If you worked on Front Street in Lahaina where would you live? (Kahului: rentals)

[greasycheeseburgers]

If you worked on Front Street in Lahaina where would you live and why?

I am 26, no kids, and I am soooo confused on where to live. From what I've read I'm thinking Lahaina/Kaanapali, Kihei or Kahului. Lahaina/Kaanapali would put me by work, in Kahului I would be by major stores like Walmart and Costco, and I've read about Kihei on here - it looks like it's in the middle.

I'm not tied to any of those area's, if there are better choices out there besides those, please let me know. I have no idea where I should be living.

[whynot?]

I know it sounds weird, but you'd want to think about traffic if you choose to live somewhere other than Lahaina/Kaanapali (or elsewhere in West Maui, like Napili or Kapalua). West Maui is a fairly expensive place to live, so many of the resort and other industry employees commute from Central Maui or Upcountry. The road from there to here is two lane (that's one going each way) and the speed limit averages 45MPH -- that means that several thousand cars and trucks are all trying to get from one or two areas to another in a very small window of time every day. If your hours are flexible, traffic is not so much of an issue.

You are right about Kahului being the retail center, but being both that and the home of the airport and our port, it is also the freight center and a bit of a warehouse zone. Rather charmless, in other words, for living in paradise. And I think you've assessed the retail limits elsewhere. Most of us in West Maui get used to going "to the other side" once a week or so, and do our shopping all at once or when we have other errands (or activities) there.

Kihie is not really in the middle. I see how it could look that way on a map, but the roads mostly run around the perimeter of the island (except for the road that cuts through the valley from Kahului to Maalaea), so the commute from Kihei to Lahaina is about the same as from Kahului to Lahaina. (GoogleMaps says about 22 miles/36 minutes "without traffic.") Kihei has lots of high rises and plenty of local retail (groceries, restaurants, shops) and great beaches -- it would definitely appeal to me more than Kahului.

You'd almost have to visit to get a real feel for West Maui (Lahaina/Kaanapali/Napili) v. Kihei. For shorthand, we call Kihei "Myrtle Beach," which I think you might be familiar with? It has a very different feel from West Maui, which has several smaller communities spread out along the coast from Lahainatown to Kapalua.

Hope this helps.

[Jungjohann]

I have never, in the few weeks that I've lived in Kihei, heard it referred to as "Myrtle Beach",,,,,, is that a wahine's name or something?? Thanks for the info!!!

Aloha and okolemaluna

[Kapalua]

Well, I use to live on Maui like 9 in half years ago. I would pick Kihei, you have more choices of rentals to pick from. THO the rentals are very high, they have come down from last year at this time. Ka'anapali is not what you call a town, there are homes only for Millionaires. But I have lived in Ka'anapali before with my husband when he was a manager in one department at Royal Lahaina Beach, managers and their families got to live on hotel resort. You could like in Honokawai, they build more new condo apts but i have no clue as how much you would have to pay for rent. If you worked in Lahaina on Front Street, you could check the listing for rentals online at http://www.mauinews.com and see if people are renting out rooms from their homes. I know in Napali they build a subdivison of homes aeons ago, people might rent out a room to you. You could NEVAH afford a rental in Kapalua, the rentals are astronimical. There are not any HOUSES like in Lahaina or Kihei or Kahului, Kapalua is geared for the rich!!! Like lots of people work in Lahaina and Ka'anapali where the Resorts are HOTELS and they live in Kihei that would be like a 45 mile drive one way. And others live in Wailuku and Kahului which would make a longer distance away like 59 mile or drive away. Some people who work in the hotel resorts in Ka'anapali, live way out in Paia and Up country and that is even further away. Try for Kihei, things are closer.

[whynot?]

No, jungjohann! Sorry. Myrtle Beach is a family resort area on the coast of South Carolina. Kihei reminds us of it because we grew up going there. MB has huge white sand beaches and lots of sort of kitschy retail and restaurants. Several of the old hotels are from the 50s, but there's plenty of new development, too. So Kihei kind of reminds us of a small version of it -- with the old and new places mixed together and good beach parks and vacation crowds mingling downtown.