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Mississippi
Mississippi Renewal Forum Wraps Up Reconstruction Plans for 11 Coastal Cities
Likely to have cost about $300,000 if compiled by a private firm, a catalog of post-hurricane reconstruction concepts worked out by more than 200 architects, planners and officials for each of the 11 hard-hit coastal cities at the six-day Mississippi Renewal Forum in Biloxi will be given local and regional developers free, said its leader, New Urbanism co-founder Andres Duany, urging their cooperation among themselves and with local officials, and expecting municipalities to make the permitting process simpler, less costly and more affordable for small builders.
''People are so desperate for housing they will buy whatever is available,'' he pointed out. ''It is up to the builders to determine what that will be.''
In response to some builders' concern about the higher cost of proposed designs, which will be presented to area residents in an already-launched series of 40 town meetings, reports Jackson Clarion-Ledger writer Scott Waller, Andres Duany expressed hope that hurricane victims will get assistance for rebuilding and that businesses, especially manufactured-housing firms, will obtain some incentives for locating in the area.
''Building (the manufactured housing) here makes it much less expensive to deliver than if they are coming from Alabama or Tennessee,'' he observed, noting that almost all displaced residents want to come back, and that they may feel forced to sell, because ''insurance is (still) not paying.''
Commenting on the six-day planning forum, Homebuilders Association of Mississippi CEO Marty Milstead agreed that cooperation and communication will be crucial for success. ''The government bodies and the builders are going to have to be working like never before,'' he stressed. ''Access is going to be critical.''
Initially distrustful of the forum, Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr also changed his mind. ''I didn't want someone to come into my town and borrow my watch to tell me what time it was. But now we have a great opportunity,'' he said. ''We have to think about what is best for the community and the legacy we will create.'' -- Clarion-Ledger 10/19/2005
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