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I never could figure out why anyone would want to live on Kona side. I personally wouldn't want to live there if they would be giving houses away for free (no kidding). It's fricking desert - lifeless, hot, ugly desert covered by lava. I probadly would get a depression just by looking at that kind of landscape every day. When most people think of Hawaii they picture it as a lush, green, tropical paradise. That is what Hawaii is to me.
I can understand that some people might like living in the desert (everybody has its own preferences, nothing wrong with that). But there are much more beautiful (and cheaper) deserts on the mainland (like Arizona or New Mexico). Why move so far from everything on the small island in the middle of the ocean so you can live in the desert?
One of the rainiest places on the planet is also the most expensive because of MARKETING. Up there in Kauai you all heard of the Princeville Resort? Right smack dap in the rainiest part of the world is a "fantastic" golf course and highly “desirable” place because it rains so much. Why is rain good there and not in Hilo? Marketing marketing.
You have your facts wrong. Look at this set of charts of rainfall and you will see that the rainfall in Princeville (40-60 in/yr) is a lot closer to that of Kona (about 60) than that of Hilo (about 160)
Now that you have been trained a bit..and I have hopefully opened your eyes a bit...look at each post from here out and ask yourself.
What motivates the post?
Is the post an attempt to market one part of Hawaii over another?
Is the post factual?
Does the author have any credibility?
Let the replies role.
Philip Maise
Pahoa Hawaii
Yes that is in Puna, on the East Side of Hawaii
I live in a section that is Lava Zone 2
I feel blessed to live where I do. Yes go ahead call me a Punatic. I expect that negative slam soon.
I confess that I don't fully understand the motivation behind your post. Do you want East Hawaii to be more aggressively marketed? If so, why? Granted, it might bring more tourist dollars, but it might also bring the problems associated with greater awareness: increased crowds, traffic, house and land prices, and homogeneity. Do you really want East Hawaii to become like Kona or Oahu? I can't help thinking of the last line of that Eagles song, "The Last Resort": "Call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye."
I don't see the other posts as being "negative slams." The posters agree with you that East Hawaii is a great place. They just disagree with you on some of your points. The majority of people I know in Oregon who go to Hawaii want to spend a week relaxing on the beach, usually to get away from our cold, gray winters. For most people, "Hawaii" means "a resort on Maui." Of those who venture to the Big Island, most go to one of the Kona resorts and take a side trip to the volcano. Only a few seek out and appreciate what Hilo has to offer. All the marketing in the world won't give East Hawaii sandy beaches (that's going to take a few millennia of erosion).
And so what if it remains something of a secret due to lack of marketing? My wife is from Hilo, and I've come to understand "living aloha" and what makes Hawaii special. I'd hate to see East Hawaii overrun by mainlanders who only appreciate the climate and natural beauty, but who care nothing for the people and culture, and who move there, drive up land prices, build McMansions, and expect the locals to do things like they're done "back in the States." Those types give all of us mainland haoles a bad name.
I never could figure out why anyone would want to live on Kona side. I personally wouldn't want to live there if they would be giving houses away for free (no kidding). It's fricking desert - lifeless, hot, ugly desert covered by lava. I probadly would get a depression just by looking at that kind of landscape every day. When most people think of Hawaii they picture it as a lush, green, tropical paradise. That is what Hawaii is to me.
I can understand that some people might like living in the desert (everybody has its own preferences, nothing wrong with that). But there are much more beautiful (and cheaper) deserts on the mainland (like Arizona or New Mexico). Why move so far from everything on the small island in the middle of the ocean so you can live in the desert?
I live in Kona (south) and it's not lifeless or hot or covered by lava (well, the whole island is lava, if you get down to it), just green.
I think it's nice that the Island has such a diverse topography to suit many lifestyles and preferences.
I always equate "Kona side" meaning North and East of actual Kailua-Kona - where it is hotter, drier, windy, with little vegetation, lots of traffic and lots of tourists in a hurry.
I see you're working entirely out of your marketing 101 textbook, but have no ability to have an actual discussion with other human beings about Hawaii, or to see why some people might resent your bragging about what Hilo side has. So, I'll leave you to that. We don't need more than on Ali'i Drive on the island.
Location: Big Island of Hawaii & HOT BuOYS Sailing Vessel
5,277 posts, read 2,800,352 times
Reputation: 1932
Aloha
To HankDfrmSD one difficulty with this format is not being able to go back and clarify or correct posts. My comparison was based on East Hawaii overall and I had no idea you guys got so little rain in "Princeville (40-60 in/yr)". I was just going by my personal experience bridges being closed when the river was overflowing and the often repeated figure of 430 inches of rain that occurs somewhere up this in Kauai..Obviously as you point out not in Princeville. Not all parts of East Hawaii get that great 160 figure as Hilo town itself.
I worked downtown Hilo in an old non-air conditioned office building a full year and learned first hand working late at night one reason Hilo gets so much rain. About 8 p.m. at night it felt sometimes like someone opened up the refrigerator door. What was occurring was a shift from the winds flowing from the sea and up Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa to cold air sinking down from the mountains and back out to sea. When that cold air comes back down at night and meets the moist air in Hilo the result is that frequent nightly rain shower.
Not all parts of East Side of Hawaii receive rain like that. The problem where I live is the downdraft effect isn't great enough at night to get the cold air down far enough to my elevation close to the ocean. Down where I live my catchment tank has been full only twice in 10 years so I wish my area got more.
Reference HonuMan "I confess that I don't fully understand the motivation behind your post. Do you want East Hawaii to be more aggressively marketed? If so, why?...... I'd hate to see East Hawaii overrun by mainlanders who only appreciate the climate and natural beauty, but who care nothing for the people and culture,
Well I guess I should explain myself. I came across the website while doing research into the possible illegal practice of possible redlining the districts of Captain Cook, most of Kau, and lower Puna. Possible redlining is a difficult practice to contest, especially when the parties doing the possible redlining live outside the community and have a negative image of it.
When the bank I worked at possibly might have redlined these areas. I objected to management (in Kailua Kona and Honolulu) and was basically told not to make a big stink about it. The decision to deny any home equity loans to anyone in these areas was made by someone on the mainland who never came out to investigate. I no longer work at that bank.
Strangely, no one ever objected or filed a complaint about being possibly redlined. I think it is partly due to the fact that the areas we scratched off our list were the poorest neighborhoods in Hawaii.
This is not an easy issue to tackle and one branch of the Federal government has imposed a blanket service denial memorandum upon the area. That would be HUD and now no residents can get FHA or VA loans. This despite the fact a borrower can be qualified in every respect except geographic location that might be more risky than others.
Well tornado alley might be more risky than others too...yet loans are still made there despite the fact residents and their houses can be scooped up and lost in seconds.
I was the only one in the firm to protest directly with Washington and attempted to get our Senators involved. I got my hand slapped big time for that. Lowly lil me was never supposed to contact Washington and I was supposed to sit back and allow the denial of service to continue.
So what is going on is obviously a bit complex and involved to go into here...however..it isn't future residents of Hawaii I'm marketing towards...it is the current residents I am trying to prop up a bit as I am about to ask them to step forward and complain that they are being unjustly denied the same services others receive from the government and banks.
I appreciate those that have contributed to help make this site as I quite possibly may be able to use some of the data obtained here on census tracks to show those areas that might possibly have been redlined are coincidentally the poorest neighborhoods in Hawaii.
I want to just leave you with a tiny sample of what I am talking about...
This came from a real estate agents website in West Hawaii.
The island of Hawaii is divided into zones according to the degree of hazard from lava flows. Zone 1 would be the greatest risk and Zone 9 the least. Luckily, the areas we specialize in, North and South Kohala, are in lower risk zones. Zones 1 and 2 carry high property insurance rates and higher mortgage rates (when lenders will even look at them!). North Kohala is in Zone 9. Parts of South Kohala are Zone 8.
This is a very subtle one. You certainly can't fault this agent for loving North and South Kohala they are very nice places indeed. Who among you knows why this caught my eye?
Thanks for the reputation points. That is kind of neat.
Philip Maise
East Hawaii Resident
Pahoa Punatic
Former Loan Officer At ____ Bank
Oh I got a sailboat too. It came with a neat hat.
Aloha
To HankDfrmSD one difficulty with this format is not being able to go back and clarify or correct posts. My comparison was based on East Hawaii overall and I had no idea you guys got so little rain in "Princeville (40-60 in/yr)". I was just going by my personal experience bridges being closed when the river was overflowing and the often repeated figure of 430 inches of rain that occurs somewhere up this in Kauai..Obviously as you point out not in Princeville. Not all parts of East Hawaii get that great 160 figure as Hilo town itself.
I worked downtown Hilo in an old non-air conditioned office building a full year and learned first hand working late at night one reason Hilo gets so much rain. About 8 p.m. at night it felt sometimes like someone opened up the refrigerator door. What was occurring was a shift from the winds flowing from the sea and up Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa to cold air sinking down from the mountains and back out to sea. When that cold air comes back down at night and meets the moist air in Hilo the result is that frequent nightly rain shower.
Not all parts of East Side of Hawaii receive rain like that. The problem where I live is the downdraft effect isn't great enough at night to get the cold air down far enough to my elevation close to the ocean. Down where I live my catchment tank has been full only twice in 10 years so I wish my area got more.
Reference HonuMan "I confess that I don't fully understand the motivation behind your post. Do you want East Hawaii to be more aggressively marketed? If so, why?...... I'd hate to see East Hawaii overrun by mainlanders who only appreciate the climate and natural beauty, but who care nothing for the people and culture,
Well I guess I should explain myself. I came across the website while doing research into the possible illegal practice of possible redlining the districts of Captain Cook, most of Kau, and lower Puna. Possible redlining is a difficult practice to contest, especially when the parties doing the possible redlining live outside the community and have a negative image of it.
When the bank I worked at possibly might have redlined these areas. I objected to management (in Kailua Kona and Honolulu) and was basically told not to make a big stink about it. The decision to deny any home equity loans to anyone in these areas was made by someone on the mainland who never came out to investigate. I no longer work at that bank.
Strangely, no one ever objected or filed a complaint about being possibly redlined. I think it is partly due to the fact that the areas we scratched off our list were the poorest neighborhoods in Hawaii.
This is not an easy issue to tackle and one branch of the Federal government has imposed a blanket service denial memorandum upon the area. That would be HUD and now no residents can get FHA or VA loans. This despite the fact a borrower can be qualified in every respect except geographic location that might be more risky than others.
Well tornado alley might be more risky than others too...yet loans are still made there despite the fact residents and their houses can be scooped up and lost in seconds.
I was the only one in the firm to protest directly with Washington and attempted to get our Senators involved. I got my hand slapped big time for that. Lowly lil me was never supposed to contact Washington and I was supposed to sit back and allow the denial of service to continue.
So what is going on is obviously a bit complex and involved to go into here...however..it isn't future residents of Hawaii I'm marketing towards...it is the current residents I am trying to prop up a bit as I am about to ask them to step forward and complain that they are being unjustly denied the same services others receive from the government and banks.
I appreciate those that have contributed to help make this site as I quite possibly may be able to use some of the data obtained here on census tracks to show those areas that might possibly have been redlined are coincidentally the poorest neighborhoods in Hawaii.
I want to just leave you with a tiny sample of what I am talking about...
This came from a real estate agents website in West Hawaii.
The island of Hawaii is divided into zones according to the degree of hazard from lava flows. Zone 1 would be the greatest risk and Zone 9 the least. Luckily, the areas we specialize in, North and South Kohala, are in lower risk zones. Zones 1 and 2 carry high property insurance rates and higher mortgage rates (when lenders will even look at them!). North Kohala is in Zone 9. Parts of South Kohala are Zone 8.
This is a very subtle one. You certainly can't fault this agent for loving North and South Kohala they are very nice places indeed. Who among you knows why this caught my eye?
Thanks for the reputation points. That is kind of neat.
Philip Maise
East Hawaii Resident
Pahoa Punatic
Former Loan Officer At ____ Bank
Oh I got a sailboat too. It came with a neat hat.
Your lava flow example proves no bias. Anyone who buys on the island knows there are zones 1-9. It seems as though you are deliberately looking for reasons to feel slighted living in Hilo.
If you went around your management to contact politicians, it's no wonder they were upset. That's just how companies work.
Are all the "redlined" districts in lava zones 1-2? It sounds more like an insurance company issue than a lending issue.
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). It's fricking desert - lifeless, hot, ugly desert covered by lava. I probadly would get a depression just by looking at that kind of landscape every day. When most people think of Hawaii they picture it as a lush, green, tropical paradise. That is what Hawaii is to me.
). But there are much more beautiful (and cheaper
) deserts on the mainland (like Arizona or New Mexico). Why move so far from everything on the small island in the middle of the ocean so you can live in the desert?
