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Well, the Ali'i landed at Honolulu Landing, so perhaps that's a better area.
I think that area sunk about 10 feet (subsidence) about 100 years ago or so ago. Many houses (and lives?) were lost. The approach to the ocean changed after that, so It may not be possible to have a landing there anymore.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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quote:
Originally posted by HereOnThePrimalEdge
Well, the Ali'i landed at Honolulu Landing, so perhaps that's a better area.
I think that area sunk about 10 feet (subsidence) about 100 years ago or so ago. Many houses (and lives?) were lost. The approach to the ocean changed after that, so It may not be possible to have a landing there anymore.
HOTPE, true that the area sunk/shifted (lives lost???). Merely a comment, given the exasperating task it would be to renew Pohoiki. UGH!
Twenty, thirty years of "discussion" at Pohoiki. " No can" with the current frame of mind(s) at DLNR, State, and County. Keiki need a place to swim (generations have done it at Pohoiki, which is downright dangerous today), and all the "red tape" is counterproductive. Time for change.
I'd like to make changes now while still alive to see it happen. (Still get rose colored glasses on. [  ])
JMO.
Opihikao, thank you for yet another wonderful discussion on what's sure to be Poihiki. Your right 30 years is to long, never to late though. With this ongoing disaster happening we as a community need something positive to work towards for tomorrow, poihiki needs big time facelift that can cater to the keiki, locals and visitors alike.
A couple convenient stores or markets, plenty of camping grounds, studio's, Ali'i nature trails, bike paths, kieki swimming zones both ocean and Olympic size pools with activities, just for starters at Poihiki. Maybe make designated areas for reef fishing, diving, floating, surfing breaks, and boating or paddling. Food trucks, vendors, life guards, guides for lessons or tours should be made available and be local jobs. All activities from bikes, spears, footwear, to jet skies should be rented down there too. Educational ocean video's and cultural entertainment should be offered and added jobs also.
The state of Hawaii needs to recognize Puna's unique situation first. Puna is surely costing the state plenty of money right now but if invested properly for, or towards our future tourism boom hopefully with Pele for the next 30 years or more. Well then puna may really be able to help the overall tourism industry in the state of hawaii for years to come, we are as big in land as the whole island of Oahu. How much money has been spent on the much needed alternate roads for both locals and residents? How much spent so far on extra security, overtime, and national guards very important roles for safety? Now let's invest a similar amount into Puna's future generations and states visitors, jmo.
Never in my life of growing up here in rural Puna did i think i would see the day tourists by the hundreds and thousands would want to come to rainy Puna. Well if the state of Hawaii truly wants tourism to be its number one industry instead of cane or pineapple, Puna's unique Hawaiian paradise and added world tourism needs to be recognized. Jmo.
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gypsy69:
" When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIxUKbV0UEM
I'm going! Days are limited at my age! Rest well.
JMO.
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This leaves visitors free to utilize the more modest and sustainable model of "Bed/Breakfast", or "Camp/Breakfast".
Excellent thought, now how do we get County to issue the required permits? Lodging is a Special Use, and food preparation requires a commercial kitchen...
Tourist dollars would be more evenly spread among residents as these types of venues grow.
Sometimes I think this is exactly what "they" are trying to prevent -- keeping tourists (read: dollars) centralized in a hotel makes everything easier to "manage"...
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Leilanidude, I make $100-125 doing vacation rental turnovers. It usually takes me about 3 hours so thats $33 per hour or more. Not bad for working indoors and certainly better than my landscaping job. Sometimes it takes me longer if the people have been messy or it's been stormy and I have to do the windows. But by far I am grateful for the tourists and their money. Sometimes they even leave a couple beers in the fridge! All of my houses are owned by older people close to retirement with an eventual intention to live here full time. I help them, they help me and the tourists help us all.
All the guests that I talk to chose to stay in Puna because of the natural beauty and local culture. They love Uncle Robert's and the farmer's markets and being outdoors. Any improvement to our parks, oceanfront, and general accessibility would help make this area more friendly. (Is Lava Tree park open again? What's up with Mackenzie?) Those are some simple things that make visitor's experience much better. Many of us have lived here long enough that we aren't impressed by just driving down Red Road but the tourists see how beautiful it is.
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Not against development or jobs, just against this island turning into o'ahu. It has to be done right.
What does "done right" mean in this context? The current plan seems to be "make sure it stays rural by keeping development out".
Parts of Oahu are already one-road-in/one-road-out, with bumper-to-bumper traffic on that one road, and the "keep everything in Hilo" system has created that same problem right here on the Big Island.
I see many claims that "well, not against development or jobs" ... but I don't think that's really true.
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I make $100-125 doing vacation rental turnovers. It usually takes me about 3 hours so thats $33 per hour or more. Not bad for working indoors and certainly better than my landscaping job.
Glad to hear you are making money!
Now of course, you, as a self-employed contractor, are paying the GET off the gross, self-employment tax of 15%, state income tax...
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Pander, you took the words out of my mouth. I guess "low wages" is a relative term. $15/hour is better than McDonald's for sure, but I wonder if that's the average wage, or just the wage paid to unionized hotel employees? Either way, I don't foresee a major hotel building in Pahoa so a moot point perhaps? I know bilingual people on island getting $12/hour as tour guides. This is not at all a living wage, even though it's clearly a needed skill. That's why going independent is more lucrative if you can find a niche to fill.
I think development CAN happen in a good way, but also think that it probably won't. (For an explanation, see all of kalakoa's posts since the beginning of time.)
Like snorkle, I'd much prefer to see the dollars spread out, flowing into local B&Bs, vacation rentals, restaurants, Uncle Roberts, etc..
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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How or what else could or should this county do to promote more tourism dollars to be spent here?
Though many would disagree with me, I think tourism is a bad fit for Hawaii. In fact I think tourism hurts us. Therefore I wouldn't encourage more, but rather as far as tourism goes make what we already have as good as can be... i.e. the minimal vacation rental business is great, and certainly places like Volcano thrive on it.
Beyond that please consider that in order for us to sustain tourism we must raise our children to be hospitality workers, and as with the sugar industry before, this requires our schools to provide a minimum of an education otherwise we would not have the appropriate workers available for the 'jobs' everyone speaks so highly of when they're busy selling us on the next hotel or whatever.
And yes pander75 seems to make a minimum living wage but do we really want your kids to grow up to be house cleaners? To aspire to be maids?
I know it won't happen, because our politicians aren't that creative, but I have always thought what we need in East Hawaii is a high tech campus, such as a branch of Google, Apple, or (God forbid) MS. High tech, think programmers and designers, not manufacturing, pays very well, and requires intelligent people. And, once established I would imagine a co-partnership with the local schools and UH Hilo, and a strong computer science program. In other words a chance for a real higher education for local kids.
As an example, I believe the astronomy industry (even though I have serious concerns about having given up the summit of Mauna Kea for it) is by far one of the best industries we have on island. I believe it brings in more revenue (approx $150 million annually) as well as causes intelligent people to move here who want a better life for their children than our schools are able to provide. In most cases their kids go to private schools. In some instances children that work for places like Keck are able to get into HPA, and Keck pays 75% of the tuition. If they didn't they would have a lot harder time staffing their facility. If we had more industries that required smart people our government would be encouraged to educate our children better. This in turn would bring greater cultural experiences etc., and in the long run improve our community in many ways. All with a very small impact on the environment compared to tourism.
I also think the Earth sciences are a great part of our work force, as well as having a good impact on our community, though I would have hoped that the education system would have taken greater advantage of this then they have. But all told I think we need to consider the overall effect on our community of any industry we encourage, and as I said, I believe tourism is bad for us in the log run, and wouldn't encourage it's expansion in any way.
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