The flight from Hilo to Honolulu is less than an hour, but somehow the whole process still takes a big chunk out of the day. That’s how it played out for us today, so I’m setting today aside as a “travel day.”
Hilo still feels very laid back, at least from a visitor’s perspective.
But is it laid back, or hurting economically? Here’s what prompted that thought. The sign was in a storefront in downtown Hilo, indicating a lot of vacant space for rent. Perhaps this is one of a kind in the area, but somehow I doubt it.
Hilo folks, what do you think?
Downtown Hilo vacancies
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
As a Hilo reader and commenter, I guess I better weigh in. I noticed that according to the Lau Building Directory, all three storefronts on the bottom floor are occupied, but most of the spaces on the second floor–office spaces, I would assume– are unoccupied. I have no idea why no one wants those office spaces. Overall, I think the downtown area, especially Kamehameha Avenue, gets lots of tourist traffic. There are quite a few eateries (up and down the scale) and many small shops that cater to tourists. It’s somewhat difficult to find parking downtown in the middle of the morning. We see quite a few people downtown in the evening when we go to movies at the Hilo Palace theater. I assume that most of them are tourists there to eat in the better restaurants. Most of the shops are closed.
On the other hand, Basically Books, which I considered to be an important part of the downtown scene, recently moved from its space on Kamehameha Avenue to a new location near Ken’s House of Pancakes. Shops come and go, and there currently are many empty store fronts on Keawe Street, which is looking rather run down these days.