If you build it, they will leave
Rising sea levels will continue to destroy beaches essential to tourism. Property tax increases could raise already-high housing prices above what residents can afford, forcing them to leave Hawaii. How will such changes affect the number of people on Oahu, the number of cars on the roads, the tax base, the need for the current rail plan and the ability to pay for it?
Observations about many huge projects lead to several predictions: There will be cost overruns; the project will stall and not be completed, leaving the site in shambles; project leaders will have moved on to other ventures; not all of the 4,000 promised new jobs will go to local residents.
Even if this project is completed, will it be suitable for the decades ahead? Flexibility is a key to survival, but the elevated rail will set Oahu’s future in concrete. A standard cartoon depicts gangsters on a pier with their victim’s feet encased in cement. I fear the victim is the Hawaii taxpayer, about to be pushed by rail planners into an ocean of debt.
David Swift
Honolulu
