Currently, in New Orleans, there is a run away process for the demolition of housing.

From Kelly Voight in the comments of Squandered Heritage.

My house at 5537 Franklin Avenue was demolished without proper notification to me or the mortgage company. Out of 4 notification channels, the city only followed 2 of their 4 channels.

We had been waiting for the city to issue us a renovation permit for almost 18 months. I had called and traveled to the 5th floor of City Hall. I had taken pictures and filled out all correct forms for my permit. As of the day that they knocked my house down, the permit was still “pending.”

My house was a 1945 Gentilly bungalow with double parlor, original floors, the Gentilly tile, and deco molding. It was in no danger of falling down. My contractor drove by, called, and asked why there were bulldozers on the property the morning they tore it down. Before he could reach us, the house was gone.

I cannot return to the city now. I feel such pure fury when I think of my house being torn down. City bulldozers trespassed on my property and tore down my lovely Gentilly bungalow. New Orleans has nothing to do with America anymore. New Orleans is dead to me, and I will not lift a finger to help or give back to it again.

Was this an accident? No. I is a pattern of negligence on the part of the city. An unimaginable abuse of power.

People have returned for the weekend to work on their homes, only to find them gone as noted in the Wall Street Journal story Katrina Survivors Face New Threat: City Demolition . People have been awoken to the sound of Entergy cutting the wires to the house in which they live as described in this NPR story New Orleans' Wrecking Ball Levels Healthy Homes.

The Recovery School District is now requesting permits to demolish dozens of schools, while HUD is in the midst of destorying thousands of units of public housing.

It is all happening quietly, while we struggle to rebuilding our homes. This project will tell people which structures are being demolished and where.