Is Puna Stuck In a Rut? Positive Solutions?

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The only way to make a living wage off tourists is as an entrepreneur. Employees in the tourism industry don't earn living wages. But in many places the population which saved rundown communities and neighborhoods from further desolation is the so called "creative class". These are artisans, small scale manufacturers, local food producers (both retail and wholesale) and performers who can jointly become an engine for economic growth at a small scale.

In the natural cycle of communities this population moves into the town/city centers which have become rundown and a little scary when the pre existent businesses move to the outer edges where they can have huge parking lots. The risktaking "creative class" are attracted by cheap rents available in these areas and are willing to put up with the general scruffiness and higher crime risk. By their presence they attract visitors and customers who then attract more businesses, who then attract more customers and so on. The hard part is stopping the process before it moves into full scale gentrification and prices all the locals out. Here Madame Pele and the counterculture aspects of Pahoa should slow the roll towards gentrification.

The sky high rents in Pahoa town have prevented this normal cycle from occurring. We have had the move to the edge of town for the businesses that residents patronize for their basic needs (Malama Marketplace and now Woodlawn Center), but the rents downtown are too high to allow the creative class to move in. In my opinion the high rents downtown are dooming it to staying half empty and scary.



Carol