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Wow! Is it really necessary to paint such a picture when someone asks about weather? There are bad people and crime everywhere, and Puna on the whole has less than most of the nation.
Fern Acres has a community association whose website is: http://fernacres.org/ and a yahoo discussion group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FernAcres/ where one can find some mention of the weather in the archives.
I don't know Fern Acres well, and rejected it when hunting for land, but I never got the impression of people cowering in isolation. Quite to the contrary, I have read about neighborhood watch, organized litter-control and road maintenance.
Wayne, she is NOT just asking about the weather because she gave additional concerns in her subsequent posts.
Yes, I think it is necessary for someone moving here with kids who has only done one visit as an adult to know that there CAN be problems, when she asks is it safe?
A couple of the more heinous crimes in Puna have occurred in Fern Acres. Do the people who live there cower? No, I'm sure they are busy creating their dream. But some of you guys on Punaweb tend to forget that you share "paradise" with some real out there people who have for years gravitated to more remote subdivisions in part because they can do what they want there, whether it be to grow pakalolo or deal drugs.
Some of the more bizarre things to happen in Fern Acres in this decade:
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/06...ndex5.html
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/12...ory11.html
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/arti...ocal01.prt
Read the second article that quotes the confessions of the two murderers, and realize these guys are not complete aberrations. There are people of this caliber around and they could be your neighbors if you don't do very good homework.
ed to add that I have talked to plenty of people who feel that a lot of crimes are committed that just never get discovered. People go down lava tubes or over cliffs or are buried out in the forest reserve. S*it happens here. Don't be scared out or your wits, but don't be all la-la-la either.
The woman who was shot by her boyfriend -- followed the grateful dead for years, was into dolphins and spirituality. Although I did not know her, one can tell from the description that she didn't look for the evil in people, and thought the best. While I too like to think the best of people, I found out a long time ago that there are people with no conscience, and when drugs come into play especially, in areas where people are into drugs, you run into them.
I am not anti-pot growing, but some people are good and some bad, and everyone on meth /ice is a mess. I've been ripped off; I've had a friend murdered, while I was just living my life trying to do the right thing, treat people right, raise my kids. So I've learned, you have to pay attention, you have to ask questions in the neighborhood from a bunch of people to get the whole story. Thus ... buying after one visit ia a real gamble.
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We live up in MountainView at 2200 feet. We have a mini weather station that records and saves data, the coldest day up here last winter was 52 degrees. We have a wood stove, it helps dry out the house and heat as well. Our friends live down in Fern acres, and it is amazing to me what a difference in climate they are being so close to us. It's usually sunnier and warmer there. They seem to love it there. I personally prefer the cooler temps where we are. we can always drive down to Hilo if we want warmer, but the summertime up here is heavenly. I wouldn't worry too much about crime, common sense dictates most of it. I.E, don't leave your weedwacker sitting out in your open carport etc.. Most of the other types of crime happen to people who attract that sort. If you don't get involved in the wrong stuff, you won't atract the wrong people. Aloha, angela
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I just had to log on to say this....
Kathy, the murder rate in Puna is peanuts compared to here in Kansas City. I will be thrilled to move there where it's so safe as compared to here. Your links showed 4 murders since 2002 (could have been more, I didn't check). Compare that to here where 58 people were killed so far this year and we are on track for a record this year it looks like. You can see the stats here: http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/...y-hom.html
Not trying to get on your case and not trying to make light of what you found, but everything is indeed relative.
Rob's gonna boot me off for hijacking......
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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Kathy, maybe I overreacted a bit. I certainly would recommend that everyone keep their eyes open and realize there are bad people around where ever they happen to be. The horrific incidents your point out were caused by people who knew the victims and had little or nothing to do with where they happened.
8, your message showed up while I was creating mine.... The count on Kathy's links is 3. The second article reported on the solving of the first one.
Meanwhile....
The elevation of Fern Acres runs from around 1300' at the front up to 1600' at the back. Some residents are happy to have a fireplace or wood stove to take the chill off winter evenings, but it's pretty comfortable most of the time.
yes, I am totally in agreement that statistically Puna is safer.
I agree that most crimes are between parties who know each other!
I'm just saying that when you live on a relatively isolated piece of land, you are vulnerable and part of your lifestyle will involve a defense, or should, against undesirable people who may just show up.
There are parts of this island where I have no fear of that happening, and parts that I do.
Also should point out that in cities, there are usually neighborhoods where no one who doesn't live there should go, that contribute most to the stats. Here, all the neighborhoods attract newcomers, pretty much.
Newcomers just need to realize there are people who moved there earlier on who are not on the same page as to aloha for everyone. My son moved to Royal Hawaiian Estates after being on the island, mostly in Puna (HPP) for two years, so not a newbie. But he was still surprised when he came home the first week to find everything he owned had been plundered. It was sad, because he was dead broke and some of what was taken were sentimental gifts.
He found out it was his neighbor. Aloha!
On the mainland, I could generally tell by looking at the condition of a street whether my neighbor was likely to welcome me with banana bread or a ripoff. But it's a little harder when you just see beautiful rain forest to know whose around you.
Take the time to really talk to people, especially if there's a neighborhood watch or association, by all means seek them out and educate yourself. Find the right place socially and the weather should be secondary.
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And bring plenty of cash! Don't expect to find a job around the corner! As Hotzcatz said... DO NOT BUY A HOUSE until you have rented in the area for at least six months!
~devany
quote:
Originally posted by Hotzcatz
Do not buy a house in Hawaii until you have rented in the area for at least six months.
I repeat: DO NOT BUY A HOUSE IN HAWAII UNTIL YOU HAVE RENTED IN THE AREA FOR AT LEAST SIX MONTHS.
There, that said - here's http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/?lat=19.63871&lon=-155.41534&zoom=10
That's a site for weather stations on our island. Depending on where you are, things are quite different even though it's all the same island.
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
www.eastbaypotters.com
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quote:
Originally posted by waynesb
Wow! Is it really necessary to paint such a picture when someone asks
about weather?
___________________________
Whatever you assume,please
just ask a question first.
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I bought in Eden Roc on the spur of the moment without knowing the neighbors, except that my best friend was buying the property right next door. How bad could it be? It has been both good and bad. My friend sold his property. The people who bought are good people and I am glad to have them as neighbors. The people two lots down on the corner are also good people and I am very glad to have them around too. The neighbor on the other side is a local guy who may resent me because I am Haole, because I bought the property he wanted but couldn't afford, or merely because he is a strange recluse for whom things haven't gone well in life. At any rate he is is very stand-offish and unfriendly, even to the point of being threatening. It makes for an uncomfortable situation.
All in all, it could be better and it could be worse. I can't complain too much because I frankly did not evaluate the neighborhood before I bought. I simply bought because it was so cheap. There are good people here but there are also people with problems who will share their problems with you. After all, this is not the best land, with no view, no soil, and the potential to get inundated with lava, so most people with options would have bought elsewhere at least in the past. Now, as the population increases, well to do baby boomers have petty much bought up all the affordable good land and there is an influx of regular folks moving into Puna. They are finding the original inhabitants to be a mixture of regular folks, decent poor folks, and people who couldn't function anywhere else. Unfortunately this last segment of the population includes some bad people. Traditionally, people who moved to Puna knew what they were getting into but there does now seem to be an influx of people attracted to Puna by the price (as always) but without any knowlege of Puna's unique challanges and benefits, or without any knowlege of Puna in particular and Hawaii in general.
I have come out OK in that I have some good neighbors and the one strange neighbor seems content to leave me alone if I leave him alone, but I was definitely naiive about the social challanges. Raising a child would be one of those challanges.
Thanks for sharing your story Mark. Very thoughtful and balanced.
I've run into the "wanted to buy the property but weren't able to" bad energy. We have had only one weird episode with a local since moving here, and it turned into a bizarre fight that shouldn't have been a fight.
Well, we ended up talking it out -- actually there was a third party, his boss, who insisted he talk it out because he was making the company look bad -- and what came out was resentment because the property had been for sale once before and he had wanted to buy it, and a non-local bought it.
The prior sale, there was a tenant displaced by the seller who took out his anger on the buyer (this was before me), who told the buyer it's the tradition to destroy or remove the good plants before a haole comes in.
Whether he was making up this "tradition" or not, the resentment towards people who are able to buy land by people who can't is real enough. The same guy was later able to buy a lot in HPP and I have met him since then and he's all happy now because he's moved on, but he told me that when he felt displaced his head was in a bad space about it, very angry.
<insert random remark about the weather to stay on topic>
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