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+--- Thread: Politics of moving to Puna (/showthread.php?tid=10387)
Politics of moving to Puna - Wuzzerdad - 09-10-2012
[
]This might not be the correct place to post this, but I am actively exploring the idea of moving to Hawaii near Pahoa, I have found that there are places where new people are shunned and discouraged. I think that Puna is pretty open to newcommers, but want to get some ideas of what to expect.
A little background, My wife and I are retired, I am a Viet Nam Veteran and somewhat disabled from cancer treatments. and would like to be active in the community where we will buy a home. (Leilani Estates)
Oh, yeah...we are both white Democrats and still are having a good time and want to learn until the day we die. I have learned to speak Hawaiian to a small degree allready from a book/cd and a couple of trips to Hawaii over the years.
Anyway, if you guys could give me some "Aloha" here and maybe tell me the upsides and downsides as you see it from your front door I would appreciate it.
Rick
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - dwedeking - 09-11-2012
My take after living here 2 years.
It's a small rural town and like most small rural towns anyone who hasn't been here for 10 - 15 years is a newbie. For a while I pulled a second job working nights at the new Target which at the time employed more the social/economic demographic of the local community (the working stiffs) and as a middle aged white guy had no problem being accepted by most of the people. Even almost a year after the job I'll run into someone that I worked with and we'll say high and talk for a bit. Not once was I asked to a bbq or allowed into the inner circle though.
Compare this to Southern California where you move into a cul-de-sac in one of the housing tracts and your neighbor wants to be BFF's within a few months just cause you live next door.
I think this is due to the large volume of relocated people in Southern California and how your living space is one on top of the other. I prefer the friendly standoffishness of the Puna/Hawaiian community but your mileage may vary. You just have to be realistic in your expectations.
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - Wuzzerdad - 09-11-2012
[:p]
We live in small town america, 2 miles from town with population of 525, so Puna may be a bit more crowded than here in Iowa.
We are open to a lot of experiences, I have my woodworking, my wife does cards and scrapbook classes.
We also would have a couple of Wienerdogs.
My actual political days are about over, this election comming up just pisses me off to bad to talk about it much. We are extremely tolerant of lifestyle and belief issues, no racial issues ( I hated Vietnamise for a while years back until I got to know some who moved here), so I realized I was wrong, and apply that thinking to other areas of my life as a lesson learned.
Rick
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - rainyjim - 09-11-2012
I would say keep an open mind that most people in puna don't like the test rest of America, and may be there for that very reason. With that in mind it is easier to understand why there is no businesses and why everything moves so slow. It's not just island paced it's SLOW. No accountability on any level of anything anywhere ever. That said puna is beautiful and I'd say it's about half and half full of people who would help you up if you stumbled and those who would pretend not to notice or just plan sneer at you. If you are white many of the "locals" (of dark colored skin) will refuse to ever smile back at you and in general pretend your not there. If you want to do something do it yourself and don't trust random people you just met any farther than you could throw them. Be prepared to get passed on the centerline by raised trucks and lowered rice rockets. If you have a legal issues don't expect the local police to help because it was their brother/cousin/uncle/etc who ****ed you over and they won't risk their family ties to help you. Don't speed and keep your registration up to date a ticket for the whitey is always forthcoming even if they can't help you when you need it. Watch out for the phillipinos and Micronesians they may throw rocks at you if you have white skin. Don't trust any produce to be organic at any roadside stand, farmers market, or store unless properly certified and documented, many Asian looking woman will attempt to put across their produce is organic while feigning little English skills. Check prices everywhere for competition everything everywhere is overpriced. Many people order the bulk of their commerce over online sources because of all the price issues on the island. Watch out for monopolies like HELCO apparently laws don't apply to them ? I'd suggest going off grid for utilities. Hmm I don't know what else but those are all things I wish someone would have told me before I moved here.
Cheers
rainyjim
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - Peter Easterling - 09-11-2012
It sounds like you will do fine here. My wife and I recently retired here after spending our lives mainly on Oahu. POSTIVES: beautiful, ruggedly primal landscape, uncrowded district and island, folks are friendly and quite tolerant and accepting. It's called aloha and it is alive and well in this place. 6 or 8 quite good to decent quality restaurants. Leilani Estates is nice. In the 6 months we've been here I have not heard a negative remark from anyone about Leilani. NEGATIVES: as one surfing lady told me, "lack of choices." Hawaiis a pretty large island so shopping involves a drive. But it sounds like getting the latest Coach handbag may not be that crucial. Also it is rainy and humid. In Leilani it rains for about an minute or two about 5-10 times a day. More at night. Been really sunny but the winter will be cloudier. Mosquitos and coqui frogs are part of daily reality. The coquis, we've found are OK. Like a lot of night birds chirping a two note call all night. Loudly. Hundreds of them. But we have never lost a minute of sleep from coquis. Or roosters, neighbors, traffic, sirens or barking dogs. We don't have any.
Good luck and we'll see you soon.
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - riverwolf - 09-11-2012
Rainyjim,
....perhaps you have had some bad experiences but in reality your
generic characteristic behavior and attitude description of life in Puna is way off base.
You seem a little aggressive in your opinion (and not well informed) of the local scene....take a chill pill....open your heart to the beauty of the island and all of it's quirks and you will have a better visit here.
enjoy.
riverwolf
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - rainyjim - 09-11-2012
Riverwolf,
I wouldn't chock up anything that has occurred to me since coming to the Big Island as a "bad" experience, maybe more like a learning experience. While my post may seem aggressively opinionated to you and not well informed - you are welcome to your own opinions. As to my heart i assure you it is actively pumping all the time and will remain closed up inside of me at all times! I don't think I need to take a chill pill, as I am quite calm! While my post may have seemed quite negative to you, well it was meant to be as I mentioned already they were all things I wish I knew about before I came here. Also I found it really interesting you used "in reality" in a post about puna. Not trying to hurt any feelings here just thought OP would want a view that wasn't sugar coated from all the CCRs they'll be hiding behind at Leilani!
Cheers
rainyjim
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - dwedeking - 09-12-2012
I've yet to have violence (throwing of rocks or otherwise) perpetrated on me while here. I've gotten stink eye a few times, mostly you see this from the younger crowd. I've done a lot of hikes and exploring on the non-tourist areas and run into "locals" without issue (and these would be times where I could be disappeared without reprecussions). And I don't live in a gated community or one controlled by a lot CCR's.
You'll find here in many areas (employment, police enforcement, any bureaucratic organization) who you know pulls more weight than by the book procedure. Again the same as any small rural town in America. Tickets are a source of revenue so you have to watch what you do on the roads (they have multiple speed changes in a lot of areas to facilitate their revenue stream).
The farmers market ladies are hard sellers lol. I've recommended to my mainland boss to send all her salespeople over and we'll give them a seminar on how to close the deal.
One thing I find unique to Puna are the characters. I've been telling friends and families - "Remember that one weird person in High School that just stood out. Well each High School has one, and when they grow up they move to Puna".
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - Wuzzerdad - 09-12-2012
Thanks for the replies, and I actually "got it" about hiding behind the CCR's at Leilani Estates.
We are old liberal hippy types (if I had to pick a type), perhaps with a few redneck tendencies, and we have all the problems here in Iowa that you have in Hawaii with social and drug issues.[:p]
I suppose I should expound a bit, as moving to Leilani Estates is because that is where we have an opportunity to move into a home that a family member has already and is rented out. Since we are not wealthy, and that house is worth less than 100K I only hope we wont be dragging down the rest of the community to much.[
]We have the type of people here who look down on others too, we call them "farmers", who feel everybody but them should move back to the city. And are unfriendly and combative about it too. Kind of like the Hawaiians must feel, like invaded!...However, they should get over themselves too.
But thanks for the information and more would be appreciated.
Rick
RE: Politics of moving to Puna - Wuzzerdad - 09-12-2012
Dewedeking...OMG...you hit it on the head, that kid was me!, I was a dorky brainy kid with no social skills way before it was popular. I got analyized by a psychiastrist in the 3rd grade because I told my teacher that someday we would be able to talk to a computer and it would write what we said, so yeah, now I am feeling so much better knowing I will finally fit in somewhere without a lot of effort.
Seriously, I so want to move to Hawaii, my biggest fear is not having enough money....What would be a comfortable amount for the area, without taking housing or health insurance into the consideration, just house and car insurance, car expenses, food ( I love to eat ) Utility rates. What level of cash flow would be fairly comfortable (no partying or tobacco use)
I know I am asking a lot, but if you want more information I will give it...[:p]
$50K? $70K $80K ???
Rick