Comments on: Razing New Orleans

By: Louisiana Blog » Senior Citizen gets home razed by city of New Orleans

Louisiana Blog » Senior Citizen gets home razed by city of New Orleans — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 20:26:30 +0000

[...] b.rox [...]

By: b.rox » Blog Archive » Erroneous Demolitions

b.rox » Blog Archive » Erroneous Demolitions — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 22:31:02 +0000

[...] few days ago I posted something from a private email correspondence, regarding the subject of erroneous demolitions by [...]

By: jeff lamb

jeff lamb — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 23:32:54 +0000

well ididn’t mean quite right, maybe the right word, but not the right thing to do

By: jeff lamb

jeff lamb — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 23:31:00 +0000

razing a barn would be to build a structure,?,
yet, the razing of new orleans is quite right.

By: The Times Picayune weighs in | Squandered Heritage

The Times Picayune weighs in | Squandered Heritage — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 22:35:57 +0000

[...] there you have it, we are having house genocide in the City and the Times Picayune sends in the Food [...]

By: Imminent Threat « jlp/ New Orleans

Imminent Threat « jlp/ New Orleans — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:58:34 +0000

[...] b.rox [...]

By: Editor B

Editor B — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:55:45 +0000

I think the dots have to be rather sizable in those interactive maps for usability’s sake — so you can click the dot and get the address.

Indeed 1,700 is not a big number in some ways. By way of comparison, a friend informs me that “Per FEMA, there have been 3,800 FEMA demos so far, and an equal number of private ones.” 1,700 is a small number in comparison.

Of course if it’s your house and you didn’t want it demolished, that’s one house too many.

I probably should have stuck with my original title for this post: “Unwanted Demolitions” instead of the alarmist “Razing of New Orleans.” Sometimes I get carried away.

By: Garvey

Garvey — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:43:27 +0000

Thanks, B. I didn’t mean to crap on your map. I meant the other map, too–the interactive one. It only starts to reveal reality when you zoom in. Zoomed out, it still has the same problem of overstating the case.

And I know you were making a different–and familiar–point, that the whole thing is a clusterfuck. That’s pretty much business as usual down there, but it’s great that people like you actually give a shit enough to fight it and make it known. Kudos.

I was only looking at the raw numbers and doubted that 1700 was a lot, (compared to the whole).

By: Editor B

Editor B — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:36:42 +0000

Garvey, of course you’re correct in some of your observations. New Orleans is full of houses which need to be demolished — and that was true before Katrina. But the reality here is that we have numerous houses which are in danger of imminent collapse which are not on the list, and while numerous houses which pose no threat are on the list.

The map is simply the best I could do with my limited resources. See the follow-up post which links to a true interactive map that allows you to zoom in to whatever level you like.

By: Garvey

Garvey — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:29:11 +0000

Disregarding the nefarious activities that may or may not be involved here, I am not sure I understand the “scope” of these demolitions. Let’s look at only the raw numbers (and not the shady dealings behind this). Pre-K, there were roughly 220,000 houses. 1700 is a little less than eight-tenths of one percent.

Another way to say that is one in every 129 houses will be torn down.

Even pre-K, is it hard to believe that a random sample of 129 houses in N.O. would yield one house that should be torn down?

The zoomed-out Google map is completely misleading. It makes it look like the firebombing of Dresden. Laughably, each little target icon on the map is shown to be about 9 square blocks or even half the size of Audubon golf course, when in reality it is a single, tiny home on one block. I can’t help but look at the map as a propaganda tool.

And while it may make me a pariah in some circles, I don’t buy into the belief that old = “historic.” It’s an abuse of the spirit of the concept, IMO. It’s like calling a 1977 Chevy Malibu station wagon a “classic car.” No it’s not: it’s an old POS. Same with houses. Just because a shitbox shotgun was built in 1906 doesn’t make it “historic.” It’s just old. And it was never anything special to begin with.