Most recently? New Orleans, 2005.
Post-Katrina, there was lots of talk about shutting down city services (police, firefighting, garbage pickup, etc.) to large portions of the city to force the city into a smaller "footprint".
Guess what, it ain't happening. The areas that were considered for "shutdown" actually were some of the "newer" portions of the flooded area, and therefore had houses built on monolithic slabs. Although the homes suffered horrible flood damage, they were deemed salvageable - and the city began buying up those houses through a number of straw-man purchasers, gutting and rebuilding the interiors. This like-new housing was made available to - you guessed it - low income families.
Ten to one, that's what the neighborhood organizer-in-chief has in mind: many houses in the designated areas won't be bulldozed at all, they'll be turned into replacements for public housing projects.
Think about it - parts of New Orleans are still, for all practical purposes, depopulated. In some areas, perhaps only one in ten property owners have repaired their homes, while the rest of the houses sit in ruins. Yet, that city isn't on the list. I think it's because the plan is already in motion there.
Correct. This is more stealth redistribution of wealth. From the article:
"Flint's recovery efforts have been helped by a new state law passed a few years ago which allowed local governments to buy up empty properties very cheaply.
They could then knock them down or sell them on to owners who will occupy them. "