A few years ago, kids from the Leeward Coast started quoting rap anthems in describing their home turf as the "West Side!" The term is barked out like a salute, as if distinguishing Wai'anae and Nanakuli from rival gang turf on the "East Side" of town.

It seemed comical and provincial when compared to the East Side vs. West Side of L.A. or, the East Coast versus West Coast hip-hop feud.

But as time has passed and O'ahu's social landscape has become increasingly pressured and drastic, the comparison has become more fitting.

Here, our West Side is home to drug havens, thug violence, homeless shanty towns and garbage dumps, while the East Side is run by its own brand of gangs — deep-pocket developers and landowners who decide who gets protected, who gets rewarded and who gets run out of town.

Folks from the West Side are fond of pointing out that there are no homeless camps, garbage dumps, power plants or abandoned cars in Hawai'i Kai because such things simply would not be tolerated there, and they're right.

They wouldn't.

Never mind marveling about the geographically divided haves and have-nots of places like L.A. or Manhattan. We have it all in a tighter concentration here in Hawai'i.

Though it has become more extreme in recent years, it has been that way for generations.

On Maui, the families who owned houses in Wailuku Heights 30 years ago made sure you understood that they didn't live in regular Wailuku, down by the dusty sugar mill and the sooty cane fires.

In the Heights, they woke up to the sun over Haleakala shining in their plate-glass windows, and they looked down upon the folks who lived in the sandy lowlands. These days, there's a differentiation between old Wailuku Heights and new Wailuku Heights, which is also beautiful but not quite as old-money.

On Kaua'i, if you live in the lower part of Koloa, you might be tempted to say you live in Po'ipu. Same ZIP code, different aura. Po'ipu has the resort-home distinction.

Koloa has low-income housing, dirt driveways and is still a place where Uncle Billy guts wild boars in the backyard.

These days, there's more of everything. More haves, more have-nots, more to have, more to want.

Now, Honolulu's East Side is suffering the pains of its desirability. The few spits of grassy hillsides are being targeted for development around Niu Valley, Kuli'ou'ou and Koko Crater.

More luxury homes to look down upon the masses. High-end vacation cabins with a bird's-eye view of the little people in their three-bedroom, two-baths.

No matter how high up you live, either geographically or socio-economically, someone is always thinking of a way to build their home above you and push the unsightly things toward you.

And so often, too often, they find a way, and a geographical boundary is drawn between the good life and real life.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.