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| James "Kimo" Rosen is a retired professional photographer and amongst other things lived in a tent outdoors for 7 years. Rosen currently resides on the tropical island of kauai with his best friend Obama Da Dog! |
Why there are so many homeless in Hawai'i
Hawaii to our visitors is known as paradise, to many local people it is known as hell.
Many locals and kamaaina transplants will utter "tourists and haole go home," behind their breath. Even caucasians are ironically heard screaming 'Haole go home.'
Hawaii ranks # 1 as a tropical vacation destination. Many tourists that come here, think wow-- this would be a great place to retire and spend the winter of my life.
The wealthy visitors eventually become residents along with many who have inherited a lot of money or those who live of rich parents and trust funds. Hawaii is just not affordable to even the average working class person.
Why so many homeless in Hawaii? Because it's an easier lifestyle for many. Enclosed are many news articles from 'Hawaii News Now' on the out of control homeless situation and how they have taken over Waikiki beach and many other parts of Oahu;
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/category/285127/homeless-in-hawaii
I know many local families that live 2-3 generations to a house along with aunties uncles, cousins and second cousins once removed. It's only affordable since 10 people in the house are working and live a somewhat communal lifestyle amongst family.
There are also those will will rent bedrooms in their home to afford out of sight mortgage payments. I know of one family with 2 kids that rent out 2 rooms in their home, thus giving up family privacy, and they still struggle to make payments.
Many will invest major money in expensive pickup trucks as the way of having a sense of pride in ownership, since most working class people will never be able to afford a piece of real estate in (PARADISE) Drive by many neighborhoods and will see 5 or more vehicles parked on the lawn.
The car dealerships give these workers what they tell them is a great deal. I know a Burger king employee that lives a multi generation home whom thought the dealer was such a nice guy--she got a brand new pickup truck for $1,000 down. Guess what the payments are? $750.00 a month, not including insurance or gas.
People are investing money in vehicles that depreciate since they know real estate is out of a reach. Thus creating another major problem of traffic gridlock with so many new vehicles traveling bumper to bumper.
This mantra of 'PARADISE'has been ongoing for decades and with all the once visitors now wanting to retire it has pushed the price of land to prices that are hard to comprehend.
A fixer upper home in the worst part of Kauai can cost upward of $500,000 on a one bathroom ,2 bedroom home on a small lot. Not to mention no garage or basement. Many places on the mainland would have you living in a mansion with a built in pool and bowling alleys in the basement with acreage for that kind of investment.
Real estate has skyrocketed from the demand from visitors who move here to retire or take on a second or third home.
Working professions have a hard time affording rent, many cannot even get bank loans for homes . Many local students move to the mainland to be able to live a decent lifestyle.
The homeless crisis is partly here because there is a lack of incentives to work. Why work, when every penny you get will go towards slum housing. Why not live outdoors on the beach verses in a run down apartment that takes your whole paycheck to afford.
The only way to ever curb the homeless situation is to make housing affordable, otherwise more people will choose a lifestyle of freedom and living living in the great outdoors amongst the fresh ocean air and stars and visiting their local food bank.
James "Kimo" Rosen is a retired professional photographer and amongst other things lived in a tent outdoors for 7 years.
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| When actor Richard Gere went undercover as a homeless man In New York city this is what happened;"When I went undercover in New York City as a homeless man, no one noticed me. I felt what it was like to be a homeless man. People would just past by me and look at me in disgrace. Only one lady was kind enough to give me some food. It was an experience I'll never forget. So many times we forget how blessed we are. We should not take that for granted. And if we can help someone in need, we should. That's why after I was done, I walked around and gave food and $100 to every homeless person I saw. They cried and were so grateful. Be the change you wish to see in the world."
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