The fires that broke out on Maui last week have exacerbated Hawaii’s housing crisis as more than more than 3,000 buildings in Lahaina were damaged or destroyed, leaving many wondering if homeowners can afford to rebuild.
FILE - Homes consumed in recent wildfires are seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. With a housing crisis that has priced out many Native Hawaiians as well as families that have been there for decades, concerns are rising that Maui could become the latest example of climate gentrification, when it becomes harder for local people to afford housing in safer areas after a climate-amped disaster.
It's a term Jesse Keenan, an associate professor of sustainable real estate and urban planning at Tulane University School of Architecture, first started lecturing about in 2013 after he noticed changes in housing markets following extreme weather events. Thompson said she supports that “wholeheartedly." But she acknowledged some people won’t be able to afford to rebuild and will want to sell their land.
Until now, when homeowners in Hawaii have considered climate change, Tyndall said, it's been coastal erosion, sea level rise and hurricanes, mainly. “Wildfire was something that was on people’s radars. ... But obviously the extensive damage, most people didn’t predict,” he said. Fire needs to be taken more seriously now, he said.
On Wednesday, the Indigenous-led NDN Collective issued a statement supporting community-led rebuilding for Lahaina, “in ways that center the values, ancestral connections to land and water, and Indigenous knowledge systems of the kānaka ʻōiwi, Native Hawaiian people.” “It led to massive displacement; rental costs increased significantly, a really huge shift. Everything from the school district to their transit system,” he said.
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