About Honolulu's Kaimuki

Have you seen these cones on Waialae Avenue lately? This week the City and County of Honolulu is conducting a study to see how a bike lane would affect traffic.

A long section of Waialae Avenue in the town-bound direction has three lanes. Within this area, a lane is blocked off, leaving two lanes for drivers.

Some people are grumbling about the traffic disruption. I believe we should look at the bigger picture and see how bike lanes will benefit Kaimuki and the surrounding neighborhoods.

In Palolo Valley there are a lot of people who are (choose one or more):

• Being green
• Getting exercise
• Saving money

- by riding their bikes regularly.

Here's a photo of a rider heading down Palolo Avenue. There's less motor vehicle traffic here and bicyclists can get into and out of the valley with less anxiety. Once you get to Waialae Avenue it's a different story.

My wife and I recently rode our bikes from Palolo Valley to the City Mill store in Kaimuki. Riding down Palolo Avenue wasn't bad, but once we got to Waialae Avenue we rode on the sidewalk! It's against the law to ride a bike on a sidewalk in Honolulu, however we'd rather risk a traffic ticket than getting run over by a car.

Result - we got some shopping done, fit exercise into our schedule, didn't burn gas and spent some quality time together.

We should do this more often! Adding bike lanes to Honolulu's city streets will allow more people to safely commute and get other things done. More bikes on the road = less cars on the road.

Think about it and please support bike lanes. How many of us are too fit and couldn't use some more exercise?

Click here to sign the Waialae Avenue Bike Lane Petition

Aloha, Mike

Michael Bates (RA)

i Properties Hawaii

1585 Ala Moana Blvd. #1533

Honolulu, HI 96814

With Hawaii's school budget cuts these days, students, teachers and parents are doing what they can to save their schools' programs. On September 5, 2009 the Kaimuki High School Performing Arts Center held a benefit concert. Various musicians and comedians volunteered their time to help out. We were lucky enough to hear about the concert and spent the evening enjoying the food and entertainment.

The concert started at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. We showed up for a late dinner, around 7 p.m. In the Kaimuki High School cafeteria, we enjoyed a salad, spaghetti with garlic bread and dessert. Next, on the the Performing Arts Center to watch the show.

We arrived just in time to see Mel Cabang, a well known Hawaii comedian. It's been about 20 years since I last saw him performing live at a nightclub in Waikiki. Mel is hilarious. He makes fun of people in the audience and himself. People walking into the show while he's on stage - be prepared! He loves to poke fun at anyone and everyone.

After Mel left the stage, a group called "Vella" played some Hawaiian-style oldies music. Then to top it off, another group named "Soul Vibe by Big D" played their music, which to me sounded like Jawaiian or Hawaiian reggae style. This group was very popular with the high school kids.

By 10 p.m. or so it was getting past our bed time and we called it a night. Soul Vibe was still jamming. It was a great night of food and fun. And on top of that our admission fee benefited the Performing Arts Center of Kaimuki High School.

Organizers said it was financially a great success. Many people donated money and the artists were so kind to give their time. The event was not very crowded, maybe because it started at 3 p.m. and ended around 11 p.m. Maybe next year they'll shorten the event a bit to make things easier on themselves.

We're looking forward to it! Bring back Mel Cabang!

Mike Bates - Hawaii Realtor