We can have one without the other
Why solutions to homelessness should be funded by a tax on local land values. This is the first piece in an ongoing series in which we explain how local housing costs cause homelessness, why solutions to homelessness should be funded from a land value tax,… Read More »“In a good economy, homelessness goes up”: The Paradox of Progress and Poverty
This is the fifth piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States: Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865… Read More »Land & Racial Injustice – Part 5: Reaping What Was Sowed
This is the fourth piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States: Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865… Read More »Land & Racial Injustice – Part 4: The Invisible Hand of the Housing Market (1970 to Today)
This is the third piece in an ongoing series that examines the role that control of land has played in racial injustice throughout Black history in the United States: Part 1: Slaveholders and Land Monopoly (1619 to 1865)Part 2: 40 Acres and a Ghoul (1865… Read More »Land & Racial Injustice – Part 3: Homeownership: White Subsidy, Black Exclusion (1910 to 1970)
New York received record-breaking rainfall in 2023, which led to flooding in coastal and urban areas. As the state grapples with recurring flooding issues, residents are reminded of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, where governments were challenged with the displacement of thousands of families and damage… Read More »Disaster Response to Hurricane Sandy Highlights Disparities in Home Buyouts
Increasingly, the people who make our communities run – our teachers, police officers, and facility workers – can no longer afford to live where they work. “Workforce housing” is an increasingly popular solution to this problem. What is it, and does it represent an equitable… Read More »Is Workforce Housing the Answer to America’s Affordable Housing Crisis?
Exploring the criticisms of Detroit’s Land Value Tax Plan: Do they have merit? Detroit’s Land Value Tax (LVT) plan has generated considerable discussion within the City and beyond. Many support the plan for its potential to transform Detroit’s tax system, promote development, and provide tax… Read More »Addressing Common Concerns and Building Support for Detroit’s Land Value Tax Plan
With city dwellers facing ever-rising housing costs, there is rising interest in community land trusts (CLT) as a way to curtail rampant speculation in the property market and provide permanently affordable housing. Inspired by the garden cities movement and the ideas of Henry George, CLTs… Read More »Champlain Housing Trust: Affordable housing through community land ownership
In the face of climate change’s far-reaching impacts, the notion of land as an unyielding and permanent resource has been shattered and replaced by a landscape in flux. Rising sea levels, intensified flooding, and other climate-related events have cast a shadow over the stability of our land, compelling us to rethink our approaches and policies in response to these evolving challenges.
One such approach is managed retreat, a concept entailing the relocation of human settlements and infrastructure from vulnerable or high-risk areas due to environmental factors. Within managed retreat, various strategies are employed, including acquisition and buyouts, zoning and land-use regulations, land swaps, and community engagement.
Climate change poses a significant threat to numerous regions in the United States, rendering them increasingly uninhabitable due to rising sea levels, flooding, wildfires, and more. As a response to this challenge, managed retreat has emerged as a strategy to relocate affected households, neighborhoods, and even communities away from harm’s way. Although managed retreat can involve a number of processes, the use of buyouts––the voluntary purchasing of private properties using public funds (which is intended to spur the relocation of at-risk households to lower risk locations), is a critical (and in many places, virtually the only) tool in a policy maker’s toolbox.
While physically moving people out of harm’s way makes intuitive sense, the real world applications of managed retreat-related buyouts are highly complex, emotional, and fraught with weighty fiscal and equity implications. Here we explore some basic financial considerations of managed retreat, shedding light on the challenges faced by affected municipalities and fundamental flaws in the system as a whole.
