Yesterday, the board of housing development in New Orleans confirmed their decision to tear down four lower-income housing developments–consisting of over 4,000 homes–to make way for spanking new developments of “mixed income” (read: upper middle class) housing. Mayor Ray Nagin said that the decision is “moving forward” for New Orleans.

Of course, Nagin is half right. Building new homes, across the income spectrum, is crucial for the development of New Orleans. But tearing down four thousand homes and building four thousand more is the opposite of moving forward, or backward: it’s just stagnation.

A Child in New Orleans

And as always, those who have nothing will end up losing the most.