August 20, 2008

Scene: Bishop Street Rant

Downtown’s loss, and gain, changes our view.

A. Kam Napier

photo: Michael Keany
Through all of Honolulu’s history, you could look up Bishop Street and see the Ko‘olau Mountains. The sight was always a dramatic, green reminder that we live in Hawai‘i and not, say, Des Moines. Now, along come two high-rise apartment buildings, the 35-story The Pinnacle Honolulu, and the 39-story condo Capitol Place and its parking structure. Suddenly, it’s goodbye Ko‘olaus. The peaks are barely peeking out over the concrete.

We know things change. We like the look of the new generation of Honolulu’s high-rise apartments. We like the idea of housing lots of people close to town so they don’t have to drive in from the suburbs. Hell, if we had $2.89 million to spend on an apartment, we’d be the first in line for The Pinnacle’s penthouse.

But still ... the mountains! It will be a long time before we stop reflexively looking up Bishop Street to see them. Given enough time, though, we’ll eventually forget they were ever there at all.

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