The fight for public housing: New Orleans has become ground zero in the battle for affordable homes.(GULF COAST UPDATE)

SAM JACKSON, A FORMER RESIDENT of New Orleans public housing, is outraged that the federal government plans to demolish his home. "We didn't leave of our own will," he said. "They forced us out of this city at gunpoint. Then they put fences around our homes, and they won't let us back."

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In New Orleans, a city where nearly 90 percent of homes were damaged by Katrina, public housing communities have become a battleground over the government's role in affordable housing. The Bush administration wants a "free market" approach, which means demolitions and private developers. Bush strategist Grover Norquist famously declared he wanted to make government "small enough to drown in a bathtub," and Bush's HUD secretary Alphonso Jackson said the projects perpetuate a "cycle of poverty." Advocates, of course, argue that affordable housing is a tool to help people escape poverty and homelessness. "No one is looking for a handout," said Reverend Lois Dejean, whose Gert Town neighborhood was devastated by Katrina. "We just want to come home."

Even before Hurricane Katrina, developers were coveting New Orleans' public housing neighborhoods, especially the Lafitte and Iberville developments, which were well-constructed units just a short walk from the posh French Quarter. There was only one obstacle: the people living there. After Katrina, developers, government officials and privatization advocates saw their opportunity. Within days after the storm, politicians and business leaders were meeting to discuss ways to sell the housing projects. Soon, fences and gates went up around the major developments, blocking tenants from returning to their homes.

Under the Clinton-era "Hope VI" program, funding is available to tear down ...