Marty Walsh and Charlie Baker do not have their heads buried in a snowbank. Both expect coastal flooding to increase in the decades ahead and have a dramatic impact on land use patterns and emergency planning. They acknowledge the cause as global warming, combined with centuries of development in high-risk areas. Resilient design has been adopted in the coastal regions of Massachusetts sporadically over the past several decades. Commercial property owners tend to take things more seriously than homeowners. In some respects, this is a function of the need to satisfy private insurers and public officials, but the ultimate effect is to encourage a growth pattern that will favor large buildings replacing small buildings in coastal areas. We'll see how this plays out over the next 82 years.
Oyster reefs may turn out to be cheaper than concrete seawall. Wealthy areas will fortify like the Netherlands, and poorer areas will be forced to retreat from the coast. The thunderdome will be the new law.
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