08-13-2008, 07:57 AM
>>>Crappy congested roads do, IMHO, have the effect of retarding the increase of traffic. If the highway situation is bad enough, fewer people will want to live there.
Hmm, well I think this works better on the mainland. There is only one Hawai'i, and only two places in Hawai'i where land is truly affordable -- one being Puna and the other HOVE and other South Kona areas.
Add to that people buying land to build in Puna sight unseen or visited one or two times, and people are invested and the road has not prevented them.
If the prices were equal around the island, then I would agree that a bad highway situation would deter folks, but even then not so much.
I've been watching real estate on the island for six years (though not a realtor), and having been a buyer several times, I know that your price range makes the first cut as to location, then you start looking at other factors. Almost all properties have issues here and you will have to take on something that is less than ideal ... and most people get wrapped up in the appeal of the actual property.
Getting in and out of the property is a reality after you own it, but many people fail to accurately imagine what it will involve in day to day living before they leap.
I don't want to be argumentative here (and yet I am [:p] ) -- but I don't think that poor roads works to hold back population growth in Puna. Look at all the crazy building in the first half of this decade.
Tell someone from a cold winter area that the roads are a bit congested and you get back "at least I don't have to shovel snow to get on the road" and so forth. It is so little aggravation in comparison to what most mainlanders deal with on the roads.
Who feels the aggravation? I think it's going to be the long time residents who see it get more and more clogged -- NOT the newcomers. Newcomers might ask why it can't be improved, but that doesn't mean they will not move here anyway!
High prices and poor climate are two factors that really keep down population growth. We have a great climate, and if the prices soar then the local families are in dire straits.
Sorry, but I think the only thing that will keep Puna rural is if Kilauea comes this way and reminds everyone that maybe you shouldn't build really nice houses in the path of an active volcano. Twenty plus years of the flow going more or less the same direction has made people complacent; even the insurers and lenders loosened up about zones 1 and 2, and zone 3 has been treated as "safe."
However, I don't wish for that! Too many people would lose their homes, and having lost my own home to fire in the past, I know how bad it is.
Anyhow, I think if Puna turns down highway funds and rejects highway improvements, those who love Puna the most are the ones who will be feeling the pain of Hwy 130 staying as it is. People from LA will still feel like it's a huge reduction in driving stress. And people will get killed trying to get out on the road because there aren't traffic signals.
Hmm, well I think this works better on the mainland. There is only one Hawai'i, and only two places in Hawai'i where land is truly affordable -- one being Puna and the other HOVE and other South Kona areas.
Add to that people buying land to build in Puna sight unseen or visited one or two times, and people are invested and the road has not prevented them.
If the prices were equal around the island, then I would agree that a bad highway situation would deter folks, but even then not so much.
I've been watching real estate on the island for six years (though not a realtor), and having been a buyer several times, I know that your price range makes the first cut as to location, then you start looking at other factors. Almost all properties have issues here and you will have to take on something that is less than ideal ... and most people get wrapped up in the appeal of the actual property.
Getting in and out of the property is a reality after you own it, but many people fail to accurately imagine what it will involve in day to day living before they leap.
I don't want to be argumentative here (and yet I am [:p] ) -- but I don't think that poor roads works to hold back population growth in Puna. Look at all the crazy building in the first half of this decade.
Tell someone from a cold winter area that the roads are a bit congested and you get back "at least I don't have to shovel snow to get on the road" and so forth. It is so little aggravation in comparison to what most mainlanders deal with on the roads.
Who feels the aggravation? I think it's going to be the long time residents who see it get more and more clogged -- NOT the newcomers. Newcomers might ask why it can't be improved, but that doesn't mean they will not move here anyway!
High prices and poor climate are two factors that really keep down population growth. We have a great climate, and if the prices soar then the local families are in dire straits.
Sorry, but I think the only thing that will keep Puna rural is if Kilauea comes this way and reminds everyone that maybe you shouldn't build really nice houses in the path of an active volcano. Twenty plus years of the flow going more or less the same direction has made people complacent; even the insurers and lenders loosened up about zones 1 and 2, and zone 3 has been treated as "safe."
However, I don't wish for that! Too many people would lose their homes, and having lost my own home to fire in the past, I know how bad it is.
Anyhow, I think if Puna turns down highway funds and rejects highway improvements, those who love Puna the most are the ones who will be feeling the pain of Hwy 130 staying as it is. People from LA will still feel like it's a huge reduction in driving stress. And people will get killed trying to get out on the road because there aren't traffic signals.