Honolulu City Lights

Honolulu City Lights by Keola and Kapono Beamer.
Honolulu City Lights by Keola and Kapono Beamer.
Honolulu City Lights by Keola and Kapono Beamer.

The City and County of Honolulu is currently underway with a program to replace all the orange glow high-pressure sodium street lights with new, efficient, bright bluish-white LED street lights. Bravo, it’s about time!

Some are lamenting and opposing this change, saying it is going to change the look of “Honolulu City Lights,” which they have come to know and love. (Honolulu Civil Beat, Chad Blair, Sep. 28, 2016.)

I guess these guys don’t remember that when “Honolulu City Lights” by the Beamer Brothers was written and published back in the 1960s, all the street lights were a pleasant bluish-white and the city at night looked like it was encrusted in diamonds. Take a look at the album cover, above. That is what Honolulu at night looked like in the 1960s.

Then in the 1980s, for reasons of saving money on electricity, the city switched to the current orange lights. The current lighting is dark by comparison and does not provide sufficient lighting in the neighborhoods. Large pockets of dark are occasionally interrupted by the orange glow from a light pole. Lots of nice places for bad guys to hide in.

I like the new LED lighting. I am switching all the lighting in my house from incandescent and fluorescent to LED as quickly as I can. I am happy to see the city doing the same for the street lights. Soon, we can see the lovely Honolulu City Lights, again.