Edgy New Orleans OKs Razing Public Housing

Amid Protests, Council Approves Public Housing Demolition As City Rebuilds From Katrina

(CBS/AP)  Despite occasionally violent protests outside, the City Council voted Thursday in favor of demolishing some 4,500 public housing units, a milestone in the city's effort to balance its heritage and its hurricane rebuilding efforts.

The unanimous vote to permit the federal government to tear down four public housing developments - a critical moment in a protracted fight between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and residents, activists and preservationists - followed hours of debate and periodic clashes in the street.

Police used chemical spray and stun guns as dozens of protesters tried to force their way into the packed City Council chamber. One woman was sprayed and dragged from the gates. Emergency workers took her away on a stretcher.

Another woman said she was stunned by officers, and still had what appeared to be a Taser wire hanging from her shirt.

"I was just standing, trying to get into my City Council meeting," said the dazed woman, Kim Ellis, who was taken away in an ambulance.

"Is this what democracy looks like?" Bill Quigley, a Loyola University law professor who opposes demolition, said as he held a strand of Taser wire he said had been shot into another of the protesters.

Quigley said he believed the crackdown violated public meetings laws.

Protesters said they pushed against the iron gates that kept them out of the building because the Housing Authority of New Orleans had disproportionately allowed supporters of the demolition to pack the chambers.

After roughly 30 minutes of on-again-off-again struggle to get into the meeting, protesters fell back, continuously chanting with bullhorns. An afternoon storm thinned the demonstrators, some of whom had been waiting since 7 a.m. to enter, and the crowd disappeared altogether shortly after the afternoon vote.

At the peak of the confusion, some 70 protesters were facing about a dozen mounted police and 40 more law enforcement officers on foot.

Details on arrests were not immediately available.

The meeting itself was mostly peaceful, although an early fight in the chambers between protesters and police caused a brief interruption.

Some public housing residents repeated during the daylong debate that they welcome the plan to replace the decades-old structures with mixed-income housing.

Other residents and their advocates said they fear the plan will result in loss of badly needing housing for the city's low-income black residents.

The vote crossed racial lines, with the three black council members joining four whites.

HUD says about 3,000 families who once lived in New Orleans public housing remain scattered across the country, and social workers say the number of homeless people in the area has doubled to about 12,000.

The housing projects have long been a center for high crime, conditions made worse by damage from Hurricane Katrina, reports Mike Hoss of CBS affiliate WWL-TV. But HUD says the transition from housing projects to mixed income was underway long before the hurricane.

There is no consensus on what's best for New Orleans' poor, even among public housing residents. Redevelopment would diminish the public housing stock and drive many into less stable voucher programs. Repair of brick and barracks-style projects badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina would keep intact poor but close-knit neighborhoods.

Mayor Ray Nagin said the resolution approved by the council includes language that will assure that public housing residents have a voice in the redevelopment plans.

Opponents were not immediately available for comment on the decision.

Thursday's vote was required before demolition work could begin, but several legal challenges to the plan have not been resolved.

[bareemperor]

Welcome to BuSHAMErica

[michellem99-2009]

What is happening to this nation. It is a bloody shame. Learder can give the PEOPLES''money over seas, fight wars. Throw her citizens in the streets. Use the police against. Greed and selfishness.

[musyk4me]

Excuse me, michaelt302? Was that a racist comment? I certainly hope it was not. Are you telling me that white people don''t get violent? If that is the case, then you are as ignorant as your comment. How would you feel if I told you I just finished watching a video where nothing but stupid white people were doing things like jumping off a building into the pool below only to break all of their bones or hitting each other with hammers and chairs just to see how much it hurts; or about the white man that blew up a building; or about that white man that killed his pregnant wife; or the white man that broke into a home killing the mother, father, and all of the children. Violence is wrong, no matter what the race. EVERY race has persons that are violent and criminal. Think before you open your mouth or decide to type something that sounds ignorant.

[ivymw2002]

michaelt302....you''re about just as ignorant as they get.

[kindrox]

Stun them all and let the DA sort them out?

[watcher269-2009]

After all this administration has done for them and this is how they show their gratitude! Shameful, just shameful.

Bushit and his crew go over New Orleans every weekend that he flies in that Giant 747 with the entire SS team all his guests to Crawford Texaz. Who says Bush doesn''t care? Everytime he flies over N.O. he prays.

Just think how much money is being spent for this president to fly home almost every weekend. Bush has taken almost 1 1/2 years of vacation time in the last 6 years of office at $400,000 a year, not to mention the cost of flying Air Force One with all the Ground Crew costs and just the magnatude of the costs in volved is Secret!

If you want to point your anger at anyone - the VOTE! Don''t sit back and cry, VOTE - half of those people don''t. And that is being generous with the percentages.

It''s time to take to the streets and be tasered!

[runningralph]

Public housing property belongs to the taxpayers. The taxpayers are represented by the housing authority. The people doing the rioting don''t own the property and don''t have a right to it. They are allowed to stay on public property at the will of the taxpayers.
That said, I do believe it would be better to keep the crime breeding in a area isolated from taxpayers. In fact It would be better to build a fence around it, and have guards monitor firearm and drug traffic. HUD has been building public housing in residential neighborhoods ad trying to encourage the project denizens to go live in single family dwellings. This may seem like a good idea to the do-gooders at HUD but it will be like spreading a staph infection to other parts of a body.

[dogsoul]

Liberals love to keep their pets in nice tight little crime ridden pens known as public housing where taxpayers can throw away their money so minorities can raise a bunch of illegitimate future societal burdens & criminals that, in turn, vote liberals back into office while living in a perpetual cycle of poverty & filth...

The fact that they - gosh - turned violent at the prospect of not getting paid in housing for their votes is not all together surprising... it''s really just part of the package. And for all you liberals who think Bush can somehow summon hurricanes... this is a local matter in New Orleans... or as their local leadership calls it, ''The Chocolate City'' - and them not taking responsibility for themSELVES pretty much spells out what''s wrong with the black community at large.

Black people - WHEN are you finally going to get it thru your skulls... stop letting these liberals run your lives for you - and right into the ground - vote Republican & learn what it means to stand tall on your own two feet - respect yourselves & eachother - and tell these liberals to shove their handouts, housing projects, & pity up their collective *sses already...

Black people... when are you going to WAKE UP

[creeper00]

Hurricane Katrina was the biggest boon in history for the racist cons who would just as soon see black, brown, red and yellow people gone from the face of the earth.

This from a "white" person.

[nolalou]

dogsoul you are trying to turn this into a ''liberal'' vs ''conservative'' issue, when it is NOT. The majority of the New Orleans city council are Democrats, and they are for the demolition of the old 1940''s era housing projects. There are many former residence of those project who also want them torn down, so mix-income housing can replace them.

In the mean time HUD has several thousand vouchers available for former project residence to use to pay rent elsewhere. There are also HUD apartments going begging. The fact is many families who left New Orleans have not come back, many becuase they have settled elsewhere, got new jobs, and enrolled their kids in schools outside the New Orleans area. There is not the same level of demand as before.

As to the comment about ''back people getting violent'', it should be noted many of the protesters who tried to break into city hall are white, and many are not from New Orleans!

[dogsoul]

"Hurricane Katrina was the biggest boon in history for the racist cons who would just as soon see black, brown, red and yellow people gone from the face of the earth.

This from a "white" person. "

Oh gee... you must be SO enlightened - to ACTUALLY be white & say those things... gosh... you''re my hero...

you''re a nimrod

[bareemperor]

and the hits just keep on coming...

[beehive21-2009]

It''s best to clean up the place low income housing( slums)need to be burnt down ,get rid of the gangs and all the BS that type of cesspool breds.

[dogsoul]

...yeah ttinsley - we heard you the first time - we just ignored you stupid liberal diatribe

[rosesnpearls]

The headline is misleading; this is not a Katrina housing problem. It was decided before Katrina to tear down these buildings. I''m sure they delayed tearing them down because of 1)bigger issues to take care of, and 2)the need for housing. Apparently the housing was substandard before AND after Katrina and the people need better options. I guess, they just aren''t bright enough to realize that they don''t have to live in slums, that HUD can improve their neighborhoods, lives, etc.

[fornicario]

One more injustice that those people had to endure. First, struggling to survive as FEMA and the White House played "If I ignore it, it will go away" while people died. Then, the government decides that the insurance companies can use ''flood damage'' to get out of paying out on the ''hurricane insurance'' they sold these survivors. And finally, the government gave them almost no relief or help in rebuilding their lives, instead giving more money to the great Iraqi money grab, forcing people to leave. Finally, to add insult to injury, low income housing is destroyed to make more commercial and ''mixed income'' zones, refusing to hear any form of appeal to plans made long before Katrina hit. Just another win for the Republicon pork barrel, where income is made destroying one life at a time.

[dogsoul]

...hysterical - liberals somehow blaming Bush for summoning a hurricane while making absolutely no comment whatsoever on the local leadership''s response....

typical liberal - would blame bush if a meteor hit

[fornicario]

And to all of you injecting race into this, shame on you. The fact that you are all still playing the race card means that the dream Dr. King had is still a long time coming. We are Americans, not Black or White, Red, Purple, or even Green, and the day that we all can honestly embrace that dream will mean we have made a Great Step Forward into the future.

[kennergirl]

Everytime they show the protests on the news here it''s majority white folks initiating the protests. They chain themselves to fences, windows and protest in front of the mayor''s office etc. Dressed as Santa too! I''d say practically all of these people aren''t from here and never lived in a project such as these. I''m still trying to figure out why they would go to such lengths for this and I can only come up with two reasons. 1) Fifteen minutes of fame (they show them on the news constantly) or 2) They don''t want these folks living in their neighborhood either. A lot of these people aren''t that great (you wouldn''t want them to be your neighbor) but I feel if they want to live in public housing than let them. The BW Cooper was slated for demolition at least 4 years ago (not 2 like the article states). Hey, If you like living in the projects then I love it. This is what they are used to so let them go ahead and live there. They are being given an opportunity to better themselves and if they don''t want to take it than who are we to force them?

[fornicario]

typical liberal - would blame bush if a meteor hit

Posted by dogsoul

And where did I invoke Bush''s name? Katrina was a Republican team effort.

[petesis]

American citizens treated this way in our own country. What? They were being rude so the police have the right to stun them and mace them? I don''t think so. The cops should be charged with assault.

[prinzowhales]

And these morons...muscles still twitching from the taser fire... are going to go out and vote for candidates who will build an even more monstrous police state....Wake up America!! The enemy of Americans are the oligarchy and THEIR police state regime...with their wars, their corruption, their open borders, their police state gangsters and their educated fools.

Congress has passed, with the help of the NRA, a gun control law that puts the 2nd Amendment at naught...It is unconstitutional. Keep your guns-- that is the only thing this Regime fears...an armed populance...or give up your guns for a Stalin, a Hitler...give them up for a Bush.

[l8c6]

The whole civilized world watches this nation and wonders what next suggests the U.S. foundation is crumbling.

[azcagirl]

I would probably be tased and pepper-sprayed too, if they were trying to take down my home. Where are these people supposed to go? I have an idea instead of just complaining that the housing projects are filthy and drug ridden and spending tons of money on ripping them down and building so-called "mixed" income housing (have you ever seen the rich, middle, working classes and poor people living in the same neighborhood?) and putting all these poor people out on the streets, why not try to rehabilitate these housing projects and offer a means to help these people try to make it on their own?

[myidoncbs]

Some unthinking person said, "I guess, they just aren''t bright enough to realize that they don''t have to live in slums, that HUD can improve their neighborhoods, lives, etc."

When there is a shortage of affordable housing (such as there is in N.O. now), tearing down the "slums" is not a solution unless new housing replaces it immediately. That won''t happen, so what do you expect the newly homeless to do? It''s not surprising that people are upset. The surprising thing is that the "greatest country in the world" couldn''t protect one of its largest cities from a natural disaster they had been warned about, had no plans to deal with the disaster when it struck, waited way too long after the disaster to do anything about it, and STILL has not acted to significantly restore the city.

[bezel54]

The coverage of this event by the national media has been deplorable.

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

I would expect the media to at least do a little research before chasing headlines without scratching the surface of the facts involved.

[Syndicate]

Yup thats what you deserve for trying to destroy property and defying authority. If you don''t like what city hall is doing recall them. Remove them from power. you don''t raid the place and burn it to the ground. Violance should be the option of last resort not first choice. This didn''t happen over night so they had time to sign petiotions and have the elected officals removed and replaced. Obviously by the pictures this is a bunch of liberal activist groups. They are to well dressed and mostly white. Why are liberals so quick to violence? The one picture of the buildings doesn''t look like that great of a place to live. Who knows maybe they have great veiws.

[bezel54]

The coverage of this event by the national media has been deplorable.

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

I would expect the media to at least do a little research before chasing headlines without scratching the surface of the facts involved.

[bezel54]

The coverage of this event by the national media has been deplorable.

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

I would expect the media to at least do a little research before chasing headlines without scratching the surface of the facts involved.

[bezel54]

The coverage of this event by the national media has been deplorable.

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

Lastly, this is not about donkeys or elephants or Hillary or Dubya, it''s about common sense and people.

[kailumego1]

ttinsly excellent post!

A fascist government supportive of corporate interest against down-trodden homeless impoverished citizens, now who do you think will win?

I have mixed feelings about this situation.

The black residents of this area should have stormed the Mayor''s office, city council, state capital, etc. a long time ago in protest of their failing housing units, but most of all, for their failing public schools.

My question is, why does it always have to get to this point before a community reacts?

Affordable and decent housing isn''t the only dilemma facing poor blacks in this region and across the country, adequate education and self-determinism are paramount and neglected by a majority of inner-city down-trodden blacks.

We all know who the government supports, particularly Republicans, the corporation, mega-corporations and not the people, the middle-class and certainly not the poor.

The poor have a voice, notwithstanding elitist members of society''s perspective of them as deviant, they need to take charge of their own destiny and stop depending upon a greater society to "bail them out" and take the initiative to demand better schools for their children, seek entrepreneurship within their communities, and make a conscious effort to finish school and seek higher-education.

[pghlady3]

was there and watched the entire thing. it''s a shame the news reporters saw something different. the chambers holds 300, when full the doors were closed. sorry. These people are fighting to live in mold covered, rat infested, decaying property that was meant as TEMPORARY HOUSING only. Get a job, get on your feet, get a real apt or house, this was not for your children and your grandchildren to live in free of rent. If you want my tax dollars to pay for this horrible housing, then as a taxpayer who has to take random drug testing, you as a tenant MUST also pass a drug test to live there rent free.

[bezel54]

All of you make me sick with your Demo or Republican agendas and bents. Please don''t let the facts get in the way...

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

Lastly, this is not about donkeys or elephants or Hillary or Dubya, it''s about common sense and people.

[bezel54]

All of you make me sick with your Demo or Republican agendas and bents. Please don''t let the facts get in the way...

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

Lastly, this is not about donkeys or elephants or Hillary or Dubya, it''s about common sense and people.

[mbcsmith]

Posted by bezel54 at 03:06 PM : Dec 20, 2007

Thanks for the sanity.

[bezel54]

All of you make me sick with your Demo or Republican agendas and bents. Please don''t let the facts get in the way...

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

Lastly, this is not about donkeys or elephants or Hillary or Dubya, it''s about common sense and people.

[bezel54]

All of you make me sick with your Demo or Republican agendas and bents. Please don''t let the facts get in the way...

1st, the majority of the protesters are not project residents and many are not even Louisiana residents and have not even seen the festering projects that they are fighting to keep.

2nd, there is not a shortage of public housing in New Orleans. There are literally hundreds of public housing units sitting vacant awaiting occupants, plus the hundreds of "Section 8" subsidized rental units available.

3rd, the projects as they exist now are miserable failures and do a great disservice to the residents that they are supposed to serve. If any of the protesters bothered to look at any of the myriad urban planning or sociological studies that have been undertaken since the 60''s that all show that high density public housing is a complete failure. The density offers no sense of personal identity or "defensible space" to the residence and futhermore the boundaries of these developments reinforce the sense of hopelessness rather than integrate the residents into productive society.

4th, the mixed income developments that are proposed have succeeded in other cities where they have been implemented and in the River Garden Development in New Orleans. Just ask the former St. Thomas housing project residents that now reside in River Garden where they would rather live.

Lastly, this is not about donkeys or elephants or Hillary or Dubya, it''s about common sense and people.

[nlm2383]

I completely disagree with the fact that they would leave so many people homeless, especially this time of year, but it''s so ignorant to make a comment like "It is an unabashed attempt to eliminate the black population of New Orleans" when I see a lot of other races in that crowd of protesters. It has nothing to do with trying to get rid of any race of people, it has to do with money and greedy people who don''t have to worry about not having a home to go to.

[dragonmouse-2009]

There shouldn''t be THAT much of a need for section 8 housing except for the elderly and handicapped.

I don''t see where the racism comes into play. Nobody''s identifying a particular RACE. They should be GRATEFUL they''re getting better quality housing in the area. This low rent housing is only supposed to be there to help people get on their feet. Then they can move into something better. If I was only paying $100-200 a month I could really stack up a nice savings.

Besides they are certianly going to open up a LOT of construction jobs. Those pay pretty good. The people ought to be cheering.

[rohink-2009]

it has to do with money and greedy people who don''''t have to worry about not having a home to go to.

Posted by nlm2383

~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, if you have a home to go to, you''re greedy?

[michellem99-2009]

I am white so what..It is meaningless. We ARE all one Race HUMAN. This is a human issue. If the housing is UNFIT then HUD will not pass it. There oaught to be housing for the displaced. Help them move in to fit housing. I can understand their pissed and up set. THERE HAVE TO BE HOUSING THEY AND THE POOR CAN AFFORD. Taking care of the home yer in shows yer prode in yerself. When ye bust it up as a renter shows us ye don''t care.

[bogusbones]

more police state actions - can''t even protest without getting bludgeoned by some neo facist. if katrina had hit ny or la or sf the response from the federal government would have been overwhelmingly different. call them black, poor indigent whatever, this government could care less about them. look at the entire coastal area. the poor are being pushed out by developers building condos for who? the wealthy. this is discrimination in the highest order. call the government bigots against the poor, black and disenfranchised former citizens of that region.

[kailumego1]

bezel54:

First, it is always a political agenda, don''t be so blind.

Second: has it ever occurred to you that, if these are not residents of New Orleans, then they''re there to protest against the "mixed neighborhood developments", because they don''t want to live in common with those poor down-trodden black residents.

Third: there is such a program in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and yes it works, it re-socializes or re-civilizes down-trodden individuals into mainstream society through modeling, however it''s dependent upon middle-class masses to participate. And maybe these individuals don''t care to participate in a "pilot program", which reintegrates so-called undesirables back into mainstream society.

Fourth: if you think mega-corporations aren''t benefiting from this deal, then I have some swamp land to sale you.

[kailumego1]

bezel54, so I guess you''re going to have to be sick take some Pepto Bismal.

[bennyblack1]

Frankly, I see those protestors as short sighted. I know many of them have family that have have open arms for them to come and stay for the time being. I know that for many of these people, staying in those complexes is a choice. I agree with the plan to demolish the old New Orleans and build a new one that makes room for mixed-income decent families. I never believed that cross-sectioning off an area (like here) for the poor, an area for the middle class, and an area for the rich.

[sbb2211]

kailumego1

"We all know who the government supports, particularly Republicans, the corporation, mega-corporations and not the people, the middle-class and certainly not the poor."

These Republican, corporations and mega-corporations are the same people that you will come crying to to BUILD the housing for these people, AND you also expect them to do it at a LOSS and be HAPPY about it.

If you want to point the finger, point it at the Liberals and Democrats that created this situation of "entitlement mentality" decades ago.

These people were brought up to have to rely on whatever the Liberals deemed fit to toss their way. And it was only enough to keep them reliant and loyal to the Liberals.

THAT is the truth about New Orleans!

[bennyblack1]

Here, there is an entire north side of the city that has been sectioned off, literally, for the poor, the sick, the criminals, and the elderly. It''s run down, and it''s a catch all for all sorts of horrible things. What these people need to understand is that the council is trying to bring a city with better living conditions. They need to let go of the old, and make way for the new. It has nothing to do with greed. Everything to do with CHANGE. Lack of change is a sure ingredient to failure. This will be GOOD for New Orleans.

[bennyblack1]

Not only that, criminals belong in JAIL or on DEATH ROW. Not in some sort of catch all city where they are all protected.

[pepperp1]

lets see, hmmm, what happens when a group of people who have been repeatedly disenfranchised but highly taxed do not perceive they benefited as their government against their will spends revenues corruptly elsewhere and then issues edicts involving their homes....

[bennyblack1]

dragonmouse has a good point.

I don''t know what the deal is with these people. I guess welfare took their brains and capacity to work from them. I don''t know. But construction jobs are paying 12 bucks an hour these days. Even if you know NOTHING, you can go to work as a framer. EASY work: CONSTANT work: EASY money.