Our Quality of Life - Introduction
Six challenges facing our state and the path forward
Understanding Hawaii, then acting to improve our quality of life
Building a better future for Hawaii begins with a clear understanding of who we are and where we stand – our vital strengths and crippling weaknesses. This report provides key parts of that information and offers sensible ways to build on our successes and overcome obstacles.
There is much to celebrate – both when we compare Hawaii to America as a whole, and when we compare ourselves to our recent past. But these pages do not hide our failures.
This report focuses on six crucial challenges for Hawaii: the economy, health, education, the environment, housing and homelessness, and crime and communities. We offer statistics, personal stories and ways forward.
This would have been impossible without the energetic help of the Center on the Family at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. The center collected hundreds of sets of statistics from dozens of sources – locally and nationally. We are especially grateful for the hard work of researcher Sarah Yuan.
We also collected information from many other sources. Special thanks to Kathleen Baker of the state Department of Health for updating statistics for us.
We are equally grateful to our sponsors. Their generous donations made this report possible and ensured that it will reach tens of thousands of key decision-makers and ordinary people, in print and online.
This website also offers anyone a chance to contribute their own information and solutions.
Please read the report, consider its implications and then take action. Our future depends on you.
Thank you,
Steve Petranik
Editor
Beverly Creamer
Reporter
Jen Tadaki Catanzariti
Designer
Sponsors' Messages
As we move into 2011, the Hawaiian Electric family of companies is encouraged by the strides we are all making in greening our environment and our economy. As a community, we've recognized the need to break our addiction to imported oil, which threatens our environment, our economy and our energy security. Across Hawaii, we are using energy more efficiently and making major progress in using the sun, wind, biofuels and other sources of clean energy. Hawaii is leading the world in this transformation. All of us in Hawaii should be proud of our accomplishments and confident in our ability to meet the challenges ahead.
Richard M. Rosenblum
| Hawaii has been enriched by generations of forward-thinking businesses and individuals that have worked tirelessly to improve local communities across our state. As we enter a decade of unprecedented change, it is imperative that we continue to build upon opportunities that are sensitive to Hawaii’s unique culture and environment. The Island Insurance Foundation is proud to support Hawaii 2011: Our Quality of Life report and its comprehensive discussion of six issues critical to our future. We appreciate the efforts of those involved in this important study as we look to advance our understanding of Hawaii’s most pressing concerns and work together for a brighter tomorrow. Sincerely,
Colbert M. Matsumoto
|
Hawaii is a very special place, and we all share responsibility for the well-being and vitality of our island state. We hope you’ll find this report a useful resource. It challenges us all to become even more involved in helping to build a brighter future for Hawaii. Mahalo, Peter Ho | Congratulations to Hawaii Business, Aloha United Way, and other participants in this state of the community report. As we begin another year, it’s important that we look forward to building strong, healthy and safe communities for ourselves and future generations. We all have a stake in continuing to make Hawaii a special place. As Hawaii’s most experienced health plan, HMSA is proud to support the efforts of this project and to work with our community partners in creating positive change in Hawaii. I encourage you all to take personal responsibility in your lives, families and communities so we can continue to make a difference. Mahalo,
Robert P. Hiam
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Our Sources
Sources for our information are cited throughout the report. Where no source is given, we received the data from UH’s Center on the Family. The center gathered its information from many sources, including the U.S. Census; the American Community Survey; state department reports; the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s crime statistics; the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General’s report on Crime in Hawaii; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. In all cases, the data are the most recent available as we went to production.
Our overall Quality of life
Using dozens of measures, UH’s Center on the Family compared Hawaii’s current quality of life to the U.S. average and to our recent past.
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