Controversy Of Homelessness Essay

Beautiful blue skies, graceful swaying palm trees, warm tropical breezes, soft white sand beach, and crystal clear waters. What an admirable scene to lay back and relax! Many call this vacation get away Waikiki, the major hotspot for tourist attraction on Oahu. But in order to cultivate Waikiki’s attractive beauty, many must address the skyrocketing controversy of homelessness.
The famous Waikiki is uniquely located on the south of Honolulu. It is famously known for its appealing white sand beachfront. In the 1940s Waikiki’s outstanding developed environment became a tourist destination for many. Today Waikiki is home to many fascinating public attractions including the Honolulu zoo, the Waikiki aquarium, and the Fort De Russy Military Reservation. Throughout the years, Waikiki has grown to become such an exquisite area to visit. With Waikiki’s astonishing display of paradise, many people around the world long a desire and fantasize about this wonderful place. Many of our visitors adore Waikiki so much they consider moving here.
Although Waikiki is an exquisite hotspot for tourists, the dilemma regarding homelessness conveys concern. Waikiki being the

ultimate hotspot for many of our visitors has been dealing with this concern throughout the years. As you walk through the streets of Waikiki on every block or corner you immediately detect the stench of urination and notice the unpleasing homeless holding filthy cardboard signs noting their crave for money. Who would want to spend a vacation at a place smothered with gruesome smells and homeless? The New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney shares “Mr. Caldwell said he had received letters from tourists complaining about run-ins with homeless people, and had responded with notes asking them to give the city another chance.” (01). This brings a major concern because while tourists explore Waikiki, they can smell the foul scent of urination and see that many of the homeless are invading the area. Mayor Caldwell points out, “When visitors come here, they want to see their paradise. They don’t want to see homeless people sleeping in parks or on sidewalks or on the beach” (02). Spotting all the homeless discourages the tourists from visiting and it gives them other options to find places to vacation. With the numbers of homelessness rapidly increasing in Waikiki, soon the numbers of tourists will begin to decrease in a blink.
Not many of us care for the homeless but just imagine if tourists suddenly stop visiting our island.

Visualize how much lives would be affected. Most locals are so hard on tourist but believe it or not, tourism is really beneficial. Adam Nagourney explains, “the stakes here are particularly high because the Hawaiian economy is so dependent on tourism” (01). When tourists visit Oahu, the money they spend becomes our income for our developing state. With all the earnings we receive from tourists, that money goes to important needs. This income pays for building and renovating our schools, hospitals, hotels, and public attractions, but most importantly that money gives each and everyone of us jobs. Without tourists we wouldn’t be living the way we do today, in fact without them we would probably all live in

poverty.
Today, there are a few solutions to the concern of homelessness, but these solutions do not completely solve the issue. The first solution that was brought upon this concern was kicking the homeless off the sidewalks and completely destroying their belongings. Adam Nagourney reports, “Honolulu officials say they are confiscating up to 10 tons of property left on the sidewalk by homeless people every week” (01). This solution did not seem very efficient because even with kicking them off the sidewalks they migrated into other parts of Oahu causing issues for certain areas. It was just a matter of time before homeless began to gather new belongings. Convincing the homeless to move into shelters was another solution. This helped some of the homeless while others disagreed because of the fear of rules and living with complete strangers. Because of the large amount of homeless on Waikiki it is now illegal for people to sit or lie on the sidewalks of Waikiki. Star Advertiser Reporter Gordon Y.K Pang shares,
Bill 48 comes on the heels of the Waikiki "sit-lie" ordinance that was signed into law by Mayor Kirk Caldwell on Tuesday, prohibiting sitting and lying on sidewalks within the area bordered by the Ala Wai Canal and Kapahulu Avenue 24 hours a day. Caldwell, on Tuesday, said he was leaning toward supporting the bill. (01)
Along with bill 48, Bill 43 prohibits anyone to urinate or defecate in public. Violators will have a fine up to one thousand dollars or up to a month in jail. I personally think this law will be a good start for gaining back control over the sidewalks so Waikiki will no longer looks like a home for homeless. This will also eliminate the awful stench on the sidewalks and force the homeless to look for public restrooms to use. This bill will give ease to our visitors so they will feel a lot more safe and comfortable.
No one could ever imagine being in the situation of a homeless nor will anyone would ever want to be in their situation. For myself I don’t think I will ever be able to live the way they do, it’s just a really tough situation to be in. Tourism is indeed very beneficial and without them we all would struggle. So in order to cultivate Waikiki’s attractive beauty we all must come together to make a stop on homelessness, not just for the sake of our life, but also for our visitors.