Molokai Ranch to quit island
:mad: Molokai Ranch to close, lay off 120
The links in your OP were off, ouryL. I fixed those.
Yeah.
And Varsity Theater is gone, the land to become a parking lot.
Tough news day yesterday. 
Thanks. 
So if you wanna see one of the most beautiful Islands. Tough itty! Unless you wanna sleep on the beach. :eek:
Grrrrr, this is really bad news, but not entirely unexpected. I read both links and all the comments. I don’t know what the answer is for Molokai or the rest of Hawaii. We were on Molokai 7 years ago and there was major antagonism to the MR folks even then. The water pipes were being cut by locals to the Molokai Ranch tentalo area at that time I believe. We briefly considered buying a condo there, because it really is beautiful, but the stink-eye we got in town convinced us it was probably not a good idea. Who wants to live where they are not welcome.
We are/were big fans of Hawaii for years and have spent up to 4 months a year there recently. We were planning to retire there. For the 30+ years we have been going there we always felt welcome until just recently. But man, I’ve got to say that lately I’ve never felt less Aloha. For the first time in decades we are thinking of NOT going to Hawaii this year.
This all just makes me feel sad especially the comments to both articles. I know tourists are not really welcome by locals in lots of places, but usually the locals try to keep it to themselves so the tourists don’t get too turned off. It seems that Hawaii has reached a tipping point and that outsiders are just not welcome at all. So be it. My money spends elsewhere.
The problem is not that the locals don’t want you there, it’s that they feel betrayed by their state government catering primarily to investors and developers that feed the tourist economy without much concern to preserving the culture and green environment that tourism is so highly dependent upon.
Local folks, I believe, are beginning to feel disenfranchised and angry that their priorities are not given much credence when it comes to conservation vs. development.
The impressions I get are based upon my own parents’ involvement with the inter-island ferry fiasco.
You say this as if it is a bad thing. If the only lodging is sleeping on the beach it’s likely to stay beautiful.
I know what you’re saying about the state government Brown Eyed Girl, but really what we have been feeling is that WE are not wanted in Hawaii anymore. If you are a tourist destination and don’t want tourists anymore, fine, do something else. Personally I feel the time-sharing of Hawaii is the worst thing that has/can happen to Hawaii. Condo owners have a stake in the the local economy, time-share owners, companies not so much. It’s almost like the state is selling out to the least common denominator.
ummm, you obviously have not been to a beach where people have been living without the aaaaaaa normal amenities for a long time.
Isn’t that where the lepers are?
Well, since you mention it, I wouldn’t be surprised if locals are a bit put off by Mainlanders snapping up residential property, developed for high-end tourist consumers, when they are struggling to afford the limited property available to residents.
And companies do have a stake in the local economy, as much as developers. The problem is they aren’t necessarily targeting local business, but rather tourist income, which drives up the cost of living locally. Tourism is generally considered to be the most important resource Hawaii has, but over-development is creating a situation that is damaging the very thing people go to Hawaii for: the natural resources, that is the once-pristine environments and the culture.
So many things Hawaii’s government does these days seems to be all in the name of tourist dollars; thinking that the answer to a struggling economy is to build it, so they will come.
Yup. Molokai once had a leper colony, but I think the last of which are dying, or have died, off.
I read an article the other day which indicated that companies such as phone and electric/gas utilities were spending more money supporting sports teams (stadium naming rights and advertising, e.g.) than helping the poor pay their light bill. It was the first time I’d seen that sentiment expressed in a newspaper but it is rather analogous to what’s been going on in Hawaii for a long, long time.
I lived there (married to the military) for three years about a decade ago and can’t think of a more inhospitable place for “normal” people. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed living there and I learned more about …well, STUFF… in those three years than I have before or since, but I had access to the comissary and lived in base housing. The entire economy is geared around three things: the military, the wealthy, and the tourists (I’ll also give a small nod towards the finance/UH/health care sectors, but only a little one). If you’re involved with the first two you’re fine; if you ARE a tourist you’re fine. If you’re one of the poor schmucks trying to pay a mortgage while supporting any of those industries you might as well chuck it, unless you’re ok living out in Wainae with auntie and Brudda Joe.
I don’t think I believe Molokai Ranch should be forced to do anything, but including something along the lines of realistic affordable housing and living wages - even a token - into their “luxury housing” plans would do a lot not only for Hawaii’s economy but also ameliorate the class/ethnic divisions in the state.
Hawaii really is an interesting place. It has a rich cultural history largely based around family and a certain version of collectiveism that is anaethma to conservatives. But its continuing moves towards the tourist culture of luxury timeshares, expensive golf courses, and resort hotels in combination with a high cost of living above and beyond that of other, “Second World” resorts (I’m thinking of Mexico as I type this, where those who work in the tourist hotels can actually afford to the buy the gas to put in their car to get them to work) is going to lead to nothing but headaches in the future unless the place steps up and demands some equality from the international corporations intent on turning the entire place into an ocean-to-ocean golf course.
I know I’m exaggerating somewhat and that my data is out of date, but after what I saw happening while I lived there I’m not surprised at all by the actions of the state and the locals against Molokai Ranch, nor of MR’s petulant reaction.
Also? The simple idea that any one company came to own 1/3 of the entire island is stupid beyond words. How on EARTH did anyone let that happen?
It’s been that way for a long, long time. Only it used to be the agricultural companies: Gay & Robinson (Kauai), Alexander & Baldwin, Dole Pineapple…I can’t remember all the names. But now it’s multinationals building huge resorts, highrises, behemoth shopping centers, and golf courses. And then there’s the ferry. sigh
To correct myself: only one I named were in the “Big Five.” I was trying to remember Castle & Cooke as a name I was familiar with. The link explains further.
Lanai is completely owned by one company.
Well, yeah there’s still a community of relatives, but since they stopped sending lepers there back in the 60s, I can’t imagine there are very many of the original “patients” left.
And Ni’ihau is owned by one family: the Robinsons, of Gay & Robinson, who owned much of Kauai throughout the 20th century.
Maui County actually commissioned a study back in '06 to study the impact of timeshare developments specifically. They found that timeshare owner spending is very similar to hotel visitor spending.
Anecdotally speaking, I’m a Hawaii timeshare owner (Westin Kaanapali Ocean Villa Resorts) and when I travel to Maui, I spend a small fortune on food and activities, which is absolutely supporting the local economy. The only reason I bought a timeshare is because I was spending a huge chunk of time trying to figure out where to stay. This settles it for me.
http://www.mauicounty.gov/departments/Finance/pdf/timesharestudy.pdf
If you want to point fingers at problematic areas, I’d point to the very wealthy people who buy or build properties on the islands (or Beckenridge, etc.) as their 2nd or third home…and then only visit 2 or 3 times a year. How does that support the local restauranteur or the Mom and Pop bread stand? (Oprah, I’m looking at you.)
If you look at page 64 of the link above (Maui County population vs. Vehicle Registration and Maui County population vs. Housing Prices), the study actually seems to support the idea that what is driving up housing prices for locals is…more locals. In other words, housing prices have sky-rocketed because of simple supply and demand. The xenophobia is not really aimed at tourists but at tourists who don’t go back home after emptying their pockets.
If you want to argue that OVERdevelopment is a problem, then I absolutely agree with you. Developers are like guests at a Viking wedding; they want to devour everything in sight and simply don’t know when to stop. That is why it’s important for the LOCALS to elect commissioners who will be diligent about striking a balance between development and conservationism.
Molokai, like Maui, needs tourism to survive. The problem with paradise is that everyone wants a piece of it.