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Journal Article
Steps to ease financial stress in areas affected by flooding
Discussion Paper
Moving Out of a Flood Zone? That May Be Risky!
An often-overlooked aspect of flood-plain mapping is the fact that these maps designate stark boundaries, with households falling either inside or outside of areas designated as “flood zones.” Households inside flood zones must insure themselves against the possibility of disasters. However, costly insurance may have pushed lower-income households out of areas officially designated a flood risk and into physically adjacent areas. While not designated an official flood risk, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and disaster data shows that these areas are still at considerable risk ...
Journal Article
Who needs downtowns, anyway?
Were historic business districts worth saving? City leaders thought so.
Discussion Paper
Flood-Prone Basement Housing in New York City and the Impact on Low- and Moderate-Income Renters
Hurricane Ida, which struck New York in early September 2021, exposed the region’s vulnerability to extreme rainfall and inland flooding. The storm created massive damage to the housing stock, particularly low-lying units. This post measures the storm’s impact on basement housing stock and, following the focus on more-at-risk populations from the two previous entries in this series, analyzes the attendant impact on low-income and immigrant populations. We find that basements in select census tracts are at high risk of flooding, affecting an estimated 10 percent of low-income and immigrant ...
Discussion Paper
Flood Risk Outside Flood Zones — A Look at Mortgage Lending in Risky Areas
In support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) creates flood maps that indicate areas with high flood risk, where mortgage applicants must buy flood insurance. The effects of flood insurance mandates were discussed in detail in a prior blog series. In 2021 alone, more than $200 billion worth of mortgages were originated in areas covered by a flood map. However, these maps are discrete, whereas the underlying flood risk may be continuous, and they are sometimes outdated. As a result, official flood maps may not fully capture the true ...
Journal Article
Rules vs. discretion: the wrong choice could open the floodgates
Anyone who sets any kind of policy can appreciate the dilemma that faces those trying to prevent construction in floodplains: Is it better to stick to the rules-no matter how harsh-or to exercise discretion under certain circumstances?