Stasis: defined as stagnation; a period of little or no evolutionary change. Hawai`i may not lead the nation in stasis, but we gotta be near the top of the chart in many vital areas. We’ve talked about a need for truly affordable housing for 60 years, but laws, rules, decision-makers, and attitudes haven’t change enough to allow for that to happen en masse while our population grew. Frivolous lawsuits (a/k/a stalling) and the expense/time to fight these battles renders interested business entities unable or unwilling to pursue plans. We suffer from NIMBY (“not in my backyard”). We want things done… just not in/near my neighborhood, town, or area…
Too much land on O`ahu zoned agricultural is not currently being used productively- for myriad reasons. 38% of O`ahu land was zoned agricultural in 1970, when sugar and pineapple ruled. The 2020 Honolulu Land Use Report indicated that 33% of O’ahu land was still zoned as agricultural, while urban land rose from 22% in 1970 to just 26% in 2020. That’s a whopping 4% increase in 50-years. Stasis, inertia, bumbai, deferral. Archaic regulations/laws, too many cooks and special interests amid rampant bureaucracy, community objections; it all adds up to a veritable bouillabaisse of apathy and inefficiency, mixed with a lack of passion and action plans… something else we might lead the league in.
Let’s hope that things are changing in 2024 with smart plans and timetables. The notion that we must find/create smaller, attractive, economic drivers beyond tourism have been amorphously pontificated often- after the Kōbe earthquake (1995) and the Iwate tsunami (2011), post-9/11 (2001), during the Great Recession (2007-2009), and the COVID scourge (2020-2022). Every time, visitors came back and we went “ho-hum; laters!”
But local people have been moving away at alarming rates since 2016, while people are moving in and/or buying/building housing units from afar; we question whether that’s the future we want for our state and to sustain our unique culture. Enough talk and setting up ad hoc committees; enough of allowing administrative managers to set the tone without persistent community pressure to force new visions or suggest bold ideas.
Surely, now is the time for well thought out, systemic changes. Between out-migration, COVID, the growth of ALICE households (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) to almost 50% of Hawai`i’s population, and the horrible Maui wildfires, now must be the time for action. Isn’t it?
Think about it…