Google Street View Is Finally Updating Its Hawai‘i Maps

Google is working on remapping O‘ahu, Big Island, Maui and Kaua‘i by the end of this year.

Google Maps’ updated views of Kaka‘ako now include the 2019 Pow! Wow! Hawai‘i murals.

For years, we were stuck using an old version of Google Maps that showed businesses that haven’t existed in almost a decade, or searching for parking lots that turned out to be high-rises. We even did a roundup of a bunch of neighborhoods that look totally different today from how they did in 2011, when Google last sent a street-mapping car to Honolulu.

SEE ALSO: Exploring Honolulu on Google Street View is Like Traveling Back in Time

The 2009 and 2019 views of 665 Halekauwila St., from a parking lot to Halekauwila Place.

There’s no older view of what existed in this spot before Victoria Ward Park, which opened in 2018. Do you remember what it was?

Looks like the Google techies were listening (as we know they always are). According to Google Street View, the company plans to map O‘ahu, Big Island, Maui and Kaua‘i this year, beginning in February and running through December. You can now see parts of Waikīkī that were updated in April, with Downtown and Kaka‘ako updated in June.

Kaka‘ako’s undergone a lot of change since 2009, but Hank’s remains.

The 2019 views are already showing relics of what once was.

And as you might expect, it’s already out of date. There’s no Smart Street Lighting kiosk in Chinatown yet, and Agu Ramen is still open at Ward. But, on the plus side, many of the Pow! Wow! Hawai‘i murals have now been immortalized. (Just don’t go hunting for these murals after February 2020.)

At least the business on this corner still features nice dishes 10 years later, amirite?

Ready to join us down the rabbit hole? Whenever you see the clock symbol next to when the Street View images were taken, click it to see what used to be there as far back as 2009.

SEE ALSO: We Tried It: How to Renew Your Driver License in 13 Minutes or Less

Both sides of Ward Avenue have changed quite a bit since 2009.

Notice the crane in the background of the 2009 photo? It’s a building now!

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