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Coulton, Claudia, Kristen Mikelbank, and Michael Schramm. "Foreclosure and Beyond: A Report on Ownership and Housing Value Following Sheriff's Sales, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 2000-07." Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, 2008. "This study focuses on the cumulative effects of increasing foreclosure rates in Cleveland neighborhoods and suburban municipalities of Cuyahoga County and attempts to answer a number of questions: What entities take ownership of these foreclosed properties and for how long do they hold them? Who purchases these homes next, and how do the sales prices compare to the value of the homes prior to the time they entered the foreclosure process? And have these patterns changed as the number of properties being auctioned at sheriff's sale has skyrocketed?"

United States Government Accountability Office. "Mortgage Foreclosures: Additional Mortgage Servicer Actions Could Help Reduce the Frequency and Impact of Abandoned Foreclosures." 1-86. Washington, D.C.: U.S. GAO, 2010. Summary: "Entities responsible for managing home mortgage loans--called servicers--may initiate foreclosure proceedings on certain delinquent loans but then decide to not complete the process. Many of these properties are vacant. These abandoned foreclosure--or "bank walkaway"--properties can exacerbate neighborhood decline and complicate federal stabilization efforts. GAO was asked to assess (1) the nature and prevalence of abandoned foreclosures, (2) their impact on communities, (3) practices that may lead servicers to initiate but not complete foreclosures and regulatory oversight of foreclosure practices, and (4) actions some communities have taken to reduce abandoned foreclosures and their impacts. GAO analyzed servicer loan data from January 2008 through March 2010 and conducted case studies in 12 cities. GAO also interviewed representatives of federal agencies, state and local officials, nonprofit organizations, and six servicers, among others, and reviewed federal banking regulations and exam guidance. Among other things, GAO recommends that the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) require servicers they oversee to notify borrowers and communities when foreclosures are halted and to obtain updated valuations for selected properties before initiating foreclosure. The Federal Reserve neither agreed nor disagreed with these recommendations. OCC did not comment on the recommendations. Using data from large and subprime servicers and government-sponsored mortgage entities representing nearly 80 percent of mortgages, GAO estimated that abandoned foreclosures are rare--representing less than 1 percent of vacant homes between January 2008 and March 2010. GAO also found that, while abandoned foreclosures have occurred

A slow process of out-migration, loss of jobs, loss of population and the recent housing crisis has left cleveland with a host vacant homes, approximately 13,000. Due to rehabilation costs exceeding potential sales prices and a mis-match in productive (land/economic) uses, nearly 80% of these vacant homes make fiscal sense to demolitish. This has left the city and remaining neighborhoods to explore untraditional ways of redeveloping. It has also lead to a growing trend of foreign investment in it's neighborhoods, from Israel to the United Kingdom, all hoping the real estate market will stabilize.

Accordino, John, George Galster, and Peter Tatian. "The Impact of Targeted Public and Nonprofit Development on Neighborhood Development: Research based on Richmond, Virginia's Neighborhoods in Bloom Program," Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, July 2005. This report examines Richmond, Virginia's Neighborhoods in Bloom program to assess the impacts of the targeted investment strategy that was used to revitalize the city.