Pahoa slowed own?

[Kapohocat]

Is it my imagination or has the feeling / rhythm of Pahoa sort of returned to relaxed feeling of the pre-boom days?

It really feels like it has settled out a little and setttled down - not the frantic gotta find the next job like a few months ago either, or the boom which is of course long gone.

But just pleasant. or maybe its just the fall light now... []

[Hotzcatz]

It's not just Pahoa, the whole island is slower. Parking lots that used to be full are now at 3/4 or 1/2. Commercial buildings have loads of empty spaces in them. Commuter traffic is down. In my village, there used to be about two dozen cars which left towards Kona every morning. Now there's about two or perhaps three.

I'm not sure about the relaxed feel, though. There is still a sort of "how are we going to buy food" sort of desperation going on. Folks have been consolidating their households, getting rid of extra things to pay bills, dropping extra services to reduce the monthly bills, etc. Although, there have been a few folks who have now arrived at a sustainable lower level of economy. They've already shed the extras and have a lower level of income required and have found some ways of making enough money to meet the bills. So they, at least, are more relaxed but there's still a fairly high level of stress going on for a lot of folks.

It is also just before elections, The Powers That Be generally try to get things light and happy during this season if they can. I'm expecting the word "austerity" to become a new catchword for late this year and early next year. But, that's just me. Hopefully I'll be wrong and things will brighten up.

[laniA]

Yep,everything is slower.I guess the folks whose job search made Pahoa look frantic to some already found things to do.
Yesterday came across "Puna Online" site .Says they are "the wilder site of Hawaii".3 active topics,all posts made a week ago.
Everything is s-l-o-w.