Home buyout programs facilitate the permanent relocation of residents away from areas at risk from future hazards, and they have been implemented in the aftermath of disasters and to address the effects of climate change. Few studies have examined the impacts of relocation programs over time. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast of the United States in 2012, New York implemented a home buyout program in several coastal communities in the hopes that residents would relocate en masse to areas of lower risk. This symposium describes the recovery paths of three communities impacted by the buyout program. While these presentations focus on post-disaster relocation in a U.S. context, this is a global issue. Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand in 2011, for example, resulted in the creation of residential ‘‘Red Zones’’ in the city, in which repairing and rebuilding homes was prohibited. This resulted in the forced relocation of approximately 6,000 residents, a process facilitated by a government buyout. Similarly, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan led to government plans to move entire communities to higher ground.

The first paper describes Rockaway Park (a community that chose to rebuild rather than pursuing a buyout). Although this community was doing better on recovery indicators, participants described changes to their community five years later that were not positive, including areas of disrepair, overcrowding from additional traffic, and critical services (e.g., hospital) that never reopened. What was once a tight-knit community is no longer. Participants continued to report increases in their levels of place identity, however, their bonding with neighbors is decreasing, as is their physical health.

The second paper describes the community that accepted the buyout (Oakwood Beach). Here, the process of relocation was associated with losses in place attachment and social capital. Over time, these impacts lessened, and findings suggest that five years after the buyout, participants formed an attachment to their new community, and with this attachment came increases in bonding with neighbors, along with improvements in their mental health. While this suggests that buyout participants were able to make progress in returning to pre-disaster levels of wellbeing, they still fared consistently worse than residents of Rockaway Park who rebuilt in place.

The third paper examines the impact of the buyout program on the community adjacent to the buyout zone. This community felt the impacts of the buyout most strongly. They were not given the choice to relocate; rather, they were left to experience the demolition of the neighboring community, which negatively impacted their community and individual wellbeing. Residents showed signs of decline in social capital, place attachment, and physical and mental health. Residents also experienced the highest stress and lowest satisfaction with life among the three communities.

These findings suggest that the social costs of buyouts extend well into the recovery period, and radiate to communities surrounding the buyout zone. Implications for relocation policy and practice are discussed in the context of acute and slow onset hazards, including forced relocation due to climate change.