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Oink,
I urge you to re-read my last posting,
secondly you may want to check
www.saddleroad.com. The new re-aligned
highway will be two lane highway with
wide shoulders. On that website it has
an artists depiction of how the roadway
will look like.
As for the job situation. West Hawaii has
something like 1% unemployment. So the
employment pool is very shallow. Plus the
cost of living us very high.. so lots of
people commute long distances and have multiple jobs.
When you
move here you'll understand why things are
the way things are.
Edited by - Aaron S on 10/09/2006 17:15:56
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http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/f...akuloa.htm
The PTA consists of 108,863 acres, of which 24,048 are leased by the Army from the State of Hawaii. The remaining land is ceded and includes the impact and range areas and a portion of the west maneuver area. The leased areas include the northern maneuver areas and the support complex.
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Aaron
I expect the realigned road to look much like the Puainako St. extension. I won't deny it's convenience as I used it too. I think that is probably a worthwhile shortcut. As a whole I would just repave the original saddle road and otherwise leave it the way it is. On both of my last visits I was there for a month and received a fairly good understanding of the job and traffic situation. I learned I don't want anything to do the congestion of Kona. I have some understanding of the job and housing issues. However, I feel that it is poor planning to encourage, by road construction or any other method, workers having long commutes. There should be some government led efforts to bring some jobs back to the East side. There should also be government led efforts to encourage affordable housing for workers on the Kona side. Left alone, supply and demand will resolve some of the worker/housing issues but that method alone would be painful for some families. Improving Saddle Road will have the opposite effect.
A side note that may not be relevant; When I was moving back to Fla. to take an identical job to the one I had in St. Louis I took a 15% pay cut. It was explained to me that it was a sunshine deduction. A pay reduction due to S. Fla. being a desirable location to work in, which resulted in employers being able to pay less. The old supply and demand thing. Added to that was higher S. Fla housing costs. I still took the job. I still work multiple jobs.
S. FL Islander to be
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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Very interesting about the sunshine effect...for us it is a plus that we live on an island...Tony is a Master Diagnostic for Toyota and they have a hard time keeping people with good work ethics here...ergo he has a job waiting for him when his tools arrive and although he will be making a little less per hour I can't help thinking that having a "captive audience" as it were, is good for us since it's the only Toyota dealership this side.
Last I checked Island-wide, there is an unemployment rate of about 2-3% ...hope that helps me when I finally get back into the job market. I love working for an airline and hope to get on with an inter-island airline...not much money but the perks are island-hopping for free and health insurance.
Carrie
"To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater." Bono
http://www.hellophoenix.com/art/dreamhawaii.Cfm
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quote:
Aaron
I expect the realigned road to look much like the Puainako St. extension. I won't deny it's convenience as I used it too. I think that is probably a worthwhile shortcut. As a whole I would just repave the original saddle road and otherwise leave it the way it is. On both of my last visits I was there for a month and received a fairly good understanding of the job and traffic situation. I learned I don't want anything to do the congestion of Kona. I have some understanding of the job and housing issues. However, I feel that it is poor planning to encourage, by road construction or any other method, workers having long commutes. There should be some government led efforts to bring some jobs back to the East side. There should also be government led efforts to encourage affordable housing for workers on the Kona side. Left alone, supply and demand will resolve some of the worker/housing issues but that method alone would be painful for some families. Improving Saddle Road will have the opposite effect.
A side note that may not be relevant; When I was moving back to Fla. to take an identical job to the one I had in St. Louis I took a 15% pay cut. It was explained to me that it was a sunshine deduction. A pay reduction due to S. Fla. being a desirable location to work in, which resulted in employers being able to pay less. The old supply and demand thing. Added to that was higher S. Fla housing costs. I still took the job. I still work multiple jobs.
S. FL Islander to be
In a perfect world maybe! So all the tourists and the jobs that go with should come to east HI?
Kona side has been in need of workers for many,many years I haven'nt seen anything working its self out yet.Except East islanders getting sick of being paid minimum wage decide they have to do the 2 + hour commute to get more money just to afford east hi.
Or you want folks to move to kona and leave their ohanna so they have to pay a stranger big bucks to watch the keiki instead of tutu.
How about all the shipping trucks and service vehicles (how many times has one of those wiped out going around the gulches)using double the gas bacause they have to drive around the island.
Yes the gov. already has plans for affordable housing on kona side(@300k is what the gov. calls affordable ha!)but its only a tiny bandaid.
Even the hotels are trying to do employee housing.
You did not explain how you think "improving saddle rd will have the opposite effect"?
I can assure you not to many Kona folks will be comming over to Hilo side why would they.
When ever I go to Kona side everyone I meet is from Hilo side the beaches are loaded with Hilo folks so I guess we should all just stay on the Hilo side?
Fixing saddle rd will make the trip to kona side take 45 minutes instead of 2+ hours.
Did you know that on the East side my husbands commute to Hilo from HPP (about 15 miles) takes 45 minutes.But I guess in your logic he should just find a job in his subdivision. I'll let the co. know you want them to develope and build in puna so folks don't have to commute.
So why are you using the road when you don't think anyone else should? Isn't east Hi enough for you?
For the record while I am all for paving saddle I am not for the military base it just seems insane setting off explosives on a active volcano.
I am sure the gov. and feds have plenty of money to fix the roads if they wanted to.
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The "all the jobs Kona side and all the workers Hilo side" issue has been around a long time. Some businesses in Kona have free or subsidized van pools for workers, and the County has made notable improvements to the bus system. These do not really address the main issue, though.
Organizations ranging from the County Council to the economic development agencies to the hotel industry have failed to successfully promote East Hawaii as either a tourist destination or location for non-smokestack industries. This is complicated by the fact that while most people want more jobs over here, nobody seems to want them in their immediate area. When people do propose new job centers in East Hawaii, whether they be resorts, prisons, big-box retailers, or (worst of all) industrial facilities, all manner of groups line up to oppose them.
Don't get me wrong. This is a special and beautiful place that needs protection from unregulated development. I just think the knee-jerk opposition to practically ALL new economic development displayed by groups ranging from Native Hawaiians to environmentalists to neighborhood associations is SOMETIMES misplaced.
Meanwhile, people continue to endure long commutes as a matter of survival, and improving Saddle Road will improve the quality of life for some folks. There, I've said it. Tune up your flame-throwers.
Aloha,
Jerry
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Interesting how the Stryker Brigade evolves into worker housing. That's okay.
My contribution is:
I understand that there is a large development underway titled "Waikoloa Worker Housing" and will consist of approx. 1,200 affordable housing units in Waikoloa.
Affordable seems to be a serious thing there as the land ownership will not be sold and reduces or eliminates the potential to "flip" affordable housing for a profit.
I think this is a good thing and shows sincere effort on the county's part to address the issue of workers commuting cross island for jobs. 1,200 units will be a major step in that direction.
Aloha!
Punaweb moderator
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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In regards to the Waikoloa worker housing,
it appears according to the WHT article recently I read that it might have run into some red tape and may be delayed ?
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Oink,
I've driven over Saddle Road many times.
There is so many dead man turns, simply
repaving is not feasible. The new alignment
will eliminate these dead man turns and
one way bridges. As a long time resident
I'm thrilled they are doing this. As I do go
to the Hilo side quite often.
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Government mandated low income housing = ice houses. Who wants low income housing next door to you?
Aloha
Richwhiteboy
"They don't call me Tyrannosaurus Sex for nothing." --Sen. Ted Kennedy
“Sometimes the truth hurts. And sometimes it feels real good.”
- Henry Rollins
