Comprehensive Survey Reveals The Mindset of Local Residents In All Four Counties

The Winter 2023 Edition of Hawai’i Perspectives showcases the results of comprehensive surveys done by nearly 900 residents across the state. The survey was conducted from October 7 to November 16, 2023, in each of Hawaii’s four counties.

The scientific polling conducted 411 interviews in the City and County of Honolulu, 206 in Hawaii County, 164 in Maui County, and 166 in Kauai County. Some of the issues highlighted by the respondents were Hawaii’s high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, and growth of homelessness.

In a press release, Pacific Resource Partnership shared the survey’s “most revealing discoveries”:- 56% of Hawai‘i residents believe the state is on the wrong track, compared to 45% four years ago.

– 80% of Hawai‘i residents say the gap between rich and poor is growing.- 51% of those surveyed blame government permitting for Hawai‘i’s severe housing crisis.
– 65% of respondents say we should allow more visitors to Hawai‘i to create jobs for residents and opportunities for small businesses.
– 44% of those who took part in the survey have personally thought about leaving the state.
– 62% of respondents define affordable housing for a two-bedroom apartment as $1,500 per month or less, and 86% define an affordable home as having a purchase price of $500,000 or less.
– 78% of Hawai‘i residents are not willing to pay a higher cost of living to meet the state’s 100 percent renewable energy goals.

“Hawai‘i Perspectives represents the pulse of our people as communities throughout the islands grapple with longstanding issues like a lack of affordable housing, skyrocketing prices due to inflation, and rising homelessness with people living on our city streets,” said Josh Magno, Pacific Resource Partnership interim executive director.

“It’s our hope that policymakers, community leaders, advocacy groups and others use the information contained in Hawai‘i Perspectives to make sound, commonsense decisions about our collective future in this place we all love. Although the data picked up by Hawai‘i Perspectives reflects a sense of pessimism about the future of the state, there is also hope that we can find the right mix of ideas and innovation to move Hawai‘i forward.”

The survey was conducted by Anthology Research which is a Honolulu-based full-service market research firm. The last Hawai’i Perspectives edition was published in 2019 when the organization surveyed residents in the same year.

“Pacific Resource Partnership wanted the Winter 2023 edition of Hawai‘i Perspectives to accurately reflect the attitudes of local residents in all four counties, which required a stratified approach and the polling of nearly 900 individuals,” said David Pettinger, senior partner at Anthology Research.

“Anthology Research worked in close collaboration with the team at PRP to design a robust survey that sheds light on the current direction of our state and where residents feel we need to go to solve some of our most persistent and vexing problems.”

To view the full scientific survey and its findings of Hawai’i Perspectives, visit https://info.prp-hawaii.com/hawaii-perspectives-winter-2023-issue.