The communities at low-lying elevations in the back bay of Atlantic City are by no means exceptional conditions within the region. The barrier islands of the New Jersey Shore follow a pattern of densely developed beachfront with adjacent sprawling suburbs. This sprawl is confined by the back bay and their wetlands, which were unprotected from development until the early 1970’s. The extremely flat nature of these areas meant that, once drained, many marshes were ideal sites for the kind of tract housing found in suburban communities throughout the country. Due to changes in weather patterns and sea level rise, these aging neighborhoods are now almost entirely within the FEMA defined 100-year floodplain, and face an increasingly volatile future.

Along the back bay, there are two dominant typologies of communities built on former wetlands; Blocks and Fingers. Wetland Blocks feature roads in a grid, or a grid alternating with back alleys. These neighborhoods tend to have little to no direct engagement with the water, although they frequently face flooding and drainage issues due to their proximity to the back bay. Wetland Fingers differ from Wetland Blocks in that they feature alternating roads and canals, granting waterfront property to all housing units.

Variability in local legislation, built infrastructure, funding sources, and solutions available to homeowners, creates the need for a range of options to adapt neighborhoods to future conditions. A combination of strategies— the use of roads as low levees, the lifting of houses, and the return of lawns to absorptive wetland conditions—would transform the existing fabric into the amphibious suburb.

For the individual homeowner to remain on his or her property, removing the house from the floodplain is the only viable option. One solution is to simply lift the house off of the ground using piles. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, grants were made available to homeowners who wished to lift their houses by this method. The current height minimums and other requirements for reductions in flood insurance rates are set according to the FEMA Base Flood Elevation. These elevation changes seem awkward as they disrupt one of the key architectural components of the suburban house: the critical connection between the house and the ground. Lifting the house not only introduces pragmatic issues related to access and entry, but upends the conventions and relationships between the house and the lawn.

The trend towards lifting houses is apparent in many neighborhoods along the coast of New Jersey. Many existing houses have been modified with the use of piles and new ramp or stair infrastructure, while other houses which were heavily damaged or destroyed have been entirely rebuilt at higher elevations. Homes in various stages of construction can be seen throughout the back bay, and some homeowners who have chosen not to rebuild have primed their properties for sale by building platforms on piles on their empty lots. While only a portion of homes in the back bay have been lifted to date, this trend will continue with sea level rise and changing weather patterns.

Lifting individual houses out of the floodplain, disconnecting the building from the ground, creates a number of problems, the most of obvious of which is the entry sequence. This is the first issue addressed by homeowners and contractors, and many solutions have been put forward. However, most built examples attempt to stretch familiar suburban elements back to the ground, rather than explore new relationships between lifted houses and the lots below. New suburban models can emerge through a number of modifications, for example: extension of ramps at the scale of the lawn, elevation of porches to incorporate stairs, and the reorganization of the home once the front door becomes obsolete.

In the State of New Jersey, the wet side of the mean high-water line is publicly accessible land when not submerged, regardless if the land is publicly or privately owned. In other high-water states, waterfront communities facing erosion or subsidence have adopted rolling easements to encourage property owners to quickly fortify or retreat. A rolling easement prescribes that as the coastline begins to move inland due to erosion, subsidence, or in this case sea level rise, any built structure which finds itself behind the high-water line must be included in the public easement, and in most cases, torn down. If a rolling easement is enacted adjacent to a sensitive ecological site, as many waterfront properties are, fortification or grade alteration is not permitted, leaving retreat as the only option.

Modifying the rules of rolling easements to permit built structures within the zone of public accessibility would forge a coexistence between the community and local ecology, leading to a truly amphibious neighborhood. Bulkhead construction and the regrading of terrain would be utilized in moderation to create new relationships to the surrounding marsh, treating the water as an amenity rather than a threat.

Existing neighborhoods which have already integrated water features as recreational amenities and neighborhood assets are the closest the United States has to amphibious suburbs. Canal communities exist in various forms throughout the country, incorporating the desirability of waterfront property with individual family homes. Canal communities often employ boating as an alternative form of transportation and use docks, decks, and porches as primary outdoor recreation space rather than lawns. Transportation infrastructure includes typical gridded street forms abutting large canals as well as alternating canal and cul-de-sac models. Density varies with each location, but each community retains a neighborhood scale rather a highly urban or rural condition.