A fast-moving wildfire that incinerated much of Lahaina has multiplied concerns that any homes rebuilt there will be targeted at affluent outsiders seeking a tropical haven.
Richy Palalay so closely identifies with his Maui hometown that he had a tattoo artist permanently ink "Lahaina Grown" on his forearms when he was 16.
Hotels and condos "that we can't afford, that we can't afford to live in -- that's what we're afraid of," he said. Maui County estimates more than 80% of the more than 2,700 structures in the town were damaged or destroyed and 4,500 residents are newly in need of shelter. "Lahaina is my home. Lahaina is my pride. My life. My joy," he said in a text message, adding that the town has taught him "lessons of love, struggle, discrimination, passion, division and unity you could not fathom."
"So a lot of more recent arrivals -- typically from the American mainland who have more money and can buy homes at a higher price -- were to some extent displacing local families in Lahaina," Higa said. It's a phenomenon he has seen all along Maui's west coast where a modest starter home two decades ago now sells for $1 million.
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