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While New Orleans continues to struggle in the aftermath of hurricanes Rita and Camille, other Gulf Coast markets are booming, thanks to the resultant population shifts and business relocations, says a study by the Rockefeller Institute of Government and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana.

Sales tax revenues are down 27 percent from prestorm levels in New Orleans, but they’re up over 30 percent in such cities as Hattiesburg, Miss., and Gulf Shores, Ala. Officials in Jackson, Miss., report 29 new commercial developments, valued at a total $1.6 billion, that are bringing 4,500 new jobs.

In Hattiesburg, restaurant sales are up 26 percent. And in Laurel, Miss., tourism tax revenue increased 24.6 percent between January and May. In Gulf Shores, some 1,600 new condominiums are slated for construction over the next three years. “The question for officials in these cities and counties and parishes is how long the increased revenue flow will last and how that will affect planning for the future,” the report said. “Most are fairly cautious at the moment, understanding all too well that the boom could end as quickly as it started.”

The most pressing problem is creating enough affordable housing for the low-income workers who will be doing most of the rebuilding, the report says. In Hattiesburg home prices have jumped 10 percent since Katrina, and rental prices are up between 10 percent and 20 percent.