Gov. Lingle shouldn't wait to do something about a 16-mile stretch of Farrington Highway on the Wai'anae coast that's practically become a new waterfront suburb.

What's happening along the coast is nothing to be proud of.

From Nanakuli to Kea'au, there's a tent city— the final refuge for people squeezed out of homes by heartless economics and hard luck. The beach population has tripled in size over the past four years, and community leaders no longer call it a crisis, but a full-blown epidemic.

While it's difficult to nail down hard data on the homeless, the Wai'anae Community Outreach Center says its client list has grown to nearly 3,500 individuals. The state's own estimate is 5,800 homeless people in the entire state.

It's a sad and stunning example of how many of Hawai'i's residents live on the financial brink, where one sudden change can be financially catastrophic.

In the past, those in distress could rely on family, friends or other social services as a safety net.

But that safety net now has gaping holes. Few in this state are immune from the impact of a rent increase, a change in job or a loss of that second or third job that helped make ends meet.

Add to that increases in property taxes and food, gasoline and healthcare costs, and it doesn't take much to send a family into a tailspin that can lead them out of a home and onto the beach.

But camping on the beach is far from an ideal solution to this problem.

The governor needs to quickly stem the Wai'anae homeless epidemic by opening up a new transitional shelter in the area, similar to the Next Step program that recently opened in Kaka'ako.

The real next step, however, is for the state to begin sowing the seeds for a more comprehensive housing package in time for next year's legislative session.

Last session's omnibus housing bill addressed the need for the truly indigent. What's also urgently needed is affordable housing — both rentals and for purchase.

The shame of a beachfront tent city is a painful, visual reminder that planning must begin now.