Very quietly earlier this month, a rather large piece of land in our Honolulu hit the auction block. The sale of a 9.2-acre campus at 22nd Avenue and Kaimuki Avenue may present an opportunity to shape what kind of community we leave to our children.

For decades, the Salvation Army land was moderately developed and offered a ton of open space in an increasingly dense urban environment that grows more so with every concrete monster house. I surely do not fault the landowner for needing to consolidate and improve its much-needed and selfless services in an increasingly self-centered society.

The Salvation Army seems to be willing to wait to get the highest bid, presumably from a developer who will build something dense that returns the investment. Honolulu is in desperate need of affordable housing, practically built and close to jobs. This may be an opportunity for the city to really monitor such a development.

Or, perhaps a public park? There are probably a lot of neighbors nearby, myself included, who would love to see retained some of the charm of the original Kaimuki “city farm lots” subdivision of the 1930s.

John Kamalei Titchen

Kaimuki

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