Reconstruction Framework for Biloxi
Living Cities and City of Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi, MS
Moving forward after Katrina: Rebuilding a resilient East Biloxi, Mississippi
Just months after Biloxi, Mississippi, experienced the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, including a 28-foot storm surge and flooding, Goody Clancy led an intensive three-month planning process to create a framework for rebuilding a resilient Biloxi. Assembled by Living Cities—an alliance of foundations that invest in cities across the country—the team held a series of community meetings and workshops in the winter and spring of 2006 to ensure that the values and goals of residents would inform the framework and resulting recommendations. These formed the basis of our report, Moving Forward: Recommendations for Rebuilding East Biloxi.
Notable aspects of the plan include:
- A combination of respect for Biloxi’s history and architectural traditions with a pragmatic understanding of the realities of building in a vulnerable coastal area
- A strategy to turn some of the city’s most flood-prone land into a green corridor connecting the Gulf and the Back Bay, thereby creating a distinctive and character-defining community asset
- Identification of distinct redevelopment zones within the city, including a tourism and entertainment zone
- Residential areas that can accommodate expanded housing options at every income level
- Catalyst projects to jumpstart the housing market
