Uncle Sam likes a challenge, it seems. The Federal Transit Administra- tion has chosen Honolulu as one of nine cities to benefit from its technical-assistance initiative.

This is to help the city find ways to incentivize and otherwise encourage transit-oriented development at its 21 rail stops, with the goal of enlarging Honolulu’s stock of affordable homes.

The FTA observed that 25,000 units are needed along the rail alignment, and that “affordable rental housing is exceptionally hard to develop” — two realities that seem to be in conflict.

What kind of technical advice can overcome this? Workshops and site visits are promised as part of the initiative. Honolulu needs all the help it can get. Perhaps a magic wand is in the kit, as well.

Keep alert for tsunamis

As if to catch our attention that April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii: A late-night earthquake north of Hawaii island hit on March 31, causing scores of people to reply affirmatively on the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did you feel it?” web page.

Luckily, the 4.2-magnitude quake wasn’t strong enough to generate a tsunami. But it was a timely jolt to remind us about how vulnerable we are — and that tsunamis have hit Hawaii in 1946, killing 159 people, and in 1960, killing 61.

Today, we have better technology and preparedness. Still, recalling Hawaii’s fatal tidal waves, as well as the horrific 2011 Japan tsunami that killed over 16,000, being ready to respond quickly by moving inland to higher ground cannot be emphasized enough.