Slavic Village is a revitalizing urban neighborhood in the southeast area of the City of Cleveland. A historic neighborhood that was once home to 75,000 immigrants of Polish and Slavic descent, it has seen steady decline since the 1960’s, along with other Cleveland neighborhoods, and was especially hard hit during the housing and foreclosure crisis of 2007-2010. However, in the present day, it has many assets and opportunities that make it poised to become one of the vibrant Cleveland neighborhoods of the future.

This study was done as part of a student project to look at the potential to re-invigorate Slavic Village’s retail business and shopping environment. A gravity model and niche analysis was used to evaluate the standard retail shopping environment, and the specialty retail shopping environment was evaluated through comparison with five other urban neighborhoods. Together, they demonstrate the opportunities and strengths of the Slavic Village neighborhood.