"you just build what you can afford and you're done with it"<p>So if you can't afford a 2 story townhouse with earthquake and hurricane proofing you build a one-story that does have proofing and live in 2 rooms instead of 4 but have 2 rooms that are likely to stay standing. If you go for the 4 rooms then the consequences are yours to live with.<p>There are provisos, if earthquakes and hurricanes haven't ever happened where you live for example.<p>This sounds incredibly harsh and I, like most, would probably go with the group and build whatever anyone else was building assuming the worst wouldn't happen to me.<p>God have mercy.