[StBernard] abandoned property

[Westley Annis]

While I understand some people are returning to St. Bernard and are ready to
clean up their homes and neighborhoods, it is not a clear cut answer for
everyone.

Yes, eight months is a long time, but a lot of folks are still waiting for
answers from insurance and/or government, whether it is local, state, or
Federal.  Regardless of ones financial situation, I can understand waiting
to gut a house if you are unsure as to whether or not it will be demolished.
Why waste resources on gutting if the house will be demolished?

The parish has started the free gutting program and is about to start
demolishing homes.  I don't know about the progress on gutting, but Mike
Hunnicut has stated that they will only be able to demolish about 30 homes
day.  That's not much when you consider the number of homes.

I believe Craig Taffaro did mention way back when that the Council was
setting a date for the entire parish since there was some argument that they
didn't want to give one part of the parish a time advantage over another.  I
totally disagree with this concept.

Everyone should have as much time as possible to make this decision.  If the
bulldozing will start in Arabi and work its way down river, then Chalmette
residents should have a little more time than Arabi residents.

I still don't know if it would be better to gut or bulldoze my house.
Before I sign up for gutting, I want to know what the final parish and state
plans are for my neighborhood.  If it is deemed that it is better to have my
house bulldozed, I sure don't want anyone wasting time gutting my house when
they could have gutted someone's house that is not going to be bulldozed.

By the same token, I don't truly understand the people who are married to
their homes.  Yes, you may have a lot of wonderful memories from living
there, but Katrina has now wiped that away to be stored in your memory.
Even if you rebuild there, the house will be different.

By showing a little more flexibility, I leave open the possibility for
something like the Duany plan.  It is a starting point for rebuilding St.
Bernard better than it was, but if no one is willing to trade their plot of
land for a different one, then all you end up with is the St. Bernard with a
different façade.

I have never looked the appearance of homes as much as I have in the past
2-3 months and I've got to say I find most of the 20-40 year old brick ranch
style homes really are ugly on the outside.  They look like something built
by a six year old with Lego blocks.

Maybe it's just a changing of opinion, but I've really come to appreciate
the appearance of your raised wood-frame house.  They seem to have a lot
more character to them.

Westley