Long Beach Mississippi Concept Plan

Location: Long Beach, MS. Small Gulf Coast bedroom community damaged by Hurricane Katrina

Long Beach, Mississippi is a bedroom community of about 17,300 residents on the Gulf Coast. After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area, the community has responded by wanting to reinstate the town's attractive nature and rapid growth that was occurring before the storm.

Together with its citizens and city officials, a team of architects, planners, attorneys, and engineers were chosen to assess the damage and to propose several redevelopment alternatives. As the town hall was destroyed, a charrette and a series of public meetings were held in the city's lesser damaged facilities, ranging from fire stations to church fellowship halls to school gymnasiums. It was in these sessions that ideas were debated, creativity flourished, and 13 specially focused citizen's committees were established. This intense and productive process finally came to fruition in a new comprehensive concept master plan in less than a year after the destruction.

To create a truly comprehensive plan many aspects need to be addressed in detail. The scope of this project included: Mapping Pre-Hurricane Conditions; Damage Assessment, Understanding FEMA and Insurance Issues, Private Property Rights Scenarios, Neighborhood Analysis (including block structure), Gateway Identification, a Jurisdiction-wide Concept Plan, Downtown Infill/Redevelopment Plan, a Retail Market Study, Parks and Landscaping Recommendations, Calibration of the Smart Code and Transect Diagram, and Thoroughfare Guidelines. This project conveys the entire city's goal of a more livable, independent, and yet still friendly place to be on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. While trying to preserve many of its historical and legacy sites, both natural and man-made, the city is well on its way to becoming a viable place again.

Transect Zone(s): T3 sub-urban, T4 general, T5 center, T6 core.
Status: 1-25% Built
Project or Plan's Scale: Region
Features: Affordable/subsidized housing, Civic buildings & parks, Rail/fixed guideway transit.
Land area (in acres): 10
Total built area (in sq. ft.):
Total project cost (in local currency):
Retail area (in sq. ft.):
Office area (in sq. ft.):
Industrial area (in sq. ft.):
Number of hotel units:
Number of residential units (include live/work):
Civic uses (type and size): Town Hall, Elementary School, Library, Two Churches
Parks & green space (in acres):
Project team designers: Ayers/Saint/Gross, Architects and Planners
Project team developers: City of Long Beach, MS

Previous site status: Redevelopment