Squandered Heritage: factchecking New Orleans' Imminent Danger Demolition List
I should have thrown a link up to the Squandered Heritage blog a few weeks ago. They have been putting up photos of houses slated for demolition by the city of New Orleans, as there are some peculiar shenanigans going on. The city claims that it's only going after houses that are a blight on the neighborhood, mostly ones damaged in Katrina and left abandoned.
If one spends any time going through the photos of the properties that the city has listed on their Imminent Danger List, one can see that this is unadulterated bullshit. Some of the houses have been repaired and are in good condition. A few were never damaged at all, and are inhabited. There are some absolutely necessary demolitions slated, but there is a land grab being cloaked under this work. New Orleans is selling out its citizens for some greedy developers it seems.
The most recent post on Squandered Heritage links to the Flickr photosets of the houses, and links how to appeal one getting one's house off of that Imminent Danger List.
1 comment:
I like that the list gives you the latitutde and longitude of your house to six decimal places!
A place like New Orleans is all about its history and its alternative evolution from the rest of the country. We really should put a premium on preserving its expression in buildings and neighborhoods wherever we can.
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