The extensive built infrastructure present in the Northeast is increasingly challenged by weather- and climate-related impacts. As a result of early settlement patterns, the region has some of the oldest buildings and facilities in the United States, much of it built along the region's coastline. These structures—as well as the energy, transportation, water, and sanitation systems that make up the regional built environment—were not built to withstand the new conditions and extreme events projected to occur over the next century.