Geoscience Reference
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• With the projected increase in precipitation events in much of the country, green
infrastructure could be important as a way to help manage the increased storm
water flows without having to build expensive new “gray” infrastructure. In
addition, green infrastructure like street trees and green roofs can mitigate the
heat island effect, which can help reduce the cooling load for buildings. Other
co-benefits include aesthetic improvements, which can make walking and biking
more appealing and add green space to compact neighborhoods.
• These types of solutions are being used in communities around the country,
from major urban centers like New York City to small rural towns like Howard,
South Dakota. They can be adapted for cities, suburbs, and rural areas alike.
People want to live in these types of communities; market research suggests that
anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of homebuyers want to live in walk-
able neighborhoods with amenities close by. (Logan, et al., 2011). Demographic
changes are driving some of this increased demand; for example, one market
research firm found that 77 percent of Millennials want to live in an urban area
(Kannan, 2010). However, the supply of homes in these areas comes nowhere
close to meeting the demand.
Fallout from the economic crisis, however, could make it difficult for communities
to revamp their land use regulations not only to respond to market demand for more
compact and efficient development, but also to prepare for projected climate change. As
budgets at all levels of government are cut, many municipalities are in crisis mode and
unable to fund more than absolute basic levels of services. Reviewing and revising zon-
ing codes, redrawing land use maps, investing in stronger and safer infrastructure, and
other measures that could help a community beter adapt to projected changes can be
difficult to get done in a town that can barely fund its police and firefighters. Given the
political difficulties in some places around anything related to climate change, the long
timeframe of the projected changes, the relative uncertainty about the exact extent of
changes, and the natural tendency of most elected officials to focus on challenges likely
to arise during their term of office, changing land use decisions to respond specifically
to projected climate change is difficult at best. Add to these issues the funding problems,
and action seems even less likely unless it brings short-term benefits and is low-cost and
no- or low-regrets.
B. Two Case Studies - Boston and New York
1) CITY OF BOSTON ADAPTATION PLANNING
The city of Boston has an active history of engagement in climate change management
dati
ng from 2001. Located at the confluence of several coastal rivers in the northeast-
ern US, it faces many of the infrastructure adaptation challenges common to US cities.
Some of the challenges it faces were initially described in the US EPA funded Climate's
Long-term Impacts on Metro Boston (CLIMB) project (1999 to 2004) and the Union of
Concerned Scientists' 2007 report Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast:
Science, Impacts, and Solutions. City staff have further documented impacts. Spurred
by these efforts and particularly realizing that the various infrastructure sectors impact
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