Interactive Maps of Flooding Risks Offer New Climate Planning Tools

"Neighborhoods at Risk" offers new tools for illustrating the threats posed to communities by climate change.

1 minute read

February 12, 2019, 12:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Clear-Sky Flood

jo Crebbin / Shutterstock

Headwaters Economics has published a new climate planning tool called "neighborhoods at Risk," which offers a simple way to layer information on to maps of neighborhoods and cities for a better understanding the intermixing social, economic, and environmental factors.

According to the website announcing Neighborhoods at Risk:

Neighborhoods at Risk is web-based, free, and designed to meet multiple local planning needs. The data and maps are useful for prioritizing capital improvements and conducting vulnerability assessments, which can be powerful tools that shape land use, policy, and planning decisions. Applications include FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plans and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reporting.

Supplementing the interactive mapping tool are reports on at-risk demographic populations and potential economic outcomes of climate change. The tool is currently active for 18 U.S. cities, with an expansion to all U.S. cities planned for the future.

Thursday, January 24, 2019 in Headwaters Economics

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Concrete Brutalism building with slanted walls and light visible through an atrium.

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities

How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

February 28, 2025 - Justin Hollander

Complete Street

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge

Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

February 27, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Green electric Volkswagen van against a beach backdrop.

The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan

Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.

March 3, 2025 - ABC 7 Eyewitness News

Power lines and towers at dusk.

Ratepayers Could Be on the Hook for Data Centers’ Energy Use

Without regulatory changes, data centers’ high demand for energy would be subsidized by taxpayers, according to a new study.

31 minutes ago - Governing

Yellow bird with black head sitting on power line.

City Nature Challenge: Explore, Document, and Protect Urban Biodiversity

The City Nature Challenge is a global community science event where participants use the iNaturalist app to document urban biodiversity, contributing valuable data to support conservation and scientific research.

1 hour ago - City Nature Challenge

Screenshot of robot with fox and bird in The Wild Robot animated movie.

A Lone Voice for Climate: How The Wild Robot Stands Apart in Hollywood

Among this year’s Oscar-nominated films, only The Wild Robot passed the Climate Reality Check, a test measuring climate change representation in storytelling, highlighting the ongoing lack of climate awareness in mainstream Hollywood films.

2 hours ago - The Hollywood Reporter