Homeowners who oppose new and denser housing in their neighborhoods are a major reason so many American communities are short on homes. Those who oppose building are disproportionately older homeowners. While boomers didn’t create many of these not-in-my-backyard laws that restrict housing construction, in many cases, they’ve protected such regulations, dominating the attendance at community board meetings and fighting housing projects.

Wow, the problem was old rich assholes the whole time

Many older homeowners — particularly the growing number who still have mortgages — are struggling with rising insurance premiums. Nationally, home-insurance premiums rose by an average of 21% from May 2022 to May 2023, Policygenius, an insurance marketplace, found. Insurance companies are increasingly dropping customers and pulling out of entire regions, particularly those hardest hit by climate-related disasters.

The Harvard report noted that places retirees had flocked to in recent decades like South Florida and Arizona also face some of the most severe climate-related impacts, including regular flooding, fires, and extreme heat.

The planet is dying, but on the plus side, The Villages might get wiped off the map