So it's no wonder that government officials want to simply tear down many of these homes. But in the community of Highland Park, Mich., several of the homes recently demolished were nearly new and never owned after a neighborhood revitalization project turned disastrous. And even the wreckers hired to do the job expressed shock at the waste.

"The project was supposed to transform a derelict section of Highland Park into a model neighborhood," reported Detroit TV station WXYZ. But a lot of the homes built just eight years ago are now abandoned, stripped, burned and now being demolished by the state as a part of its "Michigan Blight Elimination Program."

Just recently, several homes built this decade were marked for demolition alongside some 60-year-old homes.