This may sound like a case of blatant NIMBYism, but I really hope the residents of Nuuanu Valley win their battle to stop the development of a steep hillside. The only thing on the minds of the developers and the City is the kala...nevermind what will probably happen to the new houses in that subdivision or to their neighbors when the hill slides down.
We see it all too often up in my part of the world, too. People pay a premium for choice "view" lots on the sides of steep hills. Then they pay extra for the infrastructure that will keep their houses anchored to the steep hill. When the heavy rains come, guess what happens to those houses? "Slip, sliding away..." I'm sure their home insurance premiums are sky high, too.
If it was me, I wouldn't want to build a multimillion dollar house on the side of a steep hill. In fact, I wouldn't even want to have the view. Just let me build a house on flat ground, not on or near an earthquake faultline, and inland enough so that if there was a tsunami my house wouldn't be in the wave's path...
Miulang
P.S. there was probably a reason why the kanaka maoli left that part of the valley uninhabited. We should learn from those people.
We see it all too often up in my part of the world, too. People pay a premium for choice "view" lots on the sides of steep hills. Then they pay extra for the infrastructure that will keep their houses anchored to the steep hill. When the heavy rains come, guess what happens to those houses? "Slip, sliding away..." I'm sure their home insurance premiums are sky high, too.
If it was me, I wouldn't want to build a multimillion dollar house on the side of a steep hill. In fact, I wouldn't even want to have the view. Just let me build a house on flat ground, not on or near an earthquake faultline, and inland enough so that if there was a tsunami my house wouldn't be in the wave's path...
Miulang
P.S. there was probably a reason why the kanaka maoli left that part of the valley uninhabited. We should learn from those people.
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