BIO

A second-year student at Florida State University, Ethan is graduating this spring and pursuing a master's degree in Public Administration this fall. Ethan volunteers off campus through Tallahassee's Second Judicial Guardian ad Litem Program and is a Managing Editor for Florida State University's Political Review. This summer, Ethan is interning for Florida House on Capital Hill, enriching himself further regarding nonprofit management.

An Analysis of Local Resilience Challenges in the United States

Abstract

This project analyzes the prevalence of multiple resilience challenges within local U.S. governments. These challenges can be broken down into five different classifications: Natural Environment Resilience and Climate Change (E), Natural Disasters (D), Socio-Economic Resilience (SE), Built Environment and Infrastructure Resilience (I), and Government and Institutional Resilience (G). In order to identify the incidence of these challenges, a survey was emailed to 11,148 local government leaders from 1,246 cities with a total population of more than 30,000 residents. The survey received 496 responses with 254 complete responses. The results were analyzed utilizing Excel and basic statistical measures to determine which challenges are most prevalent in local communities. Results are preliminary; however, it appears that the most frequent responses include those concerning economic inequality and climate change. Local governments struggle to cope with manifestations of these issues, such as rising carbon emissions and a lack of affordable housing.

Keywords: Local Government Sustainability, Resilience