I got to see a small scale example of a city sinking when on vacation in some islands off of North Carolina's shore. Some of those islands experience pretty aggressive erosion. Streets simply appear and disappear during tides. Large chunks of asphalt sticking out on the beach were a street used to be. Yet people still live there (well vacation mostly) even though during high tide in part they can fish from their porch.
It was strange to see because that is not usually how homes and property are thought of. You buy, and hold on to it, and then sell it. There you buy and then the ocean comes and takes it, and it's gone. Most of those places were vacation homes, except for one where a little old lady was living permanently. We gave her all our groceries we had before leaving, She seemed rather grateful. I was wondering what her plans were for when erosion got to her house. I imagine asking that would upset her, so I didn't.
It was strange to see because that is not usually how homes and property are thought of. You buy, and hold on to it, and then sell it. There you buy and then the ocean comes and takes it, and it's gone. Most of those places were vacation homes, except for one where a little old lady was living permanently. We gave her all our groceries we had before leaving, She seemed rather grateful. I was wondering what her plans were for when erosion got to her house. I imagine asking that would upset her, so I didn't.