A town that is in disrepair
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10/14/2019
I lived in Hilo many, many years. Nice, small town feel, even though it's the second largest city in the state. Prejudice against whites, well, it's Hawaii. It was MUCH worse on O'hau's North Shore. And it rains. A lot. So a lot of gray, rainy days. Like a friend said, we pay a price to live here. For me, the price became too high.
The economy is all about tourism, such as it is, the college and state jobs. Good luck getting a university or state job if you're not Asian or a local. I once went to the state bldg to get a permit to stay in a cabin in one of the state parks. Everyone was nice enough, but when one of the locals came to visit a friend, this is what happened almost word for word. "Hey, good to see you brah! Let me show you around. This my auntie, this my cuz,....." And a lot more like that. So it is what it is.
I made some great friends there, but the locals are not accepting of other cultures. I never, ever saw a couple where one of the locals had a haole or popola mate (white or black). Made some great friends there, but again, they were all of my race or black. The art scene is pretty cool, and I loved the Farmer's Market. The cost of everything is high, especially housing, and what you get for your money is not much. It's because people have been moving to the BI after being priced out of the other islands, and no new housing is being built. So it's a supply and demand thing.
The politics will have you pulling your hair out. Just dumb decisions being made by incompetent people, IF there's a decision at all. It's all about putting things off as long as possible. The bus system is essentially broken beyond repair (as are most of the buses). They use a lot of old buses from other islands, and the remains of a tour company that went belly up. So again, it's the economy that's in a huge downturn. To make it worse, since the volcano meltdown the reduction in taxes being collected won't allow for much of anything new that's needed, yet they have increased taxes that the locals and tourists pay.
Come visit, (do NOT swim in the rivers though due to bacteria and fertilizer run off), but I wouldn't recommend moving to Hilo. Crime has increased a lot over the years, and it's no different that any mainland city now.
steve | ,