In all of the opinions pro and con regarding the proposed malls in Kihei, I have yet to see any mention of aesthetics or visual attractiveness.
Our current welcome to Kihei on the Piilani Highway consists of a gas station, a used car lot and a pit stop. While I have nothing personal against any of these businesses and have patronized all of them, let's admit that none of them has any real eye appeal.
Take a ride around the Kahului or Wailuku industrial areas anytime. No sense of place, no style, no continuity, no real landscaping anywhere. Just a hodgepodge of, yes, industrial-looking steel and garage-type buildings. Is that what we want Kihei to look like? Is that the first impression we want for our visitors? For ourselves?
I would prefer the architectural structure of a professionally designed and landscaped shopping mall with a Hawaiian sensibility. It would be much more visually appealing and defining of Kihei as an attractive place to live or to visit.
I just don't believe that the main route into Kihei is the correct site for an industrial area. When the beauty of our environment is the mainstay of our economy, aesthetics should require serious consideration.
Mary L. Snyder
Kihei
