Architects and builders are rushing to design and build new simple but cozy homes for storm victims living in FEMA trailers.
A new industry of home building has sprung up to cater to the tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents still living in trailers 10 months after Hurricane Katrina. Billed as quick and inexpensive to build, but storm ready and with more charm than a mobile home, the new "Katrina Cottages" is set to change face of the region, and simultaneously create a new design for quality affordable housing that can be applied elsewhere.
"The first "Katrina Cottage," designed by New York architect Marianne Cusato, made a splash when a prototype debuted in January at a trade show in Florida. Six months later, Cusato is in talks with Lowe's to design and manufacture a "kit" for that will provide the materials for builders to assemble a Katrina cottage on site."
Read the full story: Katrina spawns cottage industry
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority