Tsuji McNair moved to Kihei from Seattle last year. She sells jewelry at her Aloha Market store. "We thought we'd just take a chance," she says. Photo by Gary T. Kubota, Star-Bulletin
"The tourist trade was dying. I gave Maui to myself for my 30th birthday," said Winterbourne, 35, who rents motorcycles to visitors in the south Maui resort.
As thousands make similar moves to sunny Kihei, they are turning this 10-mile stretch of nearly unbroken beach-front into what Money magazine ranks as the third fastest growing "boom town" in the nation.
The magazine selected nonmetropolitan areas with higher than average household incomes and many households headed by people 44 years or younger. At least 17 percent of residents had managerial, professional or technical jobs.
In Kihei, home to 17,000 residents and about an equal number of visitors, the new wave of settlers is bringing an entrepreneurial spirit and giving Maui politics a more independent and conservative look.
It's also bringing crowded beaches and parking lots, and the disappearance of a rural lifestyle.
"We used to put our fishing poles right on the beach," said Douglas Akina, 53, owner of Akina Aloha Tours. "It's gotten overpopulated. I don't go anymore."
With more than 90 condominiums and rents starting at $650 a month for one-bedroom apartments near the beach, Kihei is often the first home for new Maui residents and the vacation playground for bargain-hunting repeat visitors.
Many residents have come from coastal states, such as California.
"They're attracted to the hustle and bustle," said Rick Woodford, 49, owner of the Denny's franchise on Maui and a former Californian. "The jobs are there and the living is cheap."
Takeout food is big here - at least seven pizza places and growing, in addition to McDonald's, Jack-In-The-Box, Taco Bell and KFC. There are 11 shopping centers and minimalls.
"It's been great," said Ofir Benitez, owner and manager of Mexico Caliente & Cantina. "Kihei has been growing a lot."
Benitez, 29, whose parents own a restaurant in Mexico City, started his restaurant three years ago, after visiting Maui.
Carol Procaccino, 49, came to Maui to retire after working 26 years as an administrative assistant for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. But she launched a new career as owner of the Aloha Market, a business with open air shops. "I love the outside weather," Procaccino said.
Kihei residents have elected Republican Chris Halford, 44, as their state House member, the only elected GOP member representing Maui County. Kihei voters also played a key role in electing Republican Mayor Linda Crockett Lingle, a Kihei resident and the first Maui mayor not born on the Valley Isle.
The number of Kihei residents nearly doubled to 15,365 in the 10 years ending in 1990, according to county statistics.
Kihei population grew by 2 percent to 3 percent even during the recession in the early 1990s.
Some say it is emerging with renewed strength.
At the Maui Research & Technology Park, developed mainly in the last five years, some 300 employees work at 30 companies, including Textron, Rockwell, and the Air Force's supercomputer center. Within the next 25 years, developers predict 4,000 to 5,000 people could work here.
"We are just in the beginning of this technology park," said Brett Klyver, the director of the park's business development. "We don't know where it's going to go. We know it's going to be successful."
Edward Ellsworth, 41, a former California resident, started Media Wizards Inc. at the park two years ago and produces CD-ROM, video and audio products. Ellsworth said most of his major clients are on the mainland or in Japan but he prefers to live here.
"What I really like is the quality of life," Ellsworth said.
For former Maui Mayor Elmer Cravalho, the boom has been bittersweet. As mayor, Cravalho was responsible for developing the waterline from Wailuku to Wailea that enabled the development of Kihei.
While it brought prosperity to Maui, it also brought voters who elected Lingle instead of him in the 1990 election. Cravalho said he's happy nevertheless with Kihei's prosperity.
"That's OK, because it brings diversity and diversity is always good," Cravalho said. "Hopefully, someday the pendulum will swing."