Owners of many homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy decided against rebuilding, choosing instead to join a state program buying out entire flood-prone neighborhoods. NY1 Staten Island Reporter Amanda Farinacci takes a look at how the program has transformed one borough community forever, five years after the storm.

Most of the homes on Fox Beach Avenue are gone now; spray-painted numbers on the sidewalk are all that's left.

Geese — not cars — are parked on the street, and there's no one around to play ball.

There is not much left of the tightknit, waterfront community that existed before Hurricane Sandy.

"It was better," said Michael Angellotto, whose family didn't take the buyout. "We always used to play basketball in the street or whatever."

The residents of Oakwood Beach were the first to join a state program of buying out entire flood-prone neighborhoods.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it made sense to simply clear the land rather than have taxpayers foot the bill to rebuild the same low-lying communities again and again.

Nearly 500 homeowners took the buyout, 303 of them here. 27 resisted, staying put as nature reclaims the land around them.

"It's quiet, very quiet," said Manny Martinez, who is one of the people who stayed.

"The grass is growing, the Phragmites is growing, and you can see this is really a wetland that should have always been a wetland," said Lisa Bova-Hiatt of the Office of Storm Recovery. "Now we're just returning it to its natural state."

Some of the holdouts have complained about skyrocketing flood insurance and a decline in city services, including roads that are badly in need of repaving. The city says it won't be fixing them anytime soon.

David Futerman finds the whole situation frustrating, and he says he misses having neighbors.

"There were nice people here," Futerman said. "And I like [to have] them back, but it's not possible."

The state is still charged with maintaining the land where the homes once stood. When it snows, it will hire a contractor to plow. When the grass grows too long, it will hire a landscaper to cut it.

City Hall and Albany are in talks about transferring the land from the state to the city by the end of the year.

The city parks department would then take responsibility, which means developing a long-term plan for the area, including what to do with the roads.

But one thing is certain: There will be no new homes.