Leah Sheppard

Leah Sheppard is a Manager for the Urban Resilience program, which provides ULI members, the public, and communities across the United States with information on how buildings, development, and cities can be more resilient in the face of climate change and other environmental vulnerabilities. She is a contributing author for multiple ULI Publications, including 10 Principles for Building Resilience, Harvesting the Value of Water: Stormwater, Green Infrastructure, and Real Estate, and project briefs on the Developing Urban Resilience website.

As the impacts of climate change continue to intensify, households and business owners are increasingly looking to move out of harm’s way. A new ULI report, On Safer Ground: Floodplain Buyouts and Community Resilience, explores one method to facilitate these relocations: floodplain buyouts.
In 2013, Toronto had record-high rainfall and flash flooding that overwhelmed urban stormwater and river systems, and ultimately caused an estimated $940 million in damage payouts. In 2019, Lake Ontario experienced record lake level conditions. Waterfront Toronto is in the process of transforming this vulnerable site to both revitalize the city’s eastern waterfront and manage flood risk.
ULI members are mobilizing their businesses to serve urgent needs in their communities. Many of these projects are focused on supporting health care workers on the front lines, as well as affected small-business owners.
A ULI Advisory Services panel crafts recommendations for recovery in the municipality of Toa Baja, with resilience in mind.
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