Inside What the future looks like at HonCC Pages 4-5 A Student Publication of the University of Hawai`i • Honolulu Community College • Febriary 2015
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Ka LĀ photo by Alyssa Baligad
CITY & COUNTY OF HONOLULU
City, school making plans for big changes By Hawaii Civil Beat
Carol Tokunaga has seen a lot of change. She moved to Kalihi nearly 60 years ago, back when Kamehameha Shopping Center was nothing but kiawe bushes and the water in Kapalama Canal was clear and teeming with fish. On a Friday afternoon, she sits on the grass outside her home, weeding and talking matter-offactly about the days when she had to walk all the way down to Liliha Street to grocery shop.
She’s glad that Walgreens is now just across the street. But with convenience came congestion. More people have moved into the neighborhood and the streets are so jammed that during rush hour, Tokunaga can’t pull out of her driveway. Homeless residents’ tents line the muddy bank of Kapalama Canal near the Dillingham Street intersection, where future development by Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate is being proposed.
Prices have risen, too. Back in 1957, she and her husband bought their home for $14,000. Today she estimates the land is worth $650,000 even though the house was built in 1949. More changes are in the works. City officials are considering a plan to revitalize Kalihi and Kapalama by rezoning land that surrounds three planned rail stations. Tokunaga isn’t sure how much the proposal would affect her, since her home is outside of the
redevelopment area. But she said change is inevitable in the community west of downtown Honolulu. “It will change the character of the neighborhood, that’s for sure,” she said of the city’s plan. “Whether it’s good or bad, only time will tell.” Styrofoam, trash, even chairs float in the brown water of Kapalama Canal at
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