02-17-2013, 08:28 AM
Anyone who visited Pacific Ave in Santa Cruz before, and then after, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake will know what happens next.
Sure, the downtown gets rebuilt with "style", but most (if not all) of the "substance" will be gentrified away. Granted, it's still a bit "funkier" than the average strip-mall, but not by much, because the new corporate tenants want a "clean-and-safe" experience for their customers.
It would be simpler to create a new self-contained South Pahoa (eg, with its own sewage treatment plant and HELCO substation), then direct any growth which requires "infrastructure" into this area. While this might create some "sprawl" (which is "bad"), it's also consistent with the PCDP in general, which seeks to concentrate industrial/manufacturing uses into designated "business parks".
There are some large parcels just down the highway which would be ideal. Give the dialysis clinic, auto body shop, etc a "proper" place to go, and leave Old Pahoa just the way it is -- tourists can keep taking pictures until Pele burns the whole thing down.
Sure, the downtown gets rebuilt with "style", but most (if not all) of the "substance" will be gentrified away. Granted, it's still a bit "funkier" than the average strip-mall, but not by much, because the new corporate tenants want a "clean-and-safe" experience for their customers.
It would be simpler to create a new self-contained South Pahoa (eg, with its own sewage treatment plant and HELCO substation), then direct any growth which requires "infrastructure" into this area. While this might create some "sprawl" (which is "bad"), it's also consistent with the PCDP in general, which seeks to concentrate industrial/manufacturing uses into designated "business parks".
There are some large parcels just down the highway which would be ideal. Give the dialysis clinic, auto body shop, etc a "proper" place to go, and leave Old Pahoa just the way it is -- tourists can keep taking pictures until Pele burns the whole thing down.