Wasting away in Margaritaville: Katrina opened the door to casino development and gentrified rebuilding.(GULF COAST UPDATE)

TWO YEARS OF POST-KATRINA rebuilding may have rendered many construction projects commonplace, but a new casino development in Biloxi, Mississippi, by the Harrah Casino and country star Jimmy Buffet can hardly be described as common. Construction began this August on the Margaritaville Casino, a $700 million-plus project that marks the largest investment in Mississippi since the storm.

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Margaritaville is the first new casino to join the seven operating casinos in East Biloxi. Before the hurricane, Mississippi law prohibited building gaming facilities on land, so casinos were restricted to the shoreline as barges. When Katrina sent those barges crashing onto land and cleared out 80 percent of the structures in East Biloxi, the state government amended the laws to allow casinos to build 800 feet inland. In effect, Hurricane Katrina became an opportunity that developers only dreamed of.

Historically an Eastern European and Vietnamese immigrant community, East Biloxi remains one of the last working-class communities on a beachfront property. Katrina made it very difficult for these residents to return and rebuild, and those who were able to stay in the area face skyrocketing insurance and rental rates. For many, selling land to hungry developers remained the most logical option.

With the East Biloxi landscape wiped clean, casino corporations, developers and the city government had a vision to create a "better" Biloxi. To these entities, "better" means bigger resorts, more high-priced condominiums and more businesses. Living Cities, a city planning ...