This Wayne Curtis article on post-Katrina architecture in New Orleans is fascinating. Essentially, it discusses a number of groups’ efforts to provide affordable yet well-designed, hurricane-safe, and energy-efficient houses. It covers a number of issues that pique my interest, and I suspect that if you ever find yourself discussing urban issues, affordability in cities, or design in general, you’ll have a similar reaction.

That said, this quote from Andres Duany struck me as a bit odd:

“They have such a profound misunderstanding of the culture of the Caribbean that they’re destroying it. The heart of the tragedy is that New Orleans is not being measured by Caribbean standards. It’s being measured by Minnesota standards.”

Specifically, the choice of Minnesota seemed a bit arbitrary. But given that, say, the Twin Cities are also an affordable metro area with their own particular needs as far as harsh weather are concerned, I don’t quite know if this is quite as apples-and-oranges as Duany’s comparison suggests.