KTA looking to place a new market at Auli`i Dr.

[james weatherford]

right, DanielP, I understand you were quoting PCDP and thank you for that.

[macuu222]

@csgray.... Not everyone in Puna works. There is a very large retired population here with income to spend also.... who doesn't have to travel to Hilo every morning.

[csgray]

macuu222,
According to the U.S. Census Hawaii county has 14.1% of its population over 65 (lower than the state average of 14.5%), looking at the breakdowns by CDP it looks like much of Puna comes in even a little lower than that, and Kona and Kohala a little over. Hawaii county comes in higher than the state average in terms of number of people under 18 though, and the Puna CDPs even higher still. So statistically, Puna is a young community with more people under 18 than over 65, and the population of retirees isn't really all that large at 14%.

In terms of spending at a grocery store, a family with 2 adults commuting to work in Hilo and 3 to 6 kids spends a whole lot more on groceries than a retired couple would. Retirees may have more overall disposable income, but I highly doubt they spend proportionately more income on food and sundries at the grocery store, you can only eat so much.

HPP is a bedroom community of Hilo, just watch it empty out between 6 and 9 every morning with car after car heading into Hilo to work. Of the close to 10,000 people living here, my guess is the next round of census data which breaks down CDPs into detailed demographics, will show the trend from 2000 continuing; over 39% of the HPP households were families with children under 18 in 2000, if anything, that number will be still higher, because the cost of buying a house in Hilo got prohibitively expensive for young families during that time.

Carol
edited for clarity

[macuu222]

The baby boomer government worker early retirement age was 50. Regular retirement was 55. Both my wife and I retired here at 50 as did our neighbor. Maybe we were the exceptions to the rule but I think not. I wonder how many people in Puna are retired at age 50 or above. I think that the percentage of people in Puna that don't have to commute to Hilo daily is substantial.

[csgray]

I am a boomer too, but at the tail end and will be working until I am well into my 70s, not all boomers got the sweet deal you did.

Sorry, macuu222, but the numbers are just not there to support your personal observation, maybe you and your neighbor in makai HPP are younger retirees, but the nearer you get to the highway in HPP, the denser the population and the more families and workers. If 39% of the households (not total population) in HPP have children under 18 in them, virtually everyone over 50 or 55 would have to be retired to even begin to support your supposition.

Carol

[DTisme]

quote:

---

Originally posted by DanielP

I worked for a gentleman who had acres of beautiful gardens and I asked him;
"How does one begin to build such beautiful gardens?" "First you lay out the paths" was his reply.

---

How poignant. I love it.

[JerryCarr]

The Yamada family has apparently withdrawn their application for the KTA project. Here is a link:

http://forum.punacdp.info/showthread.php?tid=16

[macuu222]

I'm not surprised. They had just about everyone working against them. But if KTA is really wanting to build here...they'll find another place.

[Rene]

Yeah, Gawd forbid your asked to "give back" to the area...nice KTA & Yamada's...really really nice. So what? they thought this was just going to get built like nothing and we were going to be fine with this? Seriously, get your head outta your okole and take a look around. Make it better,,,not just bigger.

[Rob Tucker]

Rene, I think your post could be more respectful of the Yamadas and KTA. It is not a crime to want to develop your property and in most of the USA the logic of developing any highway corner property is the way it happens. I wish the Yamada family well. KTA would be a good addition to Puna in the right location.