Visit the loudest and proudest neighborhood,” is printed on a posterboard a local holds with an unmistakable expression of commitment.
“SV Wants Everyone!” reads another, heralding a real community win: EcoDistricts certification, thanks to a Broadway-Slavic Village team of residents and stakeholders who achieved the designation’s tenants of equity, resilience and climate protection.
“Inclusivity is a big deal for us,” says Krystal Sierra, neighborhood planning director at Slavic Village Development (SVD).
The national EcoDistricts certification is governed by Just Communities and designed to help the community, resident leaders and developers build a common vision to guide growth.
That’s exactly what’s going on in Broadway-Slavic Village, and Sierra says, “We’re making sure we fill in any gaps in representation at the table.”
The table setting: largely transportation and conduit-creating, along with thoughtful infill of the roughly 2,000 acres of land available from foreclosures and vacancies fueled by fraudulent out-of-town and out-of-state investors.
SVD is looking at a community consultants program to invite neighbors who are passionate about the future of the neighborhood. “They will receive a stipend for one year of service with our organization,” Sierra states.
The Slavic Village Green Team is also a strong entity and ties in with the neighborhood’s assets, such as storm basins and wildlife habitat that connect to Cleveland Metroparks' new trail network. The Slavic Village Downtown Connector and Morgana Run Extension will connect and improve access to the East Side in conjunction with a Fullerton Site Redevelopment Project in the Broadway-Slavic district that involves reinvestment in the overall neighborhood. It will address housing and community needs.
“When the trail project is complete, the trail will connect Downtown all the way to the Erie Canal Towpath,” Sierra says.
Meanwhile, in today’s Slavic Village, its roots and charm are ever present. The neighborhood is home to seven Catholic parishes, including the Polish Shrine, St. Stanislaus on East 65th Street, a center of the community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There’s the Slovenian National Hall (The Nash), the Polish American Cultural Center and the Bohemian National Hall.
And pioneering entrepreneurs who love the neighborhood are bringing everyday services and destination businesses to the neighborhood, Sierra points out.
One is Neighborhood Pets Outreach and Resource Center that offers affordable necessities. The Red Chimney is an old standard for Eastern European dining. And the East 65th Street corridor, known as the Warszawa Historic District, is chock full of stakeholders, Sierra says. Those include institutions like Cleveland Central Catholic High School.
In the Broadway and East 55th Historic District — the core of Slavic Village — an urban main street is home to more than 50 businesses and institutions, including the Boys and Girls Club of America and Cleveland’s first Rails to Trails project.
Among the neighborhood’s longtime go-tos, Sierra calls out Philomena Bakery, R&K Sausage, Vic’s Floral, Daiys’ and the Southeast Cleveland Resource Center.
