No conversation about Hawai‘i’s future is complete without a reckoning with housing’s impact on every generation of Hawai‘i. That’s why Housing Hawai‘i’s Future is hosting one such conversation on Oct. 28, 2025, in the Kaka‘ako district of Honolulu.
More than 30 years ago, Randall Roth’s The Price of Paradise noted that housing was getting more expensive across Hawai‘i.
Relative to 1992, the relative price of paradise is rising at a much faster rate. The gap between a person’s wage and the cost of a home is expanding.
In May 2025, the New York Times confirmed that Hawai‘i’s rate of home ownership among young adults (those under the age of 35) is the worst in the United States.
Housing instability among young residents will have serious consequences. Housing Hawai‘i’s Future’s 2025 survey has confirmed that more than two-in-five of surveyed young residents are giving serious thought to leaving Hawai‘i in the next five years.
For many of our older residents, this is a serious warning sign for Hawai‘i’s future. “Hawai‘i’s population is aging rapidly,” warned one December 2024 UHERO report. “By 2035 one in four people will be 65 or older according to the most recent projections.”
Fewer younger residents and more ‘super-aging’ residents will seriously stress the very fabric of Hawai‘i, cascading Hawai‘i into a serious demographic crisis.
An Intergenerational Approach to the Housing Shortage
The Haudonesee, known also as the Iroquois Confederacy of North America, have popularized the Seventh Generation principle. It informs an approach which emphasizes the significance of decision-making across seven generations.
Regarding our housing shortage in 2025, seven generations of Hawai‘i’s residents must converge to reckon with decades of inaction, procrastination, and failure. Our thinking about seven generations must apply to Hawai‘i’s poor housing ecosystem.
Here in Hawai‘i, the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z, and Generation Alpha are all part of Hawai‘i’s present housing conversation.
It’s undeniable that a disconnect exists between these seven generations. It’s the difference between a member of the Greatest Generation born in 1924 (think the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye) and a member of Generation Alpha (the folks entering high school right now).
However, members of these seven generations in Hawai‘i are connected by the evolution of our housing shortage.
When the Greatest Generation returned to Hawai‘i following the Second World War, they set out to guarantee housing stability for a rising middle class. Their fight for a more egalitarian society benefitted subsequent generations, including the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers.
Our limited housing shortage began to emerge in the ’70s, when urban sprawl, poor land use practices, and an aversion to population growth inspired moments to curb home construction. For residents, home supply could never meet home demand. We stopped expanding supply, and high residential demand (which was left to compete with national and international demand) only drove-up the value of finite supply.
We’re falling further and further behind when it comes to guaranteeing stability for our residents. Millennials and Generation Z residents are feeling the heat.
Let’s Have a Conversation
Meeting the challenges of Hawai‘i’s chronic housing shortage will require intergenerational solutions.
At Housing Hawai‘i’s Future, we hear the anger and frustration of Millennials and Generation Z looking to figure out what the future holds.
We want to give other folks the chance to hear them too.
A conversation in Kaka‘ako won’t end Hawai‘i’s chronic housing shortage. In fact, similar conversations must eventually take shape across our islands, from Līhu‘e to Hilo.
An intergenerational approach can smooth the tension, misunderstanding, and mistrust that prevent our society from treating the shortage of homes for residents as the existential threat it presents.
Housing stability for future residents starts with an awareness of their challenges, fears, and hopes. We’re giving them a platform to start talking.
If you want to listen, you need to join the conversation.
Housing Hawai‘i’s Future: An Intergenerational Conversation
Date: October 28th, 2025
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
Location: Entrepreneur’s Sandbox, 643 Ilalo St, Honolulu, HI 96813
As Executive Director of Housing Hawai‘i’s Future, Lee Wang leads youth-driven advocacy and education efforts to ensure Hawai‘i’s next generation can afford to live and thrive at home.
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