City residents denounce “Bring New Orleans Back” rebuilding plan

Under the plan, the mostly working class and poor residents of the hardest-hit areas—comprising some two-thirds of the city and including more than half of its homeowners—would not be allowed to move back and begin rebuilding their homes for at least four months. With Nagin’s approval, the moratorium on building permits would begin on January 20. The vast area of the city targeted by the proposal includes major portions of the Gentilly, Mid-City, Lakeview and Lower 9th Ward neighborhoods.

During these four months, residents would have to demonstrate the existence of sufficient “critical mass” in their neighborhoods—by showing, for example, that half of the population planned to return and rebuild. Neighborhoods that failed the test would either be reduced in size or plowed under, and a new city agency—the Crescent City Redevelopment Corporation—would buy out homeowners or seize their property through eminent domain. These areas would be returned to wetlands and green space. The estimated cost would be $12 billion, which the city would seek to recoup from the federal government.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/jan2006/newo-j14.shtml