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Water will be insanely expensive on Oahu in 20-30 years. At least 10X the cost it is today. Once our aquifers become inadequate (which they are already showing signs of today) to support our growing population, we will have to adopt new technology to produce fresh water. This will instantly increase water rates and will do so sharply as more and more fresh water supplied needs to be created artificially vs pulling it straight out of the ground.
+1 Exactly, unlike the mainland where california for example can goto colorado or oregon and borrow, buy/use other states water sources to deal with shortages, hawaii can't. Which just further supports the notion that there has to be a different way of thinking when dealing with growth in Hawaii and different value systems.
Water will be insanely expensive on Oahu in 20-30 years. At least 10X the cost it is today. Once our aquifers become inadequate (which they are already showing signs of today) to support our growing population, we will have to adopt new technology to produce fresh water. This will instantly increase water rates and will do so sharply as more and more fresh water supplied needs to be created artificially vs pulling it straight out of the ground.
Well - they should be raising water rates, NOW!
Water is ridiculously inexpensive compared to other cites, 3,000 gallons here will run you about $13.00 - compare that to NY ($41), LA ($58), Seattle ($72), Santa Fe ($120), Atlanta ($72)
There are no incentives on Oahu to conserve water - zero, it is practically free.
Not true at all - build high in the urban core and as another poster stated, stop the low-rise sprawl. It looks ridiculous when you head to Ewa Beach, Pearl City, Kapolei, even Kaimuki - and it is just sprawl, sprawl, sprawl
I noticed you left out Kailua... Should they be built up with high rises as well? Willing to have your Bay view blocked by a wall of concrete?
I'm not against dense urban development. I specifically stated that ultra-high rise buildings of 650-800 ft in height that have been proposed should NEVER be allowed. There is no reason that we need to exceed the existing 400 ft height limit. That provides more than sufficient density for what the island can offer resource-wise. Any excuse for going above 400 ft is purely profit motivated and serves the general public nothing of value.
I noticed you left out Kailua... Should they be built up with high rises as well? Willing to have your Bay view blocked by a wall of concrete?
The areas I would propose for ultra-high rise development would be from downtown to Waikiki - the purpose being to get people closer to work, cars off of the road, creating walkable communities.
Ultra-high rise development doesn't make sense in other parts of the islands because it defeats the purpose of being close to work. To put in those high rises whether it be Kailua, Hawaii Kai, Pearl City, Ewa Beach, Mililani, wouldn't make sense, I don't even think there would even be any demand for them.
But, don't fret, I live on the top of a hill - my view would be safe.
Water is ridiculously inexpensive compared to other cites, 3,000 gallons here will run you about $13.00 - compare that to NY ($41), LA ($58), Seattle ($72), Santa Fe ($120), Atlanta ($72)
There are no incentives on Oahu to conserve water - zero, it is practically free.
Now this I absolutely agree with. The water rates we pay are practically free. And that's why residents squander the precious resource - there is literally zero incentive to conserve.
The areas I would propose for ultra-high rise development would be from downtown to Waikiki - the purpose being to get people closer to work, cars off of the road, creating walkable communities.
Ultra-high rise development doesn't make sense in other parts of the islands because it defeats the purpose of being close to work. To put in those high rises whether it be Kailua, Hawaii Kai, Pearl City, Ewa Beach, Mililani, wouldn't make sense, I don't even think there would even be any demand for them.
But, don't fret, I live on the top of a hill - my view would be safe.
Sorry, not getting it. Less than 3% of all properties in Waikiki to downtown, a fraction of the land area you are proposing, are occupied by 400 ft towers. Why not just demolish countless old 3-story walk ups and other 5-15 story buildings, build up to 400 ft (40+ stories) and call it a day? You can increase density dramatically by just building MORE high rises capped at 400 ft. What's the purpose of going to 650 or more?
Now this I absolutely agree with. The water rates we pay are practically free. And that's why residents squander the precious resource - there is literally zero incentive to conserve.
And @whtviper1
But compared to the cost of housing and living plus low wages must everything be expensive in Oahu? The fact that one utility is cheap is a blessing to the middle and working class people of oahu compared to the cost of electricity which is between three and four times the average price on the mainland.
And regarding the topic of building up? When we build each building up to its limit, then what? Keep raising the limits? How does that solve our population and limitted resource issue? No offense i would take a 400ft limit on high over 650ft or more if i had a choice but its a temp solution.
But i do have to say that you guys do bring up some good ideals.
Last edited by hawaiian by heart; 03-18-2015 at 03:33 PM..
Sorry, not getting it. Less than 5% of all properties in Waikiki to downtown are occupied by 400 ft towers. Why not just demolish old 3-story walk ups and other 5-20 story buildings, build up to 400 ft (40+ stories) and call it a day? You can increase density dramatically by just building MORE high rises capped at 400 ft. What's the purpose of going to 650 or more?
This is what I completely agree with. I've suggested building more towers and developing walkable neighborhoods like Kakaako in order to fit more people onto a smaller footprint and stop all the outward sprawl. But I'd also keep the current height limits and not provide exceptions.
There are an amazing number of poorly constructed or under utilized low-rise buidlings that could be replaced with new 400 ft high-rises in the downtown to Waikiki corridor. The governament has an opportunity to develop a really nice comprehensive plan with parks, bike paths, public art, wide sidewalks and natural vegitation.
At the same time, concentrating this limited height development here, would allow preservation of the rest of the island by stopping the ever expanding sprawl from crawling around the island.
But compared to the cost of housing and living plus low wages must everything be expensive in Oahu? The fact that one utility is cheap is a blessing to the middle and working class people of oahu compared to the cost of electricity which is between three and four times the average price on the mainland.
And regarding the topic of building up? When we build each building up to its limit, then what? Keep raising the limits? How does that solve our population and limitted resource issue? No offense i would take a 400ft limit on high over 650ft or more if i had a choice but its a temp solution.
But i do have to say that you guys do bring up some good ideals.
Water is cheap here because it just comes to us naturally - because of our natural and mostly undisturbed environment, water sourced from our mountains is literally potable straight out of the ground. That is rare in any industrialized nation on the planet. The less human intervention required in getting water potable, the cheaper it is. The real issue is lack of future planning. Our govt officials have no incentive to look out for the long term. They can see as far as their noses and that's it. Once our free-flowing water reaches a point where the volume is inadequate for our needs, water will need to be artificially produced either through desalination or extensive filtering processes - both of which increase the cost to make water potable by 100X or more. The cost difference is staggering. It's inevitable that costs will skyrocket. The govt should be planning for this now instead of waiting until the **** hits the fan.
I also believe in high consumption-based taxes for natural resources - you pay for what you use, the more you use the cost goes up exponentially. Humans only need X amount of water to maintain a desirable standard of living.... much much less than what we consume today. The govt should capitalize on this and generate revenue for other things like education etc. Water use today could literally pay for education, for example. And the side benefit is we preserve our natural resource for a much longer period of time into the future, and if stringent enough, possibly allowing our natural source to supply our island's residents for perpetuity. Its a win-win-win. But unfortunately our govt is not run by intelligent forward-thinking people so this type of system would never exist.
Why not just demolish countless old 3-story walk ups and other 5-15 story buildings, build up to 400 ft (40+ stories) and call it a day?
I could get behind this - the area around Moana Pacific is a prime example of derelict properties that should be demolished and more Moana Pacific like properties built......
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