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Locals can’t compete with outside money pouring in

Change is the one constant in life. Maui has always been expensive since I arrived here 25 years ago, barring four years in Iraq. However, for many working people, it has become an outright luxury to live here anymore.

Maui is on the crest of being unaffordable for many local working families. There is growing resentment, even rage, beneath the surface of many locals, who must work two and three jobs simply to survive here, as the average home was quoted at $823,000, and affordable two-bedroom rentals, if they can be found, are currently going for $2,000 a month, plus utilities.

I live Upcountry, surrounded by those aging spirit channelers and old hippies who have come into their inheritances or trust funds, as no locals can possibly compete with the flood of outside money pouring onto the island. Often, these are part-time residents, looking for investments that will appreciate.

As long as the economy is humming along, people will be willing to work multiple jobs for survival, but that rage threatens to erupt one day, as the quality of life deteriorates in “paradise.”

Craig Handfinger

Haiku

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