Rurality - are we there yet?

[james weatherford]

The PCDP would have the word 'rural' in it several times
(could someone do a count? Damon?)

And, venture that every time, 'rural' is something desirable and desired.

What is 'rural'?

Yes, that is a real question.

There has been some considerable consideration in the Rural Sociology literature given to 'rurality' -- check it out with a search.

So, what is 'rural'?

James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park

[Guest]

Dr. W - The word Rural begins on page 13 of 89 in the Final Draft

Then, 18, 31, 33, 39, 52, 57, 68, 69 (in a table), 73, 81 (in a table),

For a total of 13 times.... Well 11 if you don't count those tables.

Of those pages, it was not mentioned more then once on any of those pages?

Wheres the Beef Rural?

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[JWFITZ]

I would suggest that this is an acutely important question, and worth a little thought before a hasty answer.

[james weatherford]

Damon, thanks! Knew I could count on you!

JW. Agreed -- is that your shortest post ever?



James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park

[DanielP]

Isn't it just symantics? Or rose colored glasses...

I grew up in the suburbs, moved to wilderness, then to the city, then to rural for 30 years.

Now in Puna, within 20 miles of a University, Walmart,Home Depot, etc.etc. while I might want to think of it as rural, it is really more like the Burbs, but Bettah.

Dan

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by JWFITZ

I would suggest that this is an acutely important question, and worth a little thought before a hasty answer.

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Jerome -

Hope you don't think my answer was hasty, I was getting ready to do some other stuff, and my mind was overloaded from scanning the PCDP again looking for the word "Rural".

You mentioned earlier about the Bellingham Plan that I believe you said failed.

I left Bellingham for Hawaii.... When I left, I considered the outer areas of Bellingham such as Ferndale, Lynden, Nooksack, etc. the rest of Whatcom County as "Rural" Simply because Bellingham was considered the County Seat. I recently returned to Bellingham, and it had become the "Seattle" of Whatcom County.

Hilo currently is "Hawaii's County" seat. The urban sprawl that happened in Washington is happening in Hawaii.... it's just at a much smaller rate.

Having at least a plan put in place that can be amended in the future is not a bad idea.

If you recall your local PNW history.... Lewis and Clark ended up in Bellingham.... It took a few Hundred Years to bring it to where it is at.

Now everyone in Puna is saying... what the hell is JW and I talking about and where is Bellingham and what the heck does this have with Rurality?

Well rurality is in the minds of the beholder.

Living in Bellingham as I was being raised.... I didn't really know what a bigger city was. Then moving to Hilo... it was a culture shock at how slow things were compared to Bellingham.

I then moved away to Honolulu.... and I felt as if I had moved from Bellingham to Seattle.

Now that I have returned to the Big Island... I see the "urban" Sprawl Crawl, that is happening here on the Big Island.

I don't think Hawaii has as much to worry about as other smaller cities across the nation simply because the cost of living here is way different then the mainland.

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[JWFITZ]

Sorry Damon, the comment above was more pointed at myself than anyone else. No offense intended.

I would suggest that while obviously ones personal experience may have quite a impact on what one views as a "rural" area, there is a commonly held core meaning. Certainly I don't believe it's a mere matter of semantics, but rather a hint at the existence of a commonly held core value. I believe the area I grew up in would fit most definitions of rural. A desert county in the west, in which the county seat where I lived had a population of perhaps 3000, and there were a number of towns in the vicinity(at least on a continental scale) that had populations of 20 or less, with names like Ash, Antelope, and Cinnabar. One room school houses were not unknown, and the definition of a town was more or less where mail is delivered. From that perspective, I don't find most of Puna, or especially the Pahoa region, rural in the slightest. In fact, I think as a possible instructive place to draw the line I might offer this: anyplace where a trip to a proper grocery store can be accomplished in a sensible period of time, maybe less than half a day, is probably not really very rural.

What I am getting at is this--the essence of the rural lifestyle is an attitude and necessity of self reliance that the pure facts of rural isolation brings. There is no meaningful police presence, or fire protection, or road maintenance, or what have you. You will need to provide what sort of those services you find important for yourself. There will be no dog catcher, but neither will there be anyone telling you how or where to build your barn, or what it should be made of. No one will care if you do a crappy job and it falls down. If you make a trip to town for a project, and forget that one particular drill bit needed for the job, or simply break it or drop it in the dust, the day is shot: the project unfinished, and it may well be a project that NEEDS to get done in a real manner. For some, relying one ones skills in a real manner, and the responsibility that comes with it, is a terrifying proposition. For others, like myself, the joy that comes from relying one ones own skills and the satisfaction of a job well done is the pure fresh air that provides life its meaning. In fact, for those of us who have lived lifestyles of self reliance, "rural" people in general, we're prone to get very hot under the collar about people telling us how we need to plant our garden, or build our house, or live our lives. We feel justified in that because we've done so, and it's been OK. We're especially cagey about the SORTS of people who are busy with such impositions--as it's pretty hard to have a full day of pulling fence wire, and then somehow manage a drive into town for a council meeting. We're generally pretty suspicious of people who have that kind of time on there hands. As well, self-reliant, capable people are completely aware that many people are not capable at all--and incapable people may expect, from their perspective, that any house THEY might build would likely fall down in a hurricane. . .it would only be SENSIBLE to enforce standards about such things--where from the perspective of those capable and self-reliance, such things are only a meddlesome imposition--and an insulting one at that. At least that would be a nice way to put it.

So, many of us have been drawn to Puna for this specific reason--the opportunity to engage in that "rural" self-reliant lifestyle. Self reliance has a hard sharp edge to it, if it is real--and only if it is real will it be personally satisfying--but failure is possible. It is clear at this moment in history that those interested in the future of Puna are marching lockstep to gut that frontier lifestyle still semi-possible in this area. Of course, I resent the imposition. I'm sure that is clear to others from my posts. I came here to Puna looking for something--an opportunity to create my by own hands something for myself, without undo interference, and to live my life in the manner I enjoy without molestation. Self-reliance, and the satisfaction that comes with it, is key. Clearly this is being rapidly lost.

I would suggest that any man who has not had the pleasure of building a home for himself, by himself, in the manner that he finds pleasing, has missed out one of the core experiences of what it means to be human. I suggest that it is as powerful as experience as childbirth might be for a woman, and perhaps a parallel experience. In fact, I see any action to deny others the means to live in the manner in which they see fit is an assault on dignity of the individuality of the human spirit. If to respect individuality requires tolerating the occasional screw-up or misfit who makes a mess of themselves or their lives--that is a cost I personally am more than willing to bear.

Anyway, a thought or two from this unrepentant hick.

[Liz]

Right on JW!!! That describes us to a T. Thank you for being able to put so eloquently what I would have wanted to say here.

aloha, Liz

"The best things in life aren't things."

[JohnS]

Aloha,

The closest I've found to an official planning definition of 'rural' is "lot size larger than half an acre." This is also what one of the planning consultants for the CDP said when I asked the question at a presentation.
So vast areas of what we would mostly all call 'suburban', all over North America (and here) and going back decades, is actually 'rural'!

Just kidding...well, sort of. That really is a planning definition of 'rural' - lot size, that's all it is. Which is why "planning" as we know it is not much help in our situation.

Historically rural was, as someone has pointed out, largely to do with very local self-sufficiency.
Also, historically, very little mobility. Rural life was life around the homestead or small rural town. Period. I would say most residents of most plantation camps would have qualified, at least until the train tracks were replaced by roads and a majority of working families could afford cars. My maternal grandfather grew up in a historical rural context in the "old country" (until he immigrated to the USA).

I consider most of Puna suburban. Sub-urban, that is, living outside the urban core (Hilo) but dependent on it for most of life's necessities, often on a daily basis.

In other words, I think 'rural' and 'suburban' have mostly to do with movement patterns.

Rural goes to town maybe once a week for church, market, some shopping for luxury items not available elsewhere, a special town treat of some kind. Otherwise, they're at home(stead or small village/town), or very close to it.

Suburban goes to town many times a week, sometimes even multiple times a day, gets most essentials of life there, would not last two days happily (or two weeks alive ;-) without making that trip (a.k.a. "commute").

While there are pockets of partial rural self-sufficiency in Puna, some more so than others, I would guess they represent a small fraction of Puna's population.

These days rural seems mostly a real estate marketing term applied to suburban sprawl lots that still have a lot of empties around them. Or maybe just to lots larger than half an acre...

[macuu222]

I guess that means I'm a rural suburbanite because I commute to Hilo daily and have an acre of land.