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" So, why not provide something that is designed for permanent living, rather than camping? This question was raised during the Mississippi Renewal Forum, a planning workshop convened by new urbanists and state politicians in Biloxi last October.
An architect from New York named Marianne Cusato drew up a design for a 400-square-foot cottage that could be erected on devastated lots and eventually be enlarged and added onto to become a permanent home.
The strategy is not new.
After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the relief committee built 6,000 two-room wooden shelters (which they likewise called "cottages") in a dozen locations.
The aim was to provide refugees with something better than the Army tents they had been using.
The cottages were occupied for a year while the devastated city was cleaned up.
But when people started to rebuild, they transported the huts to their lots and incorporated them into the...
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