“Let’s help people become whole somewhere else.”

—Nonprofit Member

Buyouts don’t have to be about money. This is a moment for Houston as a city to take more agency in and instill more creativity into its redevelopment process by being actively involved in crafting the mitigation strategies to best fit its communities needs. Drawing from the precedents explored through this work, the plans for Houston’s recovery and future growth should incorporate city-led acquisitions through leveraging local resources or using alternative mechanisms, such as exchanges with vacant land and properties of lesser risk. Some of those resources or mechanisms were identified by interviewees: bonds, dedicated housing units, vacant lots and TIRZs money, amongst other ideas. Houston already has a strong local model, the District’s program, which also assist its participants with relocation. Houston’s engagement would not only help with decreasing the gap between interest and what the District can serve but also bring the existing buyout neighborhoods into the future vision of the city. Further research would need to be done to determine who would best be served by a city-led program, what existing resources are available and what other planning tools can the city combine with acquisitions as a larger mitigation strategy in order to better situate Houston to take on this “endeavor.”

Existing structures are retrofitted to meet new needs, so too must plans be retrofitted to meet the new needs created by environmental stresses. Planners and planning shouldn’t be complacent in the disruptions disasters cause when there are already existing tools that can help lessen impacts. Planning for climate change, economic growth, etc. cannot and should not be done without recognizing, acknowledging and engaging with the influence of disasters on our communities. It is a continued disservice to the communities planners serve to not anticipate the consequences of disasters in the visions of our cities. Hazard mitigation is not unlike planning and can be embraced into the comprehensive planning process. Local land use planning tools, in combination with hazard mitigation strategies, have the power to tackle the vulnerable existing development we face today and create new, more sustainable development patterns into the future.

Mitigation should go local, and local land use planning should mitigate. Buyouts, and acquisitions more broadly, are the only mitigation strategy that guarantee no future flood losses and should be further studied as a developmental process. Acquisitions of private property in response to flood hazards alter the built environment and therefore should be part of the plan. Local communities should take more agency in acquisitions for flood mitigation, allowing the acquisitions to be seen as opportunities for safer development. It’s time to address the unbuilding of the built environment.