I left Maui on Monday October 16, 2006. It was easy for me to determine the date as we were scheduled to leave on Sunday, but the airport was shutdown by the 2006 earthquake that occurred under the ocean about 90 miles from our little rental house. We were fated not to return until December 5, 2016. Back then, I was entering the stretch drive to retirement. Most of our subsequent vacations were used to find a location that had a lower cost of living, less traffic, lower taxes, and better climate than suburban Washington D.C. Also, renting cabins in the mountains of North and South Carolina is a good bit cheaper than vacationing in paradise. This helps out during those stretch drives that seem to be necessary at various critical points in our financial lives.
We discovered that much had changed over the course of ten years. The big news during our recent visit was the end of the sugar industry in Hawaii. The pineapple business was dying as early as our first trip to the islands back in the late 90s. At the end of this season, the last sugar mill in the state will close. The Hawaiian economy is now a two legged stool. Large scale commercial agriculture is dead. Only tourism and the enormous military presence on Oahu will be left to provide employment for significant numbers of Hawaiians.
After the sugar cane harvest, random volunteer stalks of cane pop up in the empty fields. In the past this didn’t symbolize anything but the end of another growing season, but now these empty fields seem kind of disturbing as they indicate the end of an era. The county hopes that these lands will be divided up into small scale farms. Given the value of land on Maui, I find that this hope is unlikely to materialize, at least not for very long. I see more and more condo developments until a limit, probably water, becomes an issue.
Speaking of development, the last ten years have been good for that industry. It seems that there are significantly more buildings—everywhere. We stayed in Kihei, one of the fastest growing towns in the nation. When we last stayed there over twelve years ago it had the flavor of a family beach resort. Now it is more developed, more expensive, and a lot more crowded. Risking a car trip down the main drag is now something that requires a little thought and planning. It didn’t use to be that way.
Tourism seems to be bifurcating. There are a lot more upscale stores and restaurants that cater to the rich. Lahaina, the local tourist trap, once had a large variety of knick knack shops, stands, and kiosks selling a wide range of junk to middle class tourists as well as stores for the upper crust. Now about the only thing left along the waterfront are expensive restaurants, high end jewelry stores and art galleries. The demise of Hilo Hattie’s, the quintessential Hawaiian gift store for everyone, tells a sad story. They have gone into bankruptcy court twice. It doesn’t look like they are going to make it. The low end gift trade now belongs to the big name stores, like Walmart. The national chains are now just about everywhere and really there isn’t much difference between the Barnes and Noble located in Greenville, SC and its sister store near Lahaina. Wailea is a wealthy enclave just South of Hihei. Here you can buy a condo for a million dollars. Beach front houses seem to start somewhere above five million and go up and up and up. The local mall, The Shops at Wailea, charges $25 for parking! If you spend more than $25 in a single store, you get a voucher allowing you to park for free. Otherwise, be ready to fork over $25 for the privilege of visiting their mall. Obviously, they don’t want locals or people like me soiling their pavement with our presence.
Even though the traffic is much worse everywhere, there are still enclaves that are more or less as I remember. Up on the mountain, it is still peaceful, quiet, and cool. Makawao and Paia still have a counter culture, hippie, kind of flavor. Although, the aging hippies from the mainland had better have some limit left on their credit cards if they plan on spending much time in those gift shops or restaurants.
If you think a two week vacation in paradise is a financial stressor, imagine living on that island. Many residents of Maui County need two or more jobs to make ends meet. Good paying jobs for average people are in short supply. The cost of living is extremely high. Even renting a single room can push $1,000 a month. However, there are people who are beating the odds. A woman we met on our last visit was the store manager for a famous photographer by day and hotel concierge by night. Eventually, that store shut down. She began to sell her own artworks, first in the local weekly flea market while tending to two children still in diapers. Eventually, she saved enough money to rent a shop in a low cost section of the island. Her husband was able to quit his job at one of the famous hotels and join his wife in the family business. Now, she sells paintings, prints, photographs, and even wearable art she has created. Recently, she made her first step into a larger world, hotel décor. One of the hotels on the island is going to put her artwork in every room in the building. She insisted on doing this without using a professional hotel decoration company as a middleman. She gets to keep all the money generated by her talent.
How cool is that!
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