Pirate's Cove

Are people really clammoring to move to high tax, high crime Yankee cities?

Cleaning the house before the party: How cities can plan for climate mobility

Across the Great Lakes region, something unexpected is happening. Places long defined by population loss are beginning to see new interest from people seeking safer ground in a changing climate. Cities like Detroit, Cincinnati and Buffalo are discovering that their abundant fresh water, moderate climate risks and rich civic infrastructure could position them as places of real opportunity in the decades ahead.

The question now is whether these cities can harness that opportunity in ways that benefit everyone, including the residents already living there.

Over the past three years, more than 15 million people in the United States have been displaced by climate disasters — more than six times those displaced by the Dust Bowl. Most returned home, but a growing number have not. And tens of millions more people are projected to relocate permanently in the coming decades as rising seas, intensifying storms and extreme heat reshape where Americans can safely live.

How many have been displaced because of the conditions in places like Detroit and Cincinnati?

“This will become one of the biggest equity issues of our time,” said David Lubell, senior climate mobility and cities fellow at ICLEI USA and founder of Welcoming America. “But it’s also one of the biggest opportunities, if we plan for it.”

Oh, so, it’s not really about climate?

Lubell and Beth Gibbons, the first Resiliency Director for Washtenaw County, Michigan, are among a growing network of leaders helping communities get ahead of these shifts by building a field of practice around climate mobility.

Climate mobility refers to how people respond to increasingly hazardous environmental conditions — by staying, moving or relocating. It spans short-term disaster displacement, longer-term migration driven by extreme events such as heat, drought, flooding or sea-level rise and planned community relocation.

Lubell shared a city typology first developed by climate resilience leaders Anna Marandi and Kelly Leilani Main that demonstrates how a variety of places will need to grapple with their own distinct challenges and strengths.

Oh, and there we go, shift taxpayer money to NGOs and climate (scam) companies.

Recipient cities like Atlanta, Memphis and Dallas are already absorbing newcomers while managing their own climate vulnerabilities.

Why are they moving to warm/hot weather cities if the temperatures are getting so bad?

Without proactive planning, Lubell warns, unmanaged growth can lead to climate gentrification, strained services, the displacement of those most vulnerable, and hostility towards newcomers. He points to the Great Migration of Black Americans from the South to the North as both a cautionary tale and a call to action.

There wasn’t an equitable, welcoming infrastructure in place – in fact it was quite the opposite, Lubell said. When you don’t plan for lots of people arriving, it’s the most marginalized who are affected.

It’s about the money.