coastal architecture

My brother-in-law is fond of saying: "When you can see the ocean, the ocean can also see you."
Applied to architecture, and with the human desire to build next to water unstoppable, we have a situation that results in frequent embarrassment and considerable property damage.

At one conceptual level, I am opposed to building located in a place where they will certainly be destroyed by unstoppable forces. I have a few slivers of libertarianism in my bones that don't care if people are stupid enough to do this, but I don't want a dime out of my pocket going to preserving their welfare, or worse yet, helping to rebuild it after the inevitable happens.

However, and I acknowledge this inconsistency, I am in favor of coastal architecture that is properly constructed--either for survival or abandonment. This architecture can yield large benefits for many people--before it is destroyed, and as it is rebuilt. I appreciate the cyclical quality to the thing--towers of ilium is above all, romantic and temperamental.