Originally Posted by
mtofell
As a resident (Maui) for a few years I've found EVERYTHING is one extreme or the other.
People - either wealthy/very wealthy travelers and residents or beach bums living in their cars or four people in a two-bedroom apartment
Housing - Fitting with the above - luxury mansions or beat to hell shacks
Food/Restaurants - $100+/plate at the Four-Seasons or a gas station sandwich
Cars - Newer Mercedes/BMW/Lexus or totally beat to hell Honda Civic with 300K miles and mismatched tires and wheels (often w/someone from bullet point one living inside)
Health - Beach body with 8% body fat or...... well, let's just say too many Teriyaki plates w/two scoops each of rice and macaroni salad don't lead to a beach body.
It's just tough because there is really nothing here other than tourism so there aren't any high-paying jobs. Of course, housing is the problem that gets talked about the most but it's really more than that. Hawaii needs some kind of industry but being on an island in the middle of nowhere I'm not sure if/what that would be. Supply/demand can and does ultimately set the stage. Tourists will complain about the prices but enough show up each year, residents complain about housing and wages but enough remain to take care of the tourists and the government will continue to make promises to address the problems and get nowhere.
I'm ultimately sorry I moved here a few years go. The cost of living is just too high and not worth it to me. My kids are teenagers and can't wait to get back to the mainland. I imagine I'll head back with them in a few years. Their mom is anchored here so we're all kind of stuck (long/complicated story as they always are).
I was thinking recently about how all of the container ships must leave from the islands to come back to the mainland mostly empty. Too bad that cargo transportation can't be put to use. But it's true - there's basically no industry even close to as large as tourism there.