Shocks are typically disruptive, single event disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, terrorism, disease outbreak or extreme heat. Stresses are factors that pressure a city on a daily or reoccurring basis, such as aging infrastructure, climate change, violent crime, homelessness or concentrated poverty.

Urban resilience is about making a city stronger, in both good times and bad, for the benefit of all its citizens, particularly the poor and vulnerable. For Tallahassee, resilience is about strengthening the reliability of our infrastructure, protecting a robust natural environment and local economy, building up our adaptive capacity, and empowering self-sufficiency across the community. The City has implemented several strategic initiatives and continues to enhance efforts to build a more resilient community.