What Does the Future of Housing in Hawaiʻi Look Like?
Young professionals toured housing developments across Oʻahu and explored what it will take to make staying in Hawaiʻi affordable.
“How many of you know someone who has left Hawaiʻi and isn’t planning to come back?”
Nearly every hand on our bus went up.
That was one of the first questions posed to 60 young professionals from across Hawaiʻi who took a day off work to join a housing bus tour coordinated by Housing Hawaiʻi’s Future and the Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi Young Professionals. Our goal was simple: learn how housing is actually built, meet the people behind the developments, and start thinking about what we want the future of housing to look like in the state.
At Hoʻopili in Kapolei, Tracy Tonaki of D.R. Horton showed us how a large-scale community comes together. We saw mixed-use spaces, edible gardens and GenHomes designed for first-generation homebuyers.
Next, Dean Minakami (Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corporation) and Craig Nakamoto (Hawai‘i Community Development Authority) gave us a look at the work of their respective agencies. A tour through Kakaʻako showed us how high-density housing is evolving. And, yes, a third of our group got stuck in an elevator for about 30 minutes, an unexpected reminder of what it means to live in a vertical community.
At the Park at Keʻeaumoku, we saw dense, mixed-use housing designed around walkability and shared amenities.
But the most meaningful part came at the end.
Using maps of our islands, we were asked to set aside what exists today and imagine what we actually want. What should a starter home look like 10 years from now? What does a neighborhood for young local families feel like? What are we willing to trade off to make staying in Hawaiʻi possible?
Because this is not just about housing. It is about whether the people who grew up here can afford to stay.
That conversation didn’t end when the bus tour did. You’ll see some of our visioning and illustrations at the upcoming YP Cost of Living Summit on October 15, where housing will be part of a larger conversation about what it takes to build a future young professionals can afford in Hawai‘i.
Find out more here
