What things would push you to move back to Hawai'i? (Honolulu: new house, neighborhoods)

[HonuMan]

Originally Posted by hawaiian by heart

@HonuMan don't give up your dream ok, intell it comes true remember you can always have aloha in your life.

Thanks! It still could happen, but one of the things my wife and I realized is that we have a wonderful life here in Portland, one that looks really good to our relatives in Hilo. The grass is always greener, and all that... We don't want to get so caught up in the dream of moving to Hawaii that we neglect to live our lives to the fullest here. Objectively, we've long known that Hawaii is no better or worse than the PNW for us. Each has its pluses and minuses, and we tend to go back and forth between which place we prefer. One can live aloha anywhere, regardless of the prevailing culture. If we're someday able to move to Hawaii, fine. If we have to stay here, also fine.

[hawaiian by heart]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

Thanks! It still could happen, but one of the things my wife and I realized is that we have a wonderful life here in Portland, one that looks really good to our relatives in Hilo. The grass is always greener, and all that... We don't want to get so caught up in the dream of moving to Hawaii that we neglect to live our lives to the fullest here. Objectively, we've long known that Hawaii is no better or worse than the PNW for us. Each has its pluses and minuses, and we tend to go back and forth between which place we prefer. One can live aloha anywhere, regardless of the prevailing culture. If we're someday able to move to Hawaii, fine. If we have to stay here, also fine.

Good 4 you my friend, great attitude.

[McFrostyJ]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

One can live aloha anywhere, regardless of the prevailing culture.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

Thanks! It still could happen, but one of the things my wife and I realized is that we have a wonderful life here in Portland, one that looks really good to our relatives in Hilo. The grass is always greener, and all that... We don't want to get so caught up in the dream of moving to Hawaii that we neglect to live our lives to the fullest here.

Very refreshing to see someone with a realistic view on life.

[LSLBlues]

We lived on Oahu for 2 years. We loved it and miss it dearly. We've been back on the mainland for 2.5 years and currently in North Carolina. We will be moving back within the next 18 months. We want to move back because of friends, weather, culture, quality of life, outdoor activities, scenery, etc etc. We just enjoyed living there much more. Where else can you have a drive like you do from Kailua to Hawaii Kai? That has to be the most amazing drive to Costco in the world. I still remember our last drive around that end of Oahu before we left. My wife and kids just crying. We felt extremely blessed for the time we had in Hawaii and can't wait to get back.

Three negatives for us - cost of living, crime, and centipedes...

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Major mainland cities, you should say. There's more variation across the country than you seem to realize. Honolulu is about equivalent to San Francisco or New York, and they all are much more expensive than the average cost across America.

For example, the average Consumer Price Index in America is 100. Cleveland, Ohio, has a CPI of 84, better than 15% cheaper than the American average. Hilo, on the other hand, has an index of 141, or more than 40% higher than average.

Yep that's what I mean, major cities like NYC, SF, LA, and Houston.

Take the CPI with a grain of salt. Those kinds of metrics are based on averages, which mean nothing. For example Houston has big expanses of undesireable neighborhoods that make the average house value low, so there is this myth that Houston is cheap. Same thing if you include the whole metro area with the crappy treeless suburbs sprawling for dozens of miles in all directions.
But if you compare desireable neighborhoods in Houston with ones in Honolulu or any other city, suddenly Houston isn't cheap, especially when you factor in big costs like property tax (which btw is extremely regressive).

I Googled "Honolulu real estate" and this was the first house I saw, a 3 bedroom in Ewa Beach for $500k. Guess what a similar house costs in an urban neighborhood of Houston. $500k at least! Plus with 3% property tax you pay the cost of the house again in 3 decades, so it's really a $1 mil house. http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...645?source=web

Edit: Oops, Ewa is pretty far. How long will the commute be on the train?

[Pyramidsurf]

Ewa sucks. It's probably an hour drive with traffic. The desirable neighborhoods cost almost twice as much as Ewa.

[hawaiian by heart]

Originally Posted by LSLBlues

We lived on Oahu for 2 years. We loved it and miss it dearly. We've been back on the mainland for 2.5 years and currently in North Carolina. We will be moving back within the next 18 months. We want to move back because of friends, weather, culture, quality of life, outdoor activities, scenery, etc etc. We just enjoyed living there much more. Where else can you have a drive like you do from Kailua to Hawaii Kai? That has to be the most amazing drive to Costco in the world. I still remember our last drive around that end of Oahu before we left. My wife and kids just crying. We felt extremely blessed for the time we had in Hawaii and can't wait to get back.

Three negatives for us - cost of living, crime, and centipedes...

Aloha, im so glad you fell in love with Hawai'i, even Oahu can be nani(gorgeous). I hope your upcomming move has the same experience. Aloha, Welcome to CDF and Mahalo nui loa for sharing your feelings of Aloha with us.

[hawaiian by heart]

@winkosmosis,Pyramidsurf

Ya its sad how things are turning out. Pretty soon Hawai'i and its citys except the smaller islands are not going to look any different or unique from any city in the Mainland, except tropics. Further, i was just reflecting today as my landlord just raised the rent again, that even Portland housing is getting expensive, another 300 or so i just might as well live in Honolulu.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Yep that's what I mean, major cities like NYC, SF, LA, and Houston.

I know you like to say that because you are in Houston, but the CPI surveys say that Houston is not in the same league costwise as the other cities mentioned, not in any regard. The overall CPI for Houston is 80 (with 100 being average across the country) while Honolulu is 188, or 135% more expensive. If you have a $50, 000 income in Houston, you'd have to make $117, 562 to enjoy the same standard of living in Honolulu. But then there is the "double whammy" that the $50,000 job in Houston typically pays only $35-40,000 in Honolulu.

Take the CPI with a grain of salt. Those kinds of metrics are based on averages, which mean nothing.

Actually, they mean quite a lot. They allow comparing the cost of living in various cities on a rational, rather than an emotional or impressionistic basis. Apples to apples, so to speak. And being average values, they're closest to what most people actually spend. And being standardized, they allow you to make whatever adjustments you need to make to accommodate whatever is different about your lifestyle from the average.

For example Houston has big expanses of undesireable neighborhoods that make the average house value low, so there is this myth that Houston is cheap.

But it isn't just that housing is cheaper and apartment rents are cheaper (and the places are bigger), it's that every other single spending category on the CPI survey is cheaper in Houston, cheaper even than the national average. Food is much cheaper. Restaurants are cheaper. Electricity is less than a third of Honolulu's rates. Transportation is cheaper. Healthcare is cheaper. Gasoline is cheaper. Everything is cheaper in Houston, and by significant amounts, compared to Honolulu. Apples to apples.