Puna churn

[DoryGray]

In my observation, the migration isn't limited to Hawaii or Puna. People are moving around everywhere due to economic stress. e.g. the grass is greener. A lot more people seem to be moving lately from here, even long timers, for work, grandkids on mainland, cheaper living. There's a lot of empty houses, foreclosures, even abandoned places. I'm trying to ride out this "depression" w/o selling any property; I think many here are in the same predicament.

[Kapohocat]

Dory , you too are very right. Wasnt in the depression that so many people migrated from the Dust Bowl to California?

[csgray]

When we lived in the rainy Willamette valley there was a constant influx of people moving up from California. There were mixed feelings about that. They were selling their California homes for enough to buy an Oregon place free and clear, and it drove up real estate prices for 10 years at an average of 2% a month. But the stand offish attitude was more from the number of people who didn't make it through their second winter. Generally speaking, people waited until the new residents had made it through two Oregon winters, if they still wanted to stay by then people were willing to form attachments.

I do think there is a wave of Oahu retirees coming our way. Virtually every Oahu baby boomer I've met has moving to the Hilo side of the Big Island as their retirement plan. For them the cost of living will be much cheaper here, and a lot of those empty lots all over Puna are owned by people from Oahu just waiting to retire to build here. Those people probably won't churn over at the same rate as mainland immigrants, for many of them their families are here in the Islands, so the pull of aging parents and growing grand kids will be easier to ease.

Carol

[terracore]

quote:

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Originally posted by csgray

When we lived in the rainy Willamette valley there was a constant influx of people moving up from California. There were mixed feelings about that. They were selling their California homes for enough to buy an Oregon place free and clear, and it drove up real estate prices for 10 years at an average of 2% a month. But the stand offish attitude was more from the number of people who didn't make it through their second winter. Generally speaking, people waited until the new residents had made it through two Oregon winters, if they still wanted to stay by then people were willing to form attachments.

I do think there is a wave of Oahu retirees coming our way. Virtually every Oahu baby boomer I've met has moving to the Hilo side of the Big Island as their retirement plan. For them the cost of living will be much cheaper here, and a lot of those empty lots all over Puna are owned by people from Oahu just waiting to retire to build here. Those people probably won't churn over at the same rate as mainland immigrants, for many of them their families are here in the Islands, so the pull of aging parents and growing grand kids will be easier to ease.

Carol

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You're spot on about the Californians coming to Oregon. (I lived in Oregon at the time) and we called it Californication and now that word is part of the vernacular. Oddly, it's what drove me to Alaska and then from there on to rural Hawaii.

Edited to add: I guess that means that they are right behind me. run....RUN!

[topograph]

Also spot on about the pending Oahu retirees- I'm at 5 years and counting until I can be one of them.

[pahoated]

My work used to take me to Oahu in the 90's. The Oahu guys retiring then were all selling out and moving to Vegas because they couldn't afford to live in Oahu after they retired. That is a good point, they were only retiring to Vegas because housing was cheap (back then) and it was a hot, dry climate. The BI is still affordable in comparison to Oahu (or Maui or Kauai for that matter), so with the demise of Vegas, it seems reasonable Oahu retirees would be looking at the BI as an alternative. I do see a lot of keiki having to leave the BI for the mainland because of the lack of jobs.

[coppercoin40]

I am a born and raised SE Alaskan islander. I was moved by parental rule in Jr High years to Oregon. My father had purchased working shares in an Oregon plywood mill.

I lived across the river from the famed Mt St Helen's. During those 20 yrs in Oregon we experienced "Californication"! I spent those years having a strong desire to migrate back to my island & 36 mile road. Finally did in 1993, where I found MUCH growth had taken place in my absence - good & bad... The cruise ship boom brought heavy commerce, flooding our small community with seasonal dollars, and choking our small community with seasonal people. In early March it is evident the season has begun. My first clues are scruffy looking characters, transients. Then the first RV shows up and behind it tons more. We see many transients that have mental health issues rotating between the smaller SE communites, coming initially from the PNW.

After a good run of 20 years here in SE raising our son and having good jobs, we came to a crossroads in life. We decided a vacation was in order to straighten our heads and also celebrate our successes through the years. We went to the Big Island, having already been to Kauai and researched the Big Island for about 10 years, decided it was time to pay a visit. We absolutely loved the Big Island Puna area and spent 6 weeks. We did drive bys on lots of homes for sale from Volcano to Leilani.

We noted the transient and homeless population having seen the same signs as in Oregon & Alaska. We joked to each other that if we were homeless where better to live than Hawaii!!?? You have warmth of the sun, water and showers in the form of warm frequent rain, natural land that is a "Garden of Eden" and many wild foods to find. Certainly better than cold rainy SE Alaska!

Anyway, by the time we left we decided we would move to the Big Island ASAP. Our home equity currently could easily cash out a lower end home in Puna and leave us a small nest egg to get established. Being out of debt would mean we might only need to work part time and grow food and play in the sun the rest! I spent hours researching online learning as much as I could about everything. I have read and participated in some of the posts on Punaweb.

After months of giving thought and listening to some of the things stated on Punaweb we decided that moving from one island to another, even if the Big Island is bigger than our current one, is probably not the right choice for us . Even though we have finally come to that decision, a lot of our heart is still in Hawaii. What Hawaii did do for us though is make us firmly decided in change. Most likely that change will take us back to Oregon where we can be closer to family and have better medical options.

People come, people go. There is always some phase or another going on with economic trends. The pastures are maybe always "greener" on the other side, or perhaps just a change period is needed. Motivation to explore beyond led Columbus to America, Captain Cook to Hawaii, my parents to Oregon, my husband & I back to my hometown in Alaska and now on to another adventure in life. Adventure keeps us feeling alive! Gives us new ambitions, new hopes, new dreams. Follow your rainbow where ever it might be, I have found the pot of gold at the end several times now!

To Hawaiians and others who have lived in Hawaii a number of years to be considered local - don't be afraid to embrace new comers and make friends with them. You are the teacher of your island to those people, they value the knowledge you share with them. I take pride and feel fulfilled when I share my knowledge with new people. I learn what I can from them, the knowledge they share about where they come from. Don't shy away because they most likely will leave in a few years, let your lives be enriched by knowing them.

I continue to participate in your forum because as I said a piece of my heart is and always will be in Puna!! lol - maybe someday I will get to live in Puna or at least visit more frequently