Whenever I see pink or colorful buildings I dry up a little bit inside. There are a couple residential neighborhoods around LA full of faded pinks, yellows, blues, tans. I don't think it looks good.

That said, I'm not quite sure what colors Honolulu should use. I don't think the author is implying that the skyscapers should be that colorful...right? Other options include that industrial glass & metal look...That new style where buildings have the weird colorful plastic sidings...Or a more diverse range of neutral tones?

I was curious what made the buildings in Honolulu different so I went on a mission to see other places via google images:

Downtown LA

Chicago

The biggest difference between places like Detroit, Chicago, Washington DC and places like California and Honolulu is the times that the buildings were built. On the east coast you have a lot more interesting architecture because some of the buildings were built before people even got to California. You have amazing brick buildings, art deco madness, etc.

Chicago is known for it's architecture and features a lot of different tones - from black to white to dark brown to brick to beige. I guess another difference between them is that there are different tonal values of the buildings where Honolulu seems to be all the same tone.