For decades, apartment complexes have stood along Blair Creek in Charlotte, North Carolina. Over the years, the building has been flooded again and again.
About 15 years ago, hundreds of apartments were purchased and demolished as part of a floodplain buyout program.
Instead, wetland habitats were restored. When it rains now, plants and rich soil help absorb the water, reducing the risk of flooding.
Garin Bulger of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University analyzed that program and other buyout programs across the country.
Bulger: “If you have a proactive municipality or buyout program, they will consolidate the property, they will turn it into some kind of proactive green space in your community.”
But he said converting buyout properties into natural areas requires planning and resources. Otherwise, some buyout properties may be neglected and fenced off.
Bulger: “It's going to cause a little bit of damage to the community, or it could cause damage if it's not managed well.”
As climate change and flooding worsen, takeovers are likely to become more common. Therefore, it is important for communities to plan ahead so that properties bought out in floodplains can help improve the quality of life there.
Report source: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media
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