Good bye Aloha, welcome Los Angeles, hello Kapolei's WalMart. I just finished a visit to Kapolei after being off island three years. The city has changed and not for the good. Traffic, lack of coordinating retail and business needs, and the placement of a big box retailer next door to homes instead of adjacent to other big boxes (Home Depot, Costco) is horrific and smacks of cronyism (gosh, Hawaii politicians might be corrupt? Never. Yeah, right, What is our governor's name?....)
WalMart is a marketing Goliath who entices the population with promises of low prices (yes) and friendly sales staff (employees try, but it's tough because Wal Mart is notorious for it's low pay) but forgets to tell you that the environment is going to be asphalt, the landscaping is going to be minimum, and traffic and the smog and pollution that comes with it will be oppressive.
When I lived in Kapolei I attended a WalMart presentation. At the time WalMart was considering Kapolei (2005) but nothing was finalized. Right. WalMart and the island powers to be already decided it was coming. "Community involvement" is Hawaiian political talk for "it's going to happen and there is nothing you can do to stop it." At a meeting I asked about traffic and environmental studies that should be done. Oops, not needed for that site! What about the impact on public services? WalMart aggresively goes after shoplifters and has been known to have a holding facility in each of its stores. The impact on local police is huge. Kapolei police are understaffed as it is now, wait until WalMart starts calling to have the local shoplifter incarcerated! What is the chief of police going to do? He can't find qualified applicants now, what makes you think its going to be different in the future.
What about the impact on the adjacent neighborhood, Kaploei Knolls, from a business open 24 hours a day.. Who is going to compensate the home owners who are going to suffer market depreciation due to a big box literally next door to their homes? It aggrevates an already soft housing market. No problem because the plantation personality prevailed, the population capitulated just like when the workers in the cane fields attempted to question authority, their boss would use the "luna" (small whip carried by the boss while riding his horse) and learned quickly where the sting of power resided.
Good job, citizens of Kapolei, your lack of foresight (don't blame the politicians, their agenda is power, period, and whatever it takes to stay in power they will do it, even cave in to the power and developer elite of the island) is going to destroy what makes Hawaii wonderful.
What can be done? If nothing else learn from this nightmare. To save a few bucks shopping is not enough to compensate for the toll a poorly planned, Goliath retailer's impact will have on the community and its wonderful quality of life. Demand that WalMart enhance its presence. Make sure the parking lot is clean AND safe (a topic for another time). Business hours should be like Kunia's, close at 9pm, to foster a good neighbor relationship with the adjacent neighborhood. Do more to minimize its impact, add more landscaping, particularly between itself and the local neighborhood. Finally, Kapoleians, promise never again to allow someone else to come into your community and pull another Wal Mart. Remember, in the end we sow what we reap, and good stewardship of the land is duty for all Hawaiians. read more