Diabolical Demolitions

To the point of Rob's most recent post about uncalled-for home demolitions compliments of Knuckle Head Nagin's incompetent administration, I found a lot of good info with-in the September issue of Preservation in Print(see www.prcno.org ). The most resounding issue is that the New Orleans City government has not successfully organized their home demolition efforts. They have no reasonable process to inform home owners of the status of their homes that have been targeted for demolition. So, as with every other vitally important issues, grassroots groups have had to step up and have had small but significant successes. The one most touted in the PIP is Squandered Heritage which in conjunction with the PRC and neighborhood associations have had 131 historic homes removed from the red tag list and have helped more than 700 home owners challenge the city's plan for demolition of their homes. This is of course a drop in the bucket of more than 12,000 homes slated for demolition, but it is a win for the people of New Orleans who are trying to make their home here despite the city leaders' apparent plans to drive everyone away. There are many other issues to discuss related to this issue which will have to wait until future entries.