If you look at the beautiful new town plans, cottage designs, and sample zoning codes produced by the Mississippi Renewal Forum, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

Experts from Mississippi and around the world gathered in Biloxi just 40 days after Hurricane Katrina turned the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama into what looked like war zones. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour appointed a privately funded commission to bring in some 300 architects, planners, engineers, and other specialists. He hoped to “illuminate choices” for restoring what was lost, and, if possible, to make it “better than ever.”

Andrés Duany (who designed the town of Seaside in northwest Florida) and Congress for the New Urbanism (a nonprofit association that promotes mixed-use communities with walkable town centers) headed the six-day event. Planners focused on 11 cities and three coastal counties most damaged in Mississippi. The group’s efforts were compiled in a large-format paperback called A Pattern Book for Gulf Coast Neighborhoods. It contains pre-Katrina photos of coastal towns, homes, and landscaping to guide reconstruction consistent with local traditions.

Here are some of the Renewal Forum’s conclusions:

CODES. Members recommend far tougher codes for Mississippi, because so many of the homes blown away by wind or destroyed by water were built in areas already considered vulnerable. They aim to match higher building standards, such as those in Florida.

BUILDING MATERIALS. Designers agree that homes must be “hardened” against flooding and wind, and elevated when necessary. They call for extreme structural integrity and stormworthy choices for siding, roofs, windows, doors, and connecting devices.

ZONING. The New Urbanists continue to press the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for more leeway in coping with flood zones. Though the government, insurers, and mortgage lenders are likely to have the final say in what can be built where, Renewal Forum members have suggested several ways to protect single- and multifamily homes constructed in flood zones.

JOBS. In Mississippi alone, some 65,000 homes were destroyed, far more than conventional builders can replace quickly. Modified factories can mass-produce any home design for on-site assembly in a fraction of the time (and cost) it takes to build from the ground up. To reduce one of the industry’s biggest expenses—transportation—there’s incentive to build factories in the stricken areas. This would simultaneously provide needed regional employment.

SMART SOLUTIONS. Designers such as Marianne Cusato of New York have created innovative housing alternatives to FEMA trailers. Marianne’s tiny house plan (picture shown above), may be built on site or as manufactured housing for $35,000 or less, depending on finishing details. Affordability could be the most promising result of the Mississippi experience. We may be entering a new era, in which appealingly designed, storm-engineered manufactured housing comes into its own.

ALSO:
From Cottage Living
Katrina Cottages
Rising from the ruins of Katrina, new cottage prototypes revolutionize the concept of affordable housing and embody a movement to rebuild the character of Gulf Coast towns.