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NYT on redesigning Biloxi
May 26, 2006
Recommended reading. Last Sunday's NYTimes magazine had a terrific piece on the conflicting interests at work in a major redesign - of Biloxi, Mississippi.
The New Urbanists drew up thoughtful plans, FEMA listed requirements, the mayor wants more casinos, and many residents express skepticism (and who can blame them, after what they've been through):
From Battle for Biloxi:
There were two women at Tyrone's, Renee Scott and Bernice Catchings. Before Katrina wrecked it, they had both worked at the Boomtown Casino, Scott as a wardrobe clerk and Catchings as a cook; each had been making $8.75 an hour and taking home about $6 after taxes - $12,000 a year for a full-time job and the jobs had disappeared six months previously. I flipped to the part of the plan that covered affordable housing, and they looked at it skeptically. "Affordable to who?" Scott said. "It won't be me, I can assure you of that."
