Another anxious resident was Linda A. Bittner, 36, who said she has lost two baby-sitting jobs for lack of transportation.

Mr. Evans, who said he has a 15-year lease, expressed sympathy for anxious residents, but believes that his venture will prove popular.

Shortly after sunup, dozens of anxious residents began to line the beach highways, only to be turned away.

All the time, anxious residents were being kept at roadblocks near the edge of town.

But all the political hoopla has apparently left many residents confused and anxious for something other than plans and models to take shape on the waterfront.

One municipal Web site is filled with postings from anxious residents asking, "Are you going to knock down my house?"

But as a scientist, she cannot offer any definitive reassurances when an anxious resident or downtown office worker calls.

Hours earlier tens of thousands of anxious residents evacuated inland along clogged highways.

Some were residents anxious to see the area or visit relatives they had not seen since the slide; others were truck drivers frustrated by long detours.

So for the first time in decades, anxious residents are expressing long-term worries over their jobs, the rent, everything.