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Jilly_in_VA

(10,965 posts)
Mon Nov 6, 2023, 02:41 PM Nov 2023

3 cities face a climate dilemma: to build or not to build homes in risky places


With climate-fueled disasters killing hundreds of Americans annually and costing communities billions of dollars, a growing number of local governments are asking a basic question: Are there some places where people shouldn't build homes?

It's one of the most difficult choices a community can make. Local governments typically want more housing, not less, because budgets are generally funded by the property taxes from those homes. At the same time, a nationwide housing shortage is creating even more pressure to build.

"[If] you're a local government, of course you want to develop," says Katharine Mach, who studies climate change and housing at the University of Miami. "You're building a community. You're supporting livelihoods. You're supporting tourism oftentimes. [And] there's the pragmatic dimension of, you need the property taxes."

As a result, putting limits on homebuilding can feel like a non-starter for the local officials who generally control land-use decisions.

But with often deadly extreme-weather disasters on the rise, the problem can no longer be ignored. In the last five years, floods, wildfires, severe storms and droughts have caused more than $580 billion in damage and killed hundreds of people. And some states are passing laws that put conditions on future growth.

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/06/1204923950/arizona-california-new-jersey-climate-flood-wildfire-drought-building-homes
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3 cities face a climate dilemma: to build or not to build homes in risky places (Original Post) Jilly_in_VA Nov 2023 OP
Plus Flawrida peppertree Nov 2023 #1
Is it REALLY a 'dilemma'... Think. Again. Nov 2023 #2
+100 Rhiannon12866 Nov 2023 #3
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