They didn’t know it when the states were formed, but I think a lot of the modern hesitancy comes from ‘the big one’ that we now know will certainly occur. I love visiting Newport - but you can’t ignore the tsunami safety zone makers and evacuation route signage everywhere you look. There are plenty of houses and tons of space to build, but because these coastal towns are far away from the major hubs, no one is going to commute from there either, imho.