Civil Beat article about Puna

[Seeb]

http://www.civilbeat.com/connections/the...cost-puna/

[nanasohana]

Yes, we too are finally saying Aloha to Hawaii forever. Our Hawaii dreams are over...bad real estate decisions, the frogs, the crime, all the stress for a little piece of paradise...we're done...almost came back this fall but won't.

If it works for anyone else, good for you. For us, we are done. Dream over..onto other dreams..too old for all the battles there.

When my Pammie died, it took one of the last sparks of hope from me...what a great woman that all the old punawebbers remember.

Rob, you have been such a hero keeping this forum going. Aloha to you and all the best.

One of your old punatics...Nancy

[knieft]

Good luck on your new endeavor, Nancy. Sad to hear though.

Regarding the civil beat article, Graham is spot on about Puna's cons (but ignores the pros completely) though I suspect the move had as much to do with Belly Acres' hassles as with the more Puna-wide downers.

Back during the lava threat days, I started to research where we could move to on the mainland if, say, we got completely covered and lost everything, even though that wasn't likely at all. Strangely, I continue to Zillow favored areas almost as a guilty pleasure. Even checking out the non-US places like Ecuador, Panama, etc.

The coquis have become part of the white noise one blocks out for me, but we are reminded of how obnoxious they are when visitors come. The fire ants certainly make the reality of orchard work into retirement less than paradisiacal. The relentless TMT, geothermal, GMO, (zoo?), controversies are downers to me--as much as I let them be, I guess. I hope the roundabout doesn't lessen the quality of Puna life--time will tell.

All levels of government and the associated corruption and ability to screw everything they touch seem especially over-ripe from a Puna point of view.

But then you sit on the lanai and realize that it would be nearly impossible to reproduce that pleasure by bailing.

Yet after 18 years here, the idea of the frog in the slowly boiling water (even if an untrue metaphor) does scratch in the back of my mind. Are the glory days of Puna (which were apparently before my time anyway) gone? Is it going slowly to hell in a hand basket? How much do we unconsciously defend against the negatives?

Only in the last year or so have I ever thought about bailing, and though I'm no where near doing so, I can't shake that Zillow habit. Perhaps the empty nest has something to do with it, dunno. Still, I always thought we had found our slice of paradise and dug in forever.

Not sure what my point is exactly, but wondering if anyone else has been surprised by a growing ambivalence lately...?

Cheers,
Kirt

[Amrita]

I think this is a sour grapes article. He waits till he leaves and then puts down the land which supported him for 30 years.

Shameful! Has he not one thing good to say about the place that so many of us love and let live.

I'm proud 74 y/o punatic. I moved here 14 years ago, plan to live here till I die; there is nowhere else I love so much and I have traveled the world.

[Jeffhale]

quote:

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Originally posted by Amrita

I think this is a sour grapes article. He waits till he leaves and then puts down the land which supported him for 30 years.

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Apparently, from all the highlighted topics below this article, the whole 'Civil beat' publication is directed at any civil residential negativity they can find in Hawaii. The theme of 'Civil beat' seems to be: 'Life in Hawaii has beat me.'

[macuu222]

I've lived on this earth for 60 years in many different places and I've never found a place that didn't have something to worry about. And the longer you live in one place....the more "worrisome" things you discover. I live and stay here in Puna because the good things far outweigh the bad.

[Kapoho Joe]

IMO Graham Ellis is not leaving Puna he is being chased out. Maybe Costa Rica will let him clearcut the forest and build jungalows on public lands. Bon voyage.

[Rob Tucker]

Graham did more good in Puna than most people. His gain, our loss. I wish him well.

[kalakoa]

Civil Beat is mostly reader contribution articles.

Not being a subscriber, I wouldn't know.

[EvilOctopus]

Jeeze, that whole website is nothing but articles on how bad Hawaii in general sucks. Yes there are stresses, but stress exists everywhere you go.. it's just a matter of choosing which stress you want to deal with. I personally like the stress (and opportunities) of living in Puna compared to say, San Francisco (try paying 3k a month for a studio apartment, dealing with traffic where it takes an hour to go 4 miles, nanny-raised brats that treat you and your kid like crap at school and health care costs that make you faint) No thanks!