I'm wondering if anyone out there has successfully had their home demolished by the City. Specifically I'm wondering about how long it takes and if you can expect notification before it is carried out (and how much).

I've had the application for demolition with the City since the middle of May. My home is on Marshal Foch St. They did send an assessor and advised me that the request was being forwarded to FEMA. Since then, there was another visit (Sunday Aug 20) by contract workers to inspect for demolition readiness - gas connections, asbestos, sewer isolation etc. This group advised me that there were 400 homes ahead of mine and they anticipated my wait would be another month or so. I have contracted with an outside construction company to handle the demolition task since I want to rebuild and cannot wait indefinitely for the city to respond. I also believe that my cost may be able to be covered by ICC funding however, this could be at risk based upon the BFE and the height of my floor. This matter remains uncertain.
I'm not sure how meaningful this is to you, however, I wanted to share my experience with regard to the demolition effort - maybe it is helpful with regard to your decision making criteria.