Surrounded by boarded-up housing and factories, the Red Chimney diner in eastern Cleveland is at the heart of the US home foreclosure crisis. Known as Slavic Village because it used to be home to so many Polish immigrants, the area’s 44105 zip code has attained notoriety for having the highest concentration of failing sub-prime mortgages in the US.

“Twenty years ago this was a close-knit Polish community,” says Marge Kowalski, who is serving outsized cherry pies and banana cakes to the diner’s blue- collar clientele. “Now I wouldn’t let a dog out in this neighbourhood.”