Smart-Growth Workshop

[timkona]

Re: Smart-Growth Workshop

Easy Madazza....Gen X here....and working since 12....started at the bottom...saved my duckets....and its starting to pay off....hard work, hard studying, hard workouts, and hard living are my favorite part of life.

[MadAzza]

Re: Smart-Growth Workshop

Easy Madazza....Gen X here....and working since 12....started at the bottom...saved my duckets....and its starting to pay off....hard work, hard studying, hard workouts, and hard living are my favorite part of life.

That's why I said "many," not "all" or even "most."

[SouthKona]

Re: Time to retire that "Great American Dream"

Why is that "bad"? We need to stop viewing service industry work as demeaning and worthless. (angry emoticon here) Of course those jobs pay less. So what? Not everyone has to earn $50,000 or $60,000 a year or more.

Yes, MadAzza, good observations.

Many of the workers at our West Hawaii hotels make an honest living, earning wages the enable them to raise their families, own decent cars, buy a home, and live an enjoyable life. Of course, it sometimes helps if they are in an union, which often provides additional workplace protections and enhanced wages and benefits, especially in the service industry. (Granted, that the recent price increases in housing have outpriced most service industry workers, along with just about any other occupation!!)

Additionally, many people count on the service industry as an opportunity for part-time, supplemental income - working part-time as wait help in a decent establishment can pay more per hour than most other types of part-time positions.

For those who insinuate that all service workers are in dead end jobs, just ask around, you might be surprised at how many of your neighbors make a living from the service industry. And, you'd be very upset if there were NO SERVICE INDUSTRY workers the next time you want to vacation in a hotel or eat out a restaurant!

[Miulang]

Re: Smart-Growth Workshop

All I'm trying to say is the Gen X and Y kids for the most part have different expectations from adults because their parents (the Boomers) scrimped and saved so their kids wouldn't have to have such a tough time in the world.

Most of the Gen X and Y kids unfortunately will never have it as good as the Boomers and their grandparents, and they will have to do with lowered expectations due to competition (things like living in apartments instead of single family homes, for instance) and dwindling resources.

When I look at how spoiled my nephews are, spending 5 or 6 years (or longer! ) to get a Bachelor's degree when those of us Boomers were expected to do it in 4 years or less, I'm amazed at the number of kids who have to return to the nest because it's too expensive for them to live on their own! I got through college in 4 years, had no educational debt thanks to my parents, worked at a piddly $4.75/hour job in Boston to start after graduation, moved to Seattle without knowing a soul, went to grad school, and got my Masters degree by working two jobs. I haven't had it easy either, but I did learn how to be self-sufficient. Many kids today haven't learned how to be self-sufficient and DO expect to make more money than their parents. How else could they afford their pricey toys? And most parents, I would venture to guess, aspire for their kids to do better financially than they did, because that's just the way things used to work.

It's the EXPECTATIONS of the young people that need revising, not the fact that earning less than $50-60k is not an honorable living. If you spend money to attend college, would you expect to work in a hotel in housekeeping someday? Unfortunately, in Hawai'i, where there are fewer professional positions open to locals, the answer sadly is probably "yes" if you want to continue to live there.

Miulang

[Jonah K]

Re: Smart-Growth Workshop

Here's an interesting L.A. Times article that addresses development pressures in Palau. A brief excerpt...

"Palau is going to have a lot of changes, and there is going to be a lot of pressure to develop," said Noah Idechong, a member of the legislature and a prominent environmental activist. "Palau is going to have to learn to say no."

The former U.S. territory, granted independence in 1994, is renowned for the clarity of its water and the diversity of its coral reefs. One of its prized national assets and natural oddities is a lake with more than 1 million stingless jellyfish. Its noted Rock Islands have long lured divers and naturalists from around the world.

But these days, with the road coming, Palau also is attracting international hotel, casino and golf course developers, who have begun acquiring local partners and making deals.

Idechong, who was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1995 for his work protecting marine life, worries that economic pressure and the lack of a national land-use plan will lead to reckless development on Babelthuap that could endanger the reefs by destroying mangroves and causing sedimentation.

Others complain that the country is giving too much say over its future to foreign businesspeople who care little about preserving Palau's traditions. A 157-room hotel opened last year by a Japanese chain on the capital island of Koror is staffed almost exclusively by low-paid foreign workers. Guests can spend their entire holiday in Palau without meeting a Palauan.

"In 10 years, without proper planning, we will have flesh and blood but Palau will be a ghost race," said Duane Hideo, former governor of the state of Ngchesar. "Some of the investors are very aggressive, especially the ones that come from Asia — 'I want this. I want that.' "

Today, two-thirds of the country's economy is based on tourism. Palau is so oriented toward visitors that even the jail in Koror has a gift shop where inmates sell traditional wood carvings.

Hopefully, the powers-that-be in Palau will embrace a few "smart growth" principles before it's too late.

[Miulang]

Re: Smart-Growth Workshop

Why does it take the latest natural disasters in Hawai'i for the State and the Legislature to seriously think about where they will allow future housing to be built? You know, the kanaka maoli, because they were keen observers of nature, knew exactly where to site their dwellings...certainly not on the sides or at the base of mountains, right next to streams or at the mouths of rivers (in the flood plains). Actually, it's kinda common sense, don't you think? Or maybe it's the head in the sand "it won't happen to me" syndrome. I still can't understand why people would want to pay a premium to build on a hillside or at the base of a hill or right on a beach... It's not just about the loss of property; more importantly, it's about the potential loss of LIVES.

Miulang

[timkona]

Re: Smart-Growth Workshop

Dear Miulang, My heart breaks from reading your post. I have been in and around the "trades" my whole life since 13. I have built things, against my better judgement, when owners would not listen to the answers. And I have cried when I saw my predictions come true, and my artwork destroyed.

I have seen my artwork flooded, burned, and sliding off the side of a hill. I have seen the ocean steal my artwork, and I have seen the bank take my artwork from the person who bought it. And I can honestly say, in the deepest part of my heart, "I told you so".

I'm nearly old enough to have the proper appearance (read aged) such that folks might listen to me. And I have the credentials now to prove my competency. But do folks listen? Not likely.

[timkona]

Re: Smart-Growth Workshop

The Smart Growth Workshop was terrific. Over 100 people attended. The tide of opinion is slowly changing in Hawaii. People are starting to realize that if we build subdivisions everywhere, we are destined to run out of Ag land.

It is ironic that Hokulia's original plan was for a much higher density use in the center of their land. Then Kona screamed bloody murder in 1993 & 1994. So Hokulia spread out on 1 acre lots for 700 acres, and ended up in hot water with the LUC. And nowadays, Kona residents see the logic of higher density to preserve ag/open space. Do you think any of the original protesters would admit they were wrong?