Key Points:
- During the worst years of the economic recession in Honolulu (2008), almost 50% of all new residential dwelling permits were for illegal accessory dwelling units (Recreation or Rec Rooms).
- These Rec Rooms occur more frequently in the Honolulu's urban core and Kailua/Kaneohe. Whereas new legal SFD/TFDs are concentrated more in West Oahu.
- Thus the spatial distribution of where urban growth is occurring in Honolulu may be different from official policymakers' assumptions. For example, are the tenants who rent a Rec Room illegally, counted in the official US Census? More research is needed in this area.
