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Habitat, which has built several hundred houses in Haiti, estimates $4000-$6000 per "core house"; core houses are expandable, seismically sound permanent housing structures.

Habitat also estimates 105,000 "totally destroyed" pre-quake houses.

Obviously, all of these numbers are better than the six houses the Red Cross built.

The larger problem in Haiti is legal, though: getting the rights to land to build on is complicated and slow.

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Thanks! Seems like there is a market for durable "portable" structures that can be built on disputed land, and then moved if needed.

So you're suggesting a trailer park?

Sure. Millions of Americans reside in "trailer parks" at a standard of living that is the envy of much of the world, and surely orders of magnitude better than the situation in Cite de Dieu. Also, on their own terms, probably the envy of many a Manhattanite.

Haitians aren't looking for 2-car garages and island kitchens. Running water, electricity, and a structure that won't collapse in the next natural disaster would do just fine.

I imagine a challenge with deploying manufactured housing to Haiti is that anything new that's built needs to be earthquake-resistant.

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