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URI Waterfront home price down by 75% as erosion concern washes value away
jl2718 wrote 7 hours 45 min ago:
âErosion concernâ is exactly correct for this particular location
on this particular island, a place I knew very well. The rising sea
levels are not particularly concerning in this situation. But why is it
eroding so fast? Global warming? Maybe, but much more likely it is the
fact that this once extremely verdant forest island has been shorn down
to mere grasslands by environmental activists of all people. You see,
most of that part of the island is owned by the Land Bank, which is a
conservation trust that levies a 2% tax on every real estate
transaction, for the stated purpose of purchasing and preserving land
in its natural state. Well, so it was, but now theyâve gotten into
the golf business, and their last major purchase was a $9M 8-bedroom
house for seasonal staff at the golf course. Incidentally, theyâve
also discovered a rare flower that theyâve never observed to grow in
the thick brush and tree-cover that naturally grows there. So of course
theyâve brought over a fleet of earth-shaving leviathan machines to
fix natureâs mistake. My labyrinth of sandy-foot green running
tunnels was cut down to awkward winding paths on a plain. The deer
thinned out, the ground foul disappeared, the armies of migratory birds
moved on. When the late October hurricanes swooped in on the island,
you could see the aftermath of dead root systems strewn about the
beaches, multi-millennial clays beaten back a few feet. It takes a lot
to get those feet back. Root systems push out into the newly laid sand
in Spring time to get access to partially-desalinated ocean minerals.
If enough of them hold on to it together, they can keep it. Erosion is
exactly the word to understand. It is not the ocean swallowing the
land, but rather nibbling at it, defenseless, rootless, barren.
Kon-Peki wrote 3 hours 32 min ago:
> this once extremely verdant forest island
I donât think you will have many supporters for this claim.
> Nantucket! Take out your map and look at it. See what a real corner
of the world it occupies; how it stands there, away off shore, more
lonely than the Eddystone lighthouse. Look at it- a mere hillock, and
elbow of sand; all beach, without a background. There is more sand
there than you would use in twenty years as a substitute for blotting
paper. Some gamesome wights will tell you that they have to plant
weeds there, they donât grow naturally; that they import Canada
thistles; that they have to send beyond seas for a spile to stop a
leak in an oil cask; that pieces of wood in Nantucket are carried
about like bits of the true cross in Rome; that people there plant
toadstools before their houses, to get under the shade in summer
time; that one blade of grass makes an oasis, three blades in a
dayâs walk a prairie; that they wear quicksand shoes, something
like Laplander snow-shoes; that they are so shut up, belted about,
every way inclosed, surrounded, and made an utter island of by the
ocean, that to the very chairs and tables small clams will sometimes
be found adhering as to the backs of sea turtles. But these
extravaganzas only show that Nantucket is no Illinois.
danielfoster wrote 9 hours 20 min ago:
Here's a more insightful article that shows the extent of the change:
URI [1]: https://nantucketcurrent.com/real-estate/its-a-gamble-beachfro...
rayiner wrote 12 hours 26 min ago:
Iâm shocked at how many people in Maryland buy waterfront homes at
sea level. Itâs like they donât believe climate change is
happening. When we bought our house, we deliberately picked something
about 20-25 feet above the water. Erosion will eventually still wash
away the ridge we are on but itâll take awhile.
everybodyknows wrote 46 min ago:
In California the people with enough money to buy oceanfront homes
are, unsurprisingly, expert in working the system.
Their efforts proceed along two fronts:
1. Subverting the Coastal Act through endless lobbying and
litigation, to allow private or public artificial barriers against
the sea.
2. Promoting replacement-sand dredging projects, sold as "beach
replenishment" and charged to the public treasury, of course.
rayiner wrote 3 min ago:
[delayed]
Yeul wrote 4 hours 25 min ago:
The Netherlands aside from being Atlantis is also sinking. Nobody is
worried because the government will fix it.
DSingularity wrote 6 hours 43 min ago:
Isnât this a problem that will only affect the inheritance of the
grandchildren of your grandchildren? I mean how much does erosion
affect this shoreline in concrete terms? Is it even a few millimeters
per year?
defrost wrote 6 hours 32 min ago:
From TFA:
According to Fortune, which cited a report from The Boston
Globe, the dramatic price decrease was related to an overheating
planet â in a matter of a few weeks, the shoreline surrounding
the property lost 70 feet from erosion due to rising seas.
With reference to Maryland :
Shoreline erosion in Maryland has stripped away land and
sediment, bringing the coastline inland, submerging other areas,
and putting infrastructure and valuable waterfront property at
risk. Almost 70 percent of the stateâs 7,000 miles of
shorelineâclose to 4,600 milesâis eroding.
...
While much of the erosion has been caused by rising sea levels,
diurnal tides, and boat wake, some of it is due to the surge of
waves that accompany severe storms. Hurricane Isabel, for example,
washed away shorelines along the Chesapeake Bay when it made
landfall in 2003, in addition to causing $84 million in damage to
shoreline structures.
URI [1]: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-b...
bdjsiqoocwk wrote 10 hours 17 min ago:
How long are you guessing?
rayiner wrote 4 hours 50 min ago:
Iâm guessing generations. Were way above expected sea level rise,
so the biggest worry is about erosion removing soil under the
foundation until it collapses. The waves donât hit the ridge
directly because thereâs a beach between us and the water. But
rain will do it eventually. The property has 70 year old concrete
retaining walls (partly to hold up the foundation, partly to create
some terraces) and the one nearest to the beach has collapsed
completely.
Clubber wrote 12 hours 37 min ago:
The waterfront homes in my area sure aren't coming down in price.
They're over the top and rising.
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