“Man, I wish we had a good Armenians restaurant in Hawai’i.” That’s the type of thing I’ve been saying recently. And I’ve been saying things like this because I’ve been researching restaurants and activities in NYC. Inevitably, I’ll come across something cool and wish we could have something similar in Hawai’i. And the examples don’t always involve restaurants. For example, NYC has a lot of great walkable neighorhoods, with appealing destinations and lively streets populated with people. Why can’t we have a non-touristy place like that in Hawai’i?

I want to use this thread to keep a list of these things as well as discuss the challenges for having them in Hawai’i. Here are two general reasons Hawai’i doesn’t have some of the cool things a cool city like NYC has:

1. Lack of high density to have the type of walkable communities I mentioned;
2. Lack of affluent individuals in these high density neighborhoods;
3. Lack of industries and businesses to attract large number of these individuals;
4. Lack of ambitious entrepreneurs that would provide the type of goods and services I have in mind;

In short, the market for the type of amenities I have in mind is too small.