text: Aloha Luke, another great column.  We have been having this debate on O‘ahu for a long time and it is one that is often filled with more heat than light.  Many say the solution is to simply stop growing, stop accommodating development.  But the state is growing at a rate of 51 people per day and two thirds of that is “natural growth” – 21 more babies are born here than people die every day.  Even if you could magically close our borders and turn away every potential new resident from the mainland or overseas, our population would still be expected to grow by more than 75,000 in the next decade – throw in the malihini and we’re talking a total of 113,000 new residents.  That’s why DBEDT is saying we need 65,000 new homes, including 22,000 new affordable rentals by 2026.   (more...)