savings Bank are pretty amazing (at Fleet and Broadway). Their headquarters stick out like a healthy thumb in a sore neighborhood. Despite growing into a good-sized company, I respect them for staying in the neighborhood where the bank was founded so long ago, plus they go out of their way to put their branches in other Cleveland neighborhoods that other banks won't go near, even if the branches don't do much business. In fact, I respect that approach so much that I go a little out of my way to give them my money. KJP that's who that is! I've always wondering, and never bothered to investigate that much......it all makes so much more sense now......
March 7, 200520 yr ^ha! KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 7, 200520 yr A great neighborhood with lots of room to grow (in my opinion). Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's new housing around here? And this isn't far from the Mill Creek Falls? The intersection of Broadway and 55th is pretty neat...a true streetcar neighborhood. I haven't been by in probably 6 years, but maybe on my next visit.
March 7, 200520 yr Slavic Village has some townhouses along 65th that have been built, and a few more on the way. It also has a few loft conversions- The Lofts at St. Hyacinth (directed towards artists), The Atlas, and I think one other that is for seniors. Also, the Mill Creek housing development is just south of Slavic Village, and is technically a part of the Slavic Village Statistical Planning Area. I think Slavic Village is making a nice little comeback. It isn't flashy, but they've brought a lot of small businesses in and done a lot of storefront renovations. Its still a little too rough in some parts for my tastes, and Broadway itself desperately needs to be restreetscaped, but its got so much potential.
March 7, 200520 yr The area is definitely still in transition but I'd give it another 5 years and it should be in a lot better shape. Projects like these can't hurt http://www.cloisterscleveland.com/ clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
March 8, 200520 yr Seems to be mostly infill housing on individual vacant lots, which there wasn't a lot to begin with. A house here, a townhouse there.... KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 16, 200717 yr EDIT: I did a search for "Slavic Village" and didn't realze this was in the City Photos section...didn't mean to bring up such an old photo thread! I started a new topic in city discussion...hopefully for better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ORIGINAL POST: I was in Slavic Village for the first time tonight (besides when I was really young), and it really was a sad and mysterious place in the same way. Although I only saw it at nighttime for a holiday concert, these were my impressions: 1) So much history still remains -- there really is a lot to see, even more than pope's 3 year old pictures (We got a little lost and we pretty much gave ourselves the self-guided tour of much of the area) 2) St. Stanislaus is a GEM. It honestly takes your breath away when you walk in, but I did get to see it by candle light at nighttime. 3) The prayer books are still half Polish, and mass is said in Polish once a week. How much a populace do they still have to support this? 4) That funeral home must have been rebuilt. There's an add for it on the church bulletin for 3675 E. 65th st. 5) E.55 and Broadway is a neat intersection with old (quasay abandoned) buildings. 6) Cleveland Central Catholic has a gorgeous 3-story brick addition (sorry, no pictures) 7) There is so much evidence of the neighborhood trying to stay alive. A majority of the foreclosed homes had their boards artistically painted with flowers, christmas lights and decorations, etc. Bottom line...there is still so much to save there. I really wish some more of the "suburban" Polish decendants would rally up some support to save the remaining heritage before it slips anymore. There were many Polish-Americans (suburbanites??) at the holiday concert tonight who had never even seen the Cathedral before tonight, and then were talking about returning to show some of their other relatives. Cool experience all the way.
October 7, 201014 yr I just viewed this thread from 2004 and it's amazing how much has changed for the worse since these photos were taken. So much of the retail activity on Fleet and Broadway is now closed up. The crime and foreclosure issues really devastated this area. 2004 doesn't seem TOO long ago, but looking at the state of the area now vs. then...makes it seem like 20 years has passed.
October 7, 201014 yr Instead you're stuck with ColDayMan :| "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 7, 201014 yr Looks like it has some small town charm even though it's an urban hood and even with some recent decline I'm sure it's still there. Looks mostly blue-collar; definitely not the same building stock as more popular neighborhoods (reminds me of Parsons Ave here minus the Slavic flavor). Doesn't look so bad on streetview though. Hopefully enough residents can maintain the area and have a city government to work with that is cooperative.
October 8, 201014 yr The area is definitely still in transition but I'd give it another 5 years and it should be in a lot better shape. Projects like these can't hurt http://www.cloisterscleveland.com/ Don't mind me, just snacking on some omelettes :-( clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
October 8, 201014 yr I miss the Pope :-( Such wit! LOL I was thinking that too. Where did he go? He went to Chicago. I believe he posts occasionally on SSP.
October 8, 201014 yr Yeah- UNBELIEVABLE what the foreclosure crisis has done to this neighborhood. So much of the urban fabric in this neighborhood is either gone or in desperate need of repair... I HATE that we allow this to happen to our cities.
October 9, 201014 yr The Atlas Building and Hyancith Lofts are also intriguing: http://www.slavicvillage.org/index.php?module=article&view=16
February 1, 201312 yr Bump. Photos of the Village BEFORE the foreclosure crisis. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 1, 201312 yr So, is someone going to do a before & after comparison post? That WOULD be interesting. I'd wait until after the next snowmelt. At the rate this winter is going, should be any day now..... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 3, 201312 yr Oh man I'm so glad this thread was bumped! I didn't want to be the new guy bumping a really old thread and annoying all you regulars. I was in the area a few weeks ago (I went to that Byzantine church just a bit east of Slavic Village). It's really sad to see the place now. I have grandiose dreams of this place coming back to prominence in maybe the same fashion as Tremont has undergone. Like some of you above me, I will try and go up there soon and take some after shots.
February 3, 201312 yr I think the key to Slavic's Villlage rise will need to be the intersection of E.55 and Broadway: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=e.55+and+broadway+cleveland&ll=41.466584,-81.650637&spn=0.00451,0.010568&sll=41.467069,-81.651279&layer=c&cbp=13,40.33,,0,69.52&cbll=41.467069,-81.651279&gl=us&hnear=Broadway+Ave+%26+E+55th+St,+Cleveland,+Cuyahoga,+Ohio+44127&t=h&z=17&panoid=yJ9KDGdCGrDA5fWi890vCw The urban fabric is completely intact and begging for some love and attention.
February 4, 201312 yr I think the key to Slavic's Villlage rise will need to be the intersection of E.55 and Broadway: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=e.55+and+broadway+cleveland&ll=41.466584,-81.650637&spn=0.00451,0.010568&sll=41.467069,-81.651279&layer=c&cbp=13,40.33,,0,69.52&cbll=41.467069,-81.651279&gl=us&hnear=Broadway+Ave+%26+E+55th+St,+Cleveland,+Cuyahoga,+Ohio+44127&t=h&z=17&panoid=yJ9KDGdCGrDA5fWi890vCw The urban fabric is completely intact and begging for some love and attention. I love that intersection, lotsa potential KJP. I know it's way cart-before-the-horse, but that intersection would look so much better with a streetscape program. We've surely got our share of ugly looking pavement around these parts.
February 4, 201312 yr All for this however...Again, new streetscapes given to areas where most could not care as to stewarding their upkeep.... Litter and neglect will surely follow until the careless cultural mindset is abated first.
February 4, 201312 yr All for this however...Again, new streetscapes given to areas where most could not care as to stewarding their upkeep.... Litter and neglect will surely follow until the careless cultural mindset is abated first. Like I said, cart before the horse.
February 4, 201312 yr I love that intersection, lotsa potential KJP. Except that was MH who said it. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 5, 201312 yr Can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe that intersection needs a roundabout. With some sort of monument in the center. A couple of those storefronts need renovation but most of them are actually open and occupied. That's pretty good, for a neighborhood that needs so much help. It tells me that one decent draw would go a long way in this area, something like that velodrome, or even an upscale club. What did Gordon Square have just before it took off? It had an endless supply of tax prep offices, just like Broadway/55th does right now. That might suck, but it's a far cry from having all your retail boarded up, and it's a lot easier to build on. Now if we could only get hipsters to cherish old hubcaps...
February 5, 201312 yr Now if we could only get hipsters to cherish old hubcaps... Easy, turn it into a hubcap-themed coffee shop! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 5, 201312 yr Can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe that intersection needs a roundabout. With some sort of monument in the center. A couple of those storefronts need renovation but most of them are actually open and occupied. That's pretty good, for a neighborhood that needs so much help. It tells me that one decent draw would go a long way in this area, something like that velodrome, or even an upscale club. What did Gordon Square have just before it took off? It had an endless supply of tax prep offices, just like Broadway/55th does right now. That might suck, but it's a far cry from having all your retail boarded up, and it's a lot easier to build on. Now if we could only get hipsters to cherish old hubcaps... Ehh I'm not sure about a club. I've always held the thought of a trendy restaurant to be an anchor to the area and then other shops/bars/restaurants will follow suit (ideally). How did Tremont get it's start back in the mid 90's? I was to young to know/care about that area.
February 5, 201312 yr How did Tremont get it's start back in the mid 90's? I was to young to know/care about that area. Wow, that's a good question. I was paying attention to Cleveland's urban scene in the early 90s and I'm trying to remember my first memories of Tremont's revival. I think my first memories are of some high-profile housing projects like the condos at the Lincoln Park Baths and some of the new single-family houses on the high side of West 7th. Neither of these were all that connected to the neighborhood. And you didn't want to show off too much back then. In fact, a co-worker of mine in the late 90s lived in a converted commercial structure that had the storefront windows all boarded up. When I saw, I couldn't believe he lived in such a dumpy looking place until I saw the inside -- it was a beautifully restored building opposite Lincoln Park. You'd just never know it from the outside. And that's the way it went in Tremont, with an apartment building struggling here and there, or restored houses falling back into disrepair, until maybe just 5-10 years ago when Tremont became a snowball rolling downhill -- a good thing! It gained its own momentum which started spreading to surrounding areas. But it took more than a decade of fits and starts to happen. And I remember a similar thing with Ohio City in the 80s. The first people to buy in Ohio City and gentrify it started in the late 1970s. I remember how surprised people were about it. But it happened slowly with homes along Bridge between Fulton and West 25th getting renovated, and new single family homes along Fulton. And Ohio City started taking off by the early 1990s -- a good 10 years before Tremont. But I'm pretty sure both started with new housing, not businesses. The businesses came later. Sadly, single-family housing is in excess supply in Greater Cleveland these days: http://www.cnt.org/repository/BUILT-Cleveland.FINAL.pdf. So the huge amount of townhouses built in Ohio City and Tremont may not be as marketable anywhere today, although some may sell. Indeed, renovating one old house at a time with modern, more spacious interiors for today's larger furniture and TVs could reverse the obsolescence of much of the neighborhood's housing stock. A suggestion might be to offer loft-style apartments with historical/ethnic charm in some of the vacant buildings in the East 55th-Broadway area, or along Fleet, or by St. Stan's, with basic services like a bodega (no lottery tickets or 40-ounce beer bottles!), a coffee shop, or a Slavic restaurant along the sidewalks to put "eyes on the street." They could be large apartments to be more marketable and to get as much square footage renovated. The Eastern European heritage of the neighborhood (and its industrial connections) is its biggest selling point. Don't be ashamed in flaunting it. That's what gives it "place." In fact, offer more festivals in conjunction with the churches, Third Federal and other neighborhood stakeholders to get people back into the neighborhood so they can envision a new future for the neighborhood. In fact, it was River Fest in the 1980s that brought people to the Flats, they saw plans for the future, and caused that area to spark (and burn itself out 20 years later!). The Feast does the same thing in Little Italy, of course, as does Asiatown's Lunar New Year Celebration (starts Feb. 10 and goes for 15 days http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/02/asian_community_celebrates_lun.html). So many ideas and possibilities! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 5, 201312 yr It looks as if that intersection already got a new streetcape if you look at the aerial compared with street view.
February 5, 201312 yr I love that intersection, lotsa potential KJP. Except that was MH who said it. Ha. I need glasses.
February 5, 201312 yr The nightlife came first in Tremont. People started moving there for a reason. People move everywhere for a reason. Slavic Village could have gone Tremont's way if not for the stark difference in their surroundings. The fate of Slavic Village is tied to that of Central and Union-Miles. People like to be able to try things out before they commit. That's why you begin a neighborhood revival by first establishing it as a destination, then you start to pick up young renters, then you get some of them to settle down, then you get others to follow their lead.
February 5, 201312 yr Tremont first had an influx of artists in the early 80's attracted by the cheap rents. Many point to that as the beginning of Tremont's revival. I'm sure that it could be pushed back even farther, as every neighborhood is always just an abstract sum of businesses opening and closing, people moving in and moving out, paint applied or peeling. As for Slavic Village, I'd love to see it trade on it's Slavic heritage, but I think there are really very few Slavs left.
February 5, 201312 yr The nightlife came first in Tremont. People started moving there for a reason. People move everywhere for a reason. Slavic Village could have gone Tremont's way if not for the stark difference in their surroundings. The fate of Slavic Village is tied to that of Central and Union-Miles. People like to be able to try things out before they commit. That's why you begin a neighborhood revival by first establishing it as a destination, then you start to pick up young renters, then you get some of them to settle down, then you get others to follow their lead. This is incorrect. As X mentioned, people, mostly artists, were moving to Tremont for cheap rent in the 80's. That was the reason, not entertainment. Others followed, but "nightlife" didn't follow till much, much later.
February 5, 201312 yr Cheap rent doesn't distinguish either neighborhood from others in the city. One thing that does distinguish Tremont, in my view, is a tight concentration of bars that have been open for decades. And I believe that asset, along with location, was the main reason why Tremont became the choice over numerous alternatives. And while artists don't constitute a whole lot of population, they do create a disproportionate amount of nightlife (galleries). So to me these competing Tremont explanations are harmonious. Yes artists moved in first, but I don't see a "residential boom" until people of all walks of life are involved. That's when you see the numbers begin to spike. Artists can help to make that happen by opening galleries, which constitute nightlife, which in turn draws the general population. I see Gordon Square as a closer comparison for Slavic Village, because it's more "in the thick of things" than Tremont is. This means more connectivity with adjacent neighborhoods as well as more pass-thru traffic. Unfortunately I think these factors make SV a tougher nut to crack, as it's pinned between heavy industry and some of the city's most troubled areas. And I think that makes it even more important to establish a first class people-magnet in the neighborhood.
February 5, 201312 yr Even though there aren't many Slavs left here, that doesn't made the "brand" doesn't have value. It hasn't stopped Little Italy from trading on its Italian heritage where there seem to be more students living there than Italian-Americans. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 5, 201312 yr They built that brand into something marketable when there were still many Italians there, and a very heavy concentration of Italian owned businesses, and the festivals were already in place. Slavic Village still has some a few Slavic residents and businesses scattered about the neighborhood, and St. Stan's is still an anchor. Is that enough to build off of, or has that ship sailed? I'd hope the former, but I think probably the latter.
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