Beyond the infrastruction there will be the need to rebuild neighborhoods and shopping areas.  The Gulf Coast should borrow a page from New York City.  Localities should divide their towns and cities into development lots.  They should then layout the specs for that redevelopment, size, height, density and perhaps the look they want.

Then they should put the lots up for bid. The key is not money but plans.  Would be bidders will have to present a complete package that complies with the overall development plan.  As part of the bid there must be building plans, a development team, financing, a sales or rental team all in place.  The groups with the best plans that can get from scratch to built to filled best should be choosen.

The Federal Government can provide three services.  The first is subsidized bonds to pay for the building. In exchange builders will have to offer a mix of incomes in what they building.  The Federal Government can also make sure low income tax credits are available and known to the builders.  This will give investors a tax rightoff in exchange for low income rentals being built.  Lastly, the Federal Government can offer subsidized mortgages for buyers of the newly built properties.

This plan will allow a private, local and Federal  partnership that will limit the waste of money and get real buildings built to house real people.