Andrew Rumbach
@andrewrumbach.bsky.social
Urban & regional scientist. Co-lead of the Climate & Communities program @urbaninstitute. Research & policy analysis on disasters, disaster recovery, precarious housing, land use, and adaptation. Sourdough enthusiast. https://andrewrumbach.substack.com
Pinned
Zoned Into Risk?
Climate-driven hazards such as floods and wildfires are growing more frequent and more severe, affecting communities across the United States. Zoning is one tool available to local governments to redu...
www.urban.org
We have talked about how zoning constrains housing supply, but what about climate resilience? In this new brief, our team at @urbaninstitute.bsky.social and @sarabronin.bsky.social pilot a technical approach for measuring zoning's relationship to risk and resilience: www.urban.org/research/pub...
Have a disaster nerd in your life? Need a gift? A few ideas:
andrewrumbach.substack.com/p/my-2025-di...
andrewrumbach.substack.com/p/my-2025-di...
November 25, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Have a disaster nerd in your life? Need a gift? A few ideas:
andrewrumbach.substack.com/p/my-2025-di...
andrewrumbach.substack.com/p/my-2025-di...
This cake rules www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz3j...
The Only Chocolate Cake Recipe You'll Ever Need With Claire Saffitz | NYT Cooking
YouTube video by NYT Cooking
www.youtube.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:49 PM
This cake rules www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz3j...
Sourdough post of the week: sesame and sunflower loaf.
November 21, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Sourdough post of the week: sesame and sunflower loaf.
In a resource constrained world, where can solar investments maximize equity by reducing energy burdens? The Solar Opportunity Index from my Urban climate colleagues takes into account factors like minority homeownership and roof suitability to target investments: www.urban.org/research/pub...
Where Can Solar Investments Reduce Energy Burdens?
Rooftop solar offers households an opportunity to bring down energy costs and improve quality of life, but not all communities are well-positioned to act on …
www.urban.org
November 21, 2025 at 8:19 PM
In a resource constrained world, where can solar investments maximize equity by reducing energy burdens? The Solar Opportunity Index from my Urban climate colleagues takes into account factors like minority homeownership and roof suitability to target investments: www.urban.org/research/pub...
Wow crypto is in an absolute free fall
November 21, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Wow crypto is in an absolute free fall
There aren’t many things to be optimistic about right now in the disaster arena. But decentralizing policy could create opportunities for rigorous research and evidence-based decision-making: open.substack.com/pub/andrewru...
Searching for Silver Linings: Decentralization and Experimentation in U.S. Disaster Policy
The turmoil at FEMA could usher in a new era of curiosity around disaster programs
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:16 PM
There aren’t many things to be optimistic about right now in the disaster arena. But decentralizing policy could create opportunities for rigorous research and evidence-based decision-making: open.substack.com/pub/andrewru...
Ok, housing policy hot shots...dream job opportunity just dropped: www.jchs.harvard.edu/nicolas-p-an...
Nicolas P. and Joan B. Retsinas Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies and Associate Professor in Practice, Professor in Practice, or Senior Lecturer | Joint Center for Housing Studies
www.jchs.harvard.edu
November 19, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Ok, housing policy hot shots...dream job opportunity just dropped: www.jchs.harvard.edu/nicolas-p-an...
The pieces of the FEMA reform puzzle are starting to come together. Not a ton of detail here but it is notable that the draft recommendations from the advisory committee include potentially restoring cabinet level status to FEMA. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/c...
Trump Wanted to Abolish FEMA. His Own Advisers Disagree.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:09 PM
The pieces of the FEMA reform puzzle are starting to come together. Not a ton of detail here but it is notable that the draft recommendations from the advisory committee include potentially restoring cabinet level status to FEMA. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/c...
Best piece so far: www.cnn.com/2025/11/17/p...
FEMA chief steps down as Trump administration prepared to oust him | CNN Politics
The embattled acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will step down after hurricane season following months of public controversy and internal frustration.
www.cnn.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Best piece so far: www.cnn.com/2025/11/17/p...
When everyone's phone at the resilience-focused luncheon buzzes simultaneously:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/c...
Acting FEMA Administrator Is Out, Injecting Uncertainty at Agency in Limbo
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:15 PM
When everyone's phone at the resilience-focused luncheon buzzes simultaneously:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/c...
I take offense to the Daily’s description of ‘changing how zoning works’ as unsexy.
November 17, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I take offense to the Daily’s description of ‘changing how zoning works’ as unsexy.
One of the neatest early examples of pre-fabricated housing in the U.S. were kit homes, most famously made by Sears...people would order their home from the catalog and the parts would be delivered by rail and they would assemble them on-site.
www.searshouses.com
www.searshouses.com
SearsHouses.com
The National List
www.searshouses.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:54 PM
One of the neatest early examples of pre-fabricated housing in the U.S. were kit homes, most famously made by Sears...people would order their home from the catalog and the parts would be delivered by rail and they would assemble them on-site.
www.searshouses.com
www.searshouses.com
I’ve lived in DC for several years and still am getting used to that some of the best restaurants anywhere are in a strip mall somewhere in northern Virginia
November 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I’ve lived in DC for several years and still am getting used to that some of the best restaurants anywhere are in a strip mall somewhere in northern Virginia
3. Not surprisingly, levels of disaster damage predict participation in recovery meetings. This is important for thinking about recovery decisions that have community-wide implications and who is most actively involved in shaping elected officials thinking and decisions.
Lots more in the article!
Lots more in the article!
November 14, 2025 at 1:08 PM
3. Not surprisingly, levels of disaster damage predict participation in recovery meetings. This is important for thinking about recovery decisions that have community-wide implications and who is most actively involved in shaping elected officials thinking and decisions.
Lots more in the article!
Lots more in the article!
1. The level of disaster damage was inversely related to that person's support for sustainability and resiliency policies post-fire, reflecting (we believe) concern over the economic cost of recovery.
2. People who experienced higher levels of disaster damage had less trust in the recovery process.
2. People who experienced higher levels of disaster damage had less trust in the recovery process.
November 14, 2025 at 1:08 PM
1. The level of disaster damage was inversely related to that person's support for sustainability and resiliency policies post-fire, reflecting (we believe) concern over the economic cost of recovery.
2. People who experienced higher levels of disaster damage had less trust in the recovery process.
2. People who experienced higher levels of disaster damage had less trust in the recovery process.
New article from our Marshall Fire research team, led by Katie Dickinson and including @deseraicrow.bsky.social and @enviropolicy-prof.bsky.social, among others not on Bluesky.
We surveyed 823 people in the aftermath of the disaster. Some key findings:
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
We surveyed 823 people in the aftermath of the disaster. Some key findings:
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
Disaster Damage as a Driver of Climate Resilience Policy Support | Natural Hazards Review | Vol 27, No 1
AbstractThe 2021 Marshall Fire, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado’s history, destroyed
over 1,000 homes and damaged many others in the communities of Louisville, Superior,
and unincorporated B...
ascelibrary.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:08 PM
New article from our Marshall Fire research team, led by Katie Dickinson and including @deseraicrow.bsky.social and @enviropolicy-prof.bsky.social, among others not on Bluesky.
We surveyed 823 people in the aftermath of the disaster. Some key findings:
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
We surveyed 823 people in the aftermath of the disaster. Some key findings:
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
Everyone has that publication that is a labor of love, one that won't get cited much but will be useful for just the right person. Here is mine, a detailed history of the Ford Foundation's efforts to help Calcutta create its first master plan after Independence: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
‘Between the devil and the Bay of Bengal’: the Ford Foundation and the politics of planning in post-Independence Calcutta
From 1960–1973, the Ford Foundation and the Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organization (CMPO) engaged in a unique partnership that produced the Basic Development Plan, a bold strategy for the deve...
www.tandfonline.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Everyone has that publication that is a labor of love, one that won't get cited much but will be useful for just the right person. Here is mine, a detailed history of the Ford Foundation's efforts to help Calcutta create its first master plan after Independence: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Occasional note that I repost and share a lot of disaster/climate/policy research/academic job openings on LinkedIn. Please follow or connect there!
November 13, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Occasional note that I repost and share a lot of disaster/climate/policy research/academic job openings on LinkedIn. Please follow or connect there!
This story 🤯https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/12/cia-afghanistan-heroin-poppy-seeds/
November 12, 2025 at 12:53 PM
This story 🤯https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/12/cia-afghanistan-heroin-poppy-seeds/
(and that is where policy really matters. In some disasters, the cavalry arrives and offsets those transitional housing costs or provides assistance to help homeowners float their mortgages until insurance settlements. In others, the cavalry never arrives.)
November 11, 2025 at 3:29 PM
(and that is where policy really matters. In some disasters, the cavalry arrives and offsets those transitional housing costs or provides assistance to help homeowners float their mortgages until insurance settlements. In others, the cavalry never arrives.)
It depends. In some instances having a mortgage (which you continue to pay) can become a financial anchor that really complicates recovery because of an inability to pay that + transitional housing costs. So we find mortgages positively associated with long-term displacement, in some disasters.
November 11, 2025 at 3:18 PM
It depends. In some instances having a mortgage (which you continue to pay) can become a financial anchor that really complicates recovery because of an inability to pay that + transitional housing costs. So we find mortgages positively associated with long-term displacement, in some disasters.
Though ironically a lot of people with paid off mortgages (including those in generationally owned homes) drop their insurance coverage.
November 11, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Though ironically a lot of people with paid off mortgages (including those in generationally owned homes) drop their insurance coverage.
In the floodplain management world there is a really common communication phrase about there being a 25% chance of a 100-year flood during the life of a 30-year mortgage. Not sure how effective it has been but we keep saying it.
November 11, 2025 at 2:53 PM
In the floodplain management world there is a really common communication phrase about there being a 25% chance of a 100-year flood during the life of a 30-year mortgage. Not sure how effective it has been but we keep saying it.
It is not about making it better or worse, but helpful to understand risk probabilities in terms that people understand. Having a mortgage or not certainly connects with vulnerability though.
November 11, 2025 at 2:44 PM
It is not about making it better or worse, but helpful to understand risk probabilities in terms that people understand. Having a mortgage or not certainly connects with vulnerability though.