should we take the job and move to oahu?

[Afishwithabike]

Originally Posted by melaniej65

Yes, teenagers would NEVER want to come up with reasons to live away from their immediate family!
Racism exists everywhere but when you go 'looking' for it it is all but guaranteed that you will find what you are looking for.

It was nice for once not to have to 'subtly ask' the realtor "where we should look for a home" because for every other Military PCS over 23 years we were the 'brown ones' with the whites saying "but we LOVE everyone; but you may not wish to stay out after dark in 'this or that' section, while every white child/teenager went about their day without one thought for how the brown kids were going to make it home safely if football practice ran over a little and the was no ride available.

Simply because you have never dealt with racism as a white (0r pale skinned) person certainly does not mean that it does not exist. Things occur everywhere- it is how YOU handle a situation that defines who you are.

Great post and what you said is so true.

[HI_Bound]

I am glad to see that others are in the same boat! We are also looking to move to Oahu in the near future. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on schools/neighborhoods (middle school). My husband will work on Pearl Harbor and would like a 30 minute or less commute. We have seen some nice houses in Ewa Beach but have no idea. What are the taxes and insurance like on Oahu? Any info would be great!!

[vinty]

Make sure you stay somewhere in the vicinity of the house you want to buy in Ewa Beach to test out the air traffiic noise (about a week). My friend rented there and it was the planes that made it bad. Not all of Ewa beach gets it but with the international, interisland and military airports being right there and on schedule it was cetainly something else. I'm not talking about hearing a plane from afar, but more like right in your frontroom on schedule multiple times a day. On Sat. and Sun. it wasn't as bad. Of course at night it was a blessing because they don't fly as much. Ewa beach is great, but know what your getting into. I wish you well.

[Mililani Gal]

I know its been awhile since the original post. My husband and I made $100K as state employees. It wasn't enough if we wanted to live debt free. Sure we had a mortgage, but we had paid off our cars, and tried to pay off all credit cards monthly. It was a struggle. Our main obligation was mortgage & maintenance which was $2,500/mo. So $1900/mo. will put $600 more in your pocket. Our 3 year old went to preschool in town (Seagull Schools: Early Education Center). We loved the preschool and paid $640/month but it included breakfast, lunch and 3 snacks a day. There is a Seagull School in Ewa Beach. I think there are other preschool/day cares in Kapolei. Kapolei is Oahu's 'second city' and has a lot of amenities. Costco, Target, Sports Authority, Safeway, Long's Drugs (a/k/a CVS), and Home Depot, not to mention all the standard coffee and eateries.

Ko Olina is a resort. The west side of Oahu can be a rough area to live, but I've always felt safe at Ko Olina. My sister and her family would visit from the mainland every summer and stay for a month at Ko Olina.

I'm not sure what school your 16 year old would go to. Hopefully it would be Kapolei HS, that is a fairly new school with a great football team. Teachers are pretty good here, it's the Board of Education that sucks. They are the runs messing up the school's ability to effectively teach our children.

What a great life experience it would be for your children to have lived for a period in Hawaii. If your 16 year old is really open to the move, why not? You are only looking at 1 or 2 years. She can graduate and head back to the mainland for college. Like of the the local kids who spend their entire life in HI. Many can't wait to leave "the rock" after graduating HS.

Good luck and best wishes!

[Mililani Gal]

Originally Posted by HI_Bound

I am glad to see that others are in the same boat! We are also looking to move to Oahu in the near future. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on schools/neighborhoods (middle school). My husband will work on Pearl Harbor and would like a 30 minute or less commute. We have seen some nice houses in Ewa Beach but have no idea. What are the taxes and insurance like on Oahu? Any info would be great!!

I drove to Ewa one weekday evening after work to pick up some boxes from a freecycler and was shocked at how bad the traffic was on Fort Weaver Road. You always hear on the morning traffic report how bad traffic is on Fort Weaver Road, but to realize that they have bad traffic in the AM and the PM was terrible. Ewa Beach has some really nice houses, but you'll find nice houses in Mililani too. There are also some not very good areas in Ewa Beach as it used to be a Sugar Plantation camp area (ie. economically depressed). Coming down the H-2 from Mililani and Mililani Mauka is not nearly as bad as coming from the West-Side. You'll hear that the traffic is backed up to the "Managers Drive Overpass" on the west side, but coming south on the H-2 is clear until you reach the Waiawa Road overpass. This overpass is miles closer to town than the Managers Drive Overpass. Mililani to Pearl Harbor is maybe 1/2 hour. Especially since the people I know that work at PH start at 6:30 am and end at 3:30 pm. They pretty much miss most of the bad traffic.

I'm not absolutely sure what our property tax rates are as I just want to know the bottom line monthly commitment. Our "sales tax" on Oahu is 4.712%. Here is a link to the City and County of Honolulu's Property Tax website City and County of Honolulu Public Access

The closer you get to town (Pearl City, Aiea, Moanalua, Salt Lake) the higher the cost of properties and rent.

Good luck and enjoy your time in Hawaii. It is a beautiful place, but it sure is tough to live comfortably.