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Slow growth a better
solution than fixed rail

I have generally been a fairly "sensitive guy" when it comes to ecology and the environment. I drive a small car, recycle and all that good stuff. I have always detested those absurd and obscene gas-guzzling and dangerous SUVs ever since they first began to proliferate across the country. I strongly favor a basic policy change to levy huge additional taxes and fees on large, fuel-inefficient vehicles as opposed to giving them the insane tax breaks that the Bushies sponsored.

With a basically "green" mindset like that, one might conclude that I would be a big fan of fixed rail. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Hawaii is the sort of place that is physically, geographically or culturally conducive to fixed rail. Meanwhile, has anyone else noticed that while mass transportation systems may make good common sense for a lot of places (i.e., London, New York, Madrid, though not realistically Hawaii), they have also become the most popular targets for terrorists in our new, not necessarily improved, post-9/11 world?

Proponents see the necessity of fixed rail as the only way of accommodating Oahu's ever-increasing growth. A far better solution would be to simply stop the growth itself. There is absolutely no reason we have to "Californicate" Hawaii just because that's what has happened in so many parts of the mainland. Oahu, as well as the counties of Maui and Kauai, are basically at saturation point already. State and county authorities in those areas should be looking at every legally permissible means at their disposal to implement "slow growth" policies immediately.

This letter probably won't make me a lot of friends among my many colleagues and relatives who have made piles of money recently in real estate development and speculation. But there is still plenty of money to be made in Hawaii real estate by relying on the basic market principle of scarcity to increase values. It would be tragic, however, to give up our unique Hawaiian lifestyle by allowing our islands to turn into congested messes just so a few more developers can make a few more almighty dollars.

Hawaii managed to dodge the "overpopulation/congestion" bullet for almost a decade during the 1990s due to the simple fact that our local economy was so bad that as many people were forced to move away as moved in. But the situation will be dramatically different during this next decade as millions of baby boomers retire and realize they would rather live in a tropical paradise rather than an overcrowded mainland. You can bet that they will try and bring their crowds over here in ever-increasing numbers. And those of us who love the old "Hawaiian style" way of living will soon be in for the eco-battle of a lifetime.

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