New Kaka`ako aquarium?

[Miulang]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

I'm not hip on pissing on tourists... mainly cause I'm one myself but in my own view, I wouldn't see it as being pissed on for being a tourist. I would see it as a way to give back to the place that I'm being a tourist in. I could go on about other things like sales tax but it's not the place. As a tourist... I personally feel that it's rather cheap to go out there as opposed to going on vacation in let's say Chicago to visit my folks where sales tax is 9%

The "tourist surcharge" for Hawai'i is pretty steep, Kungpao, if you rent a hotel room or condo or a car, plus the fact that you don't get any "kama'aina discounts" which are worth about 10% off the price of admission at some of the local attractions and restaurants. Hawai'i is and always has been a place where upper middle class and rich folks love to play.

Miulang

[Hellbent]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

I finally got to visit the Waikiki Aquarium. I liked it, but the only other aquarium I've visited is the San Diego or was it San Francisco? Either way it was much bigger.
I dont agree that people only come here for sand and sea; while maybe alot do, I cant swim, so scuba is sort of out for me. As I stated before, I'd like to see a casino on 1 island, and a disney-like resort on another.
I'd say build a newer bigger one if it replaces the old one (in another location) but another one to compete? no.

[Kungpao]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

The "tourist surcharge" for Hawai'i is pretty steep, Kungpao, if you rent a hotel room or condo or a car, plus the fact that you don't get any "kama'aina discounts" which are worth about 10% off the price of admission at some of the local attractions and restaurants. Hawai'i is and always has been a place where upper middle class and rich folks love to play.

Miulang

Hmm... i suppose I didn't notice. I feel like i pay more for the things I do closer to home than there....

Thenagain, i'm a cheap SOB and scour around for all the best deals I can get.



BTW... I'm not upper middle class. I just chose to spend my money certain ways. Work hard... play harder....

[craigwatanabe]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

Hmm... i suppose I didn't notice. I feel like i pay more for the things I do closer to home than there....

Thenagain, i'm a cheap SOB and scour around for all the best deals I can get.



BTW... I'm not upper middle class. I just chose to spend my money certain ways. Work hard... play harder....

Ahhh but if you worked smarter you'd be upper middle class by now

[Keanu]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

Tourists fuel our economy. Ask anyone who has a hotel job, a taxi job, an airline or an airport job, dances at the Polynesian Culture Center, runs a parasail or snorkeling concession, rents surfboards, maintains a bed and breakfast, sells iced tea at an ABC Store, works at Germaine's Luau, owns a fancy restaurant or a hole in the wall store in Chinatown. Why is it so hip to piss on tourists?

The tourism industry places tremendous pressure on the local environment and culture. Increasing visitor arrivals lead to overcrowded beaches, strained natural resources, clogged roadways and overburdened natural areas. In addition, the effect of adding millions of tourists to the islands’ population each year has an as yet unmeasured impact on our island's limited water resources. More tourists means more roads, more traffic, more power plants, greater freshwater and electricity demands, increased development pressure, and more pollution. Moreover,tourism growth brings the degradation of native Hawaiian’s cultural heritage values. Are tourist dollars worth all this? I don't think so.

I was born and raised here, like my parents, grandparents, and great parents before me. I worry that the Hawaii my son grows up in will be nothing like the Hawaii I grew up loving.My sentiments have nothing to do with the "hipness" of "pissing on tourists" and everything to do with the survival of my island home.

The land doesn't belong to us; we belong to it, and the sooner people realize this, the better off Hawaii will be.

[Keanu]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

Tourists fuel our economy. Ask anyone who has a hotel job, a taxi job, an airline or an airport job, dances at the Polynesian Culture Center, runs a parasail or snorkeling concession, rents surfboards, maintains a bed and breakfast, sells iced tea at an ABC Store, works at Germaine's Luau, owns a fancy restaurant or a hole in the wall store in Chinatown. Why is it so hip to piss on tourists?

The tourism industry places tremendous pressure on the local environment and culture. Increasing visitor arrivals lead to overcrowded beaches, strained natural resources, clogged roadways and overburdened natural areas. In addition, the effect of adding millions of tourists to the islands’ population each year has an as yet unmeasured impact on our island's limited water resources. More tourists means more roads, more traffic, more power plants, greater freshwater and electricity demands, increased development pressure, and more pollution. Moreover, tourism growth brings the degradation of native Hawaiian’s cultural heritage values.

I was born and raised here, like my parents, grandparents, and great parents before me. I worry that the Hawaii my son grows up in will be nothing like the Hawaii I grew up loving.My sentiments have nothing to do with the "hipness" of "pissing on tourists" and everything to do with the survival of my island home.

Weren't you the one who said that it would be a good idea to use the old Kahuku Sugar Mill as a location for an aqaurium? That in itself should show that your logic is rather reckless.

The land doesn't belong to us; we belong to it, and the sooner people realize this, the better off Hawaii will be.

[tutusue]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

[...]I was born and raised here, like my parents, grandparents, and great parents before me. I worry that the Hawaii my son grows up in will be nothing like the Hawaii I grew up loving.[...]

A curiosity question, Keanu...
Have you asked your parents if they had the same worry for you when you were growing up? Were you fortunate enough to have your grandparents and great grandparents around to ask them the same question? It'd be interesting to know if each generation saw changes that caused them the same concerns you're feeling now for your son.

My dad and I are kamaaina Laguna Beach!!! I distinctly remember him remarking on the negative changes from when he was a kid. Once I had kids, I started noticing the changes and longed for them to live in the same unfettered town and times that their grandpa and I had lived.

Then...I moved to Hawaii!

[lavagal]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

The land doesn't belong to us; we belong to it, and the sooner people realize this, the better off Hawaii will be.

True. And so it always blows my mind when I see disposable diapers left on the beach. Protect the aina. Blame tourism. I guess we can blame tourism for graffiti throughout Hawaii, too. But that's another thread.


You can reject tourism all you want. But who exactly is listening to that argument? The governor? The Legislature? HVCB? City Council? Is the argument to stop tourism? How will you stop tourism? Wouldn't accepting it and managing it well be a better approach?

[Miulang]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

True. And so it always blows my mind when I see disposable diapers left on the beach. Protect the aina. Blame tourism. I guess we can blame tourism for graffiti throughout Hawaii, too. But that's another thread.


You can reject tourism all you want. But who exactly is listening to that argument? The governor? The Legislature? HVCB? City Council? Is the argument to stop tourism? How will you stop tourism? Wouldn't accepting it and managing it well be a better approach?

Well, as far as "ruining" Hawai'i, it ain't just the tourists who are causing the problems! There are some beaches on Maui that only the locals inhabit that are littered with cigarette butts, beer bottles/cans, dirty poopy diapers. In fact, in many ways, the tourists do respect Hawai'i's beaches more than the locals do.

And the big box stores would not be coming to Hawai'i in droves if the locals weren't clamoring for them. So everybody who's in Hawai'i---residents and tourists--could be contributing to the demise of Hawai'i as a paradise.

Miulang

[Keanu]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

A curiosity question, Keanu...
Have you asked your parents if they had the same worry for you when you were growing up? Were you fortunate enough to have your grandparents and great grandparents around to ask them the same question? It'd be interesting to know if each generation saw changes that caused them the same concerns you're feeling now for your son.

My dad and I are kamaaina Laguna Beach!!! I distinctly remember him remarking on the negative changes from when he was a kid. Once I had kids, I started noticing the changes and longed for them to live in the same unfettered town and times that their grandpa and I had lived.

Then...I moved to Hawaii!

I haven't asked my parents that question, perhaps I should. Both of my parents grew up in the Kahalu'u/ Waiahole area (Where they still live today) and not much has changed there over the years, thankfully. In restrospect, It would have been a very good question to ask my grandparents, as Hawai'i was a much different place when they were growing up.

[lavagal]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

Well, as far as "ruining" Hawai'i, it ain't just the tourists who are causing the problems! There are some beaches on Maui that only the locals inhabit that are littered with cigarette butts, beer bottles/cans, dirty poopy diapers. In fact, in many ways, the tourists do respect Hawai'i's beaches more than the locals do.

And the big box stores would not be coming to Hawai'i in droves if the locals weren't clamoring for them. So everybody who's in Hawai'i---residents and tourists--could be contributing to the demise of Hawai'i as a paradise.

Miulang

Amen to all that. So I'm CERTAIN everyone would even enjoy a BIG aquarium.

Does anyone want to ask me how much New Jersey has changed since I grew up? I go back because it's a favorite place, has great childhood memories for me, but it is so different. I don't feel as though I belong anymore. I've lived here longer than I lived there. I certainly wouldn't want anyone like Keanu and those of you whose families go back generations to ever feel as though you didn't belong in Hawaii. I don't wish that on my husband's family, nor my own children, who were born here.

[Keanu]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

True. And so it always blows my mind when I see disposable diapers left on the beach. Protect the aina. Blame tourism. I guess we can blame tourism for graffiti throughout Hawaii, too. But that's another thread.

Blame for our Island's woes fall upon many people...locals and tourist alike. Having said that, I will ignore your sarcasm as there are more pertinent issues for me to concern myself with.

You can reject tourism all you want. But who exactly is listening to that argument? The governor? The Legislature? HVCB? City Council? Is the argument to stop tourism? How will you stop tourism? Wouldn't accepting it and managing it well be a better approach?

Who's listening? Not the people who should be that's for sure. Unfortunately our State and County governments are short sighted and incorrigble.They decided long ago that they will continue to throw all of their eggs in one basket (The tourism industry). Realizing that tourism is and will probably always be a sad reality for us, the alternative would be ecologically sustainable tourism. The impacts of the visitor industry upon the environmental, social, cultural, and economic fabrics of the local community should always be taken into account, not as a formality but as a requirement whenever new developments are proposed.

[Keanu]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

In fact, in many ways, the tourists do respect Hawai'i's beaches more than the locals do.

I will respectfully disagree with you. I have spent much of my life in and around Hawaii beaches... needless to say, I don't see things the same way you do. There are good people on both sides of the fence but to say that tourists respect Hawaii's beaches more than the locals do is a bit presumptous. I'm sure Kala Alexander and his friends would disagree with your comments as well.

And the big box stores would not be coming to Hawai'i in droves if the locals weren't clamoring for them. So everybody who's in Hawai'i---residents and tourists--could be contributing to the demise of Hawai'i as a paradise.

I share your sentiments here. Fwiw, I haven't spent a dime in Walmart.

[Miulang]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

I will respectfully disagree with you. I have spent much of my life in and around Hawaii beaches... needless to say, I don't see things the same way you do. There are good people on both sides of the fence but to say that tourists respect Hawaii's beaches more than the locals do is a bit presumptous. I'm sure Kala Alexander and his friends would disagree with your comments as well.

The State managed beaches (where both locals and tourists play) are great on Maui...clean, well maintained.

The COUNTY beaches (where tourists don't generally visit because they don't have the "proper" facilities and don't rank highly in the tourist guides---like Baby Beach in Sprecklesville) are the places I usually visit, and they are always littered with butts, bottles and diapers. I was always taught to leave things in BETTER condition than when I arrive, and I usually pick up trash when I see it. There are lots of other places on Maui where only the locals go where you see the same thing. I can only speak with authority about Maui. Could the County do more to help the locals keep their private locals-only beaches clean? Sure, they could provide portapotties and more trash cans, but would the locals use them?

EVERYBODY in Hawai'i--kama'aina and malihini alike--has an obligation to malama 'aina, because if everyone leaves that to the next person, before you know it, nobody will care.

Miulang

P.S. Maui until very recently was also called the "abandoned car sculpture" island because we had lots of abandoned cars littering the highways. That was partly the fault of the County because it closed down the only car recycler for awhile, but only LOCALs would abandon junker cars, not the tourists. And talk about lazy...locals are dumping all kinds of 'opala all along the road (Pulehu Rd.) immediately outside the Central Maui Landfill. If the dump is closed, why not just take the 'opala with you to dump when it's open??? Instead, you have plastic bags, pieces of paper and lord only knows what else blowing in the breeze all along Pulehu Rd. Thank god the tourists don't normally travel on that road. They would be appalled.

[LikaNui]

Re: New Kaka`ako aquarium, or not?

to say that tourists respect Hawaii's beaches more than the locals do is a bit presumptous.

So you think that it's tourists who discard zillions of derelict cars and rusty refrigerators and bald tires and broken stoves and termite-riddled cabinets along the side of Hawai`i's roads, sometimes mere feet from the entrance to free garbage dumps?

And to LavaGal -- methinks your tongue-in-cheek comment on this went WHOOSH right over a couple of heads.