Driving Around Puna

[jackson]

The only reason to live in Volcano is because you want to live in Volcano. If you are commuting every day to Hilo you will eventually not be happy. And it's cold and rainy.

[csgray]

I have to disagree on HPP being one of the only Puna subdivisions where you don't need a truck. I drive a little Toyota Scion with 7" of clearance, we have lived in the very back of Orchidland and Seaview and regularly visit friends in Black Sands, Nanawale and Ainaloa with no trouble. We looked at properties all over Puna before we bought our house and could drive my car in at least parts of many of the subdivisions. Some of the smaller subdivisions on the Mauna Loa side of the Volcano Highway were among the few that we just didn't even try once we saw the road, also parts of Hawaiian Acres and one section of Orchidland were out of the question.

Carol

[kalakoa]

For me, the larger issue isn't the 30-minute drive; it's the last-mile on either end, and having to go in the first place.

Sure, Hilo is relatively close, until you're sitting in traffic for an extra 15 minutes so you can finally get through town to the "medical district" (for example).

Most of the time, I wouldn't even be in Hilo if I could get it in Keaau -- and some of those times, I'm even willing to pay extra to shop in Keaau (cheaper than gas and my time ain't free) but there's nowhere that has what I need.

(Lowe's model is "across from Depot", but they should bend that rule and put one in Keaau... sigh.)

[terracore]

During the school year (which is 10 months out of the year) you can get to/from Hilo-Volcano in 45 minutes. If you do it in 30 minutes everybody and I mean everybody is speeding, school is out, and its a state/federal holiday. During the worst commuting hours on a regular day the one-way drive will be at least an hour, and some days up to 90 minutes. For somebody working in Hilo and commuting to Volcano, I would tell them to plan on spending up to 2+ hours per day in a commute. Its a beautiful commute and looks great but it does get old after awhile. And it will take a lot of expensive gas. The trip up the mountain is hard on your engine/transmission and the trip down the mountain is hard on your brakes. So factor gas/vehicle maintenance into your trips. You may spend as much money in transportation costs as you spend on your mortgage.

[birdmove]

We have been in HPP now since September of 2011. I get to Hilo a lot. I now have a part time job teaching two after school chess classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. This session just ended last week. I do two things. First, I always go to my gym and do a workout before I go do my classes. Second, I ride one of our highway rideable scooters that get 85-98 mpg. We have ridden to Volcano a couple of times. The last time we got nailed with a pretty severe rain storm that made riding iffy. We made it, but I wouldn't want to deal with that very often. When I ride to Hilo I also try to combine any shopping that needs to be done, and get the mail from our Keaau P.O. box. You would be amazed what I can haul on our SYM HD200 scooter with a rear cargo box. We also have a 2003 Toyota Tacoma pickup that gets about 24 mpg. I need it for hauling big stuff, and I can haul a few 4x8 sheets of plywood, or 2x4x8 to 10 foot boards as needed. I would never part with that Toyota. Oh, by the way, bicycling to Hilo and back from here is very doable. It's about a 12 mile each way trip with few hills.

Jon in Keaau/HPP