Should the Taxpayer be on the Hook for People who Choose to Build on Floodplains?

taxslave

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 25, 2008
36,362
4,336
113
Vancouver Island
Every year the same thing happens. What amazes me is that all the high priced help at city hall keeps on letting subdivisions be developed in areas that are known to flood. Rather like buying a house by the airport and complaining about the noise.This is not a taxpayers problem so stay out of my pocket.
 
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Cannuck

Time Out
Feb 2, 2006
30,245
99
48
Alberta
The taxpayers should build levees. No matter where people live there will be some reason not to live there. Vancouver is going to be devastated by an earthquake or tsunami. The Maritimes get hit with hurricanes and massive snow dumps. Southern Alberta gets incredible wind storms. BC and Alberta have avalanches. Ontario has to put up with Ontarians. We still allow people to live in these areas.
 

gopher

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 26, 2005
21,513
65
48
Minnesota: Gopher State
No. People want to live in stupid places, let em buy insurance.



Amen!

We have the same problem today in the Quad Cities in Iowa: those nitwits there refuse to pay for flood prevention because they will get bailed out by Federal dollars every year.

For decades, the Twin Cities were the two most flooded cities in the USA. We paid for our flood prevention and the Feds came in with some help thereafter. Since then we have not had floods, property was preserved along with the tax base they provide, and, most importantly, human lives were saved.

It is time for the bailout/welfare system be ended in Iowa and in North Dakota. Let those welfare bumbs pay their own fair. Federal taxpayers should demand no less from similar types up in the Provinces.
 

VanIsle

Always thinking
Nov 12, 2008
7,046
43
48
I guess people started out building by rivers because it was near water and it was good for a chilly bath, washing clothes, drinking water etc. Everywhere you go homes are built near rivers or water or some sort. I've even seen homes in this city advertized for sale as "having a view of the water" and of course a person thinks view of the ocean and it turns out to be the river. I think that since it is not really that un-common to move houses in this day and age, why not just move these houses to higher ground? Houses are moved to Canada from the USA via barge. They are moved from city to city by trucks. Surely it would be cheaper then completely starting all over again and a whole lot faster. Just seems to me it would be the fastest, cheapest and safest way to go.
 

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
192
63
Nakusp, BC
Hover homes for flood plains - solar powered at that. I'm sure an engineer can come up with a low cost plan. Either that or build the homes on a floating foundation anchored to the ground or slides up on posts. My goodness, the possibilities are endless.
 

CanadianLove

Electoral Member
Feb 7, 2009
504
4
18
Hover homes for flood plains - solar powered at that. I'm sure an engineer can come up with a low cost plan. Either that or build the homes on a floating foundation anchored to the ground or slides up on posts. My goodness, the possibilities are endless.

I was thinking of these ideas also. There are many barge communities around the country. City utility hook-up is the hazard with those. These would simply be seasonal. Stilt homes are a very good option also as long as the bottoms are insulated well. Gives you a lot more lawn to cut though if you opt to give use the underhouse storage space for lawn. Good for mushrooms.

Is there much damage over the years from pieces of ice colliding with the homes??
 

Tonington

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 27, 2006
15,441
150
63
Either that or build the homes on a floating foundation anchored to the ground or slides up on posts. My goodness, the possibilities are endless.

There are homes in Holland that already do this, though not without help from taxpayers ;-) Flexible pipes make the connections for sewer, water, electrical, etc.
 

missile

House Member
Dec 1, 2004
4,846
17
38
Saint John N.B.
Doubt that any insurance company would issue a policy to anyone stupid enough to live on a flood plain.. I know for certain that i can't buy any snow damage insurance for my house.
 

Unforgiven

Force majeure
May 28, 2007
6,770
137
63
City zones it, the developer builds it, the agent markets it and you get stuck with it.

On the same level, if you get conned out of your life savings, you shouldn't be calling the police.

One of the smartest things I've seen in down in Brazil where the mayor of a town got federal money to build levys and flood protection, redirection of water and so on. He bought all the land about the river to where it never has reached and called it a park. That created the largest park in Brazil if I am not mistaken. He then gave blessing to sheep herders to graze their livestock for free all along there keeping the growth down.

This created a huge amount of money left over from the flood prevention fund that he used to buy all the crops that locals could grow. He then gave a bag of fresh vegitables for a bag of garbage to the poor people living in the old part of town where trucks could not enter to remove garbage. This created a huge reduction on the cost for sending men into haul all that garbage out.

So he took that along with the money from the flood prevention and closed downtown main street to traffic over a long weekend and tore the road up, then put down pavers and changed 4 blocks into a walking mall without traffic. This made the run down part of downtown a mecca for shopping and stores became higher and higher in demand there. People loved that they could walk and shop and sit about in the afternoons drinking coffee and watching the people.

That expaned to many blocks and in raised taxes from the area, he built a tansit line that ran a car every twnety seconds or so. So there was no waiting, and they would drop you off farther away from downtown where there is plenty of parking.

With all the extra money that he saved and generated with just the money the guy goes and sets up schools for kids who had a tendency to spend their time ripping off tourists and customers that allowed for them to have a safe place to sleep and something to eat and if they stay, education and life skills.

I can't remember the name of the place but the guy was quite remarkable with what he did and how he did it.

People shouldn't live near rivers like that because they flood. Turning it into a park solves that problem and makes for such a large amount of relaxation area, that you could actually go there are relax in peace and quiet. What a messed up idea that is eh?