Paradise lost, Kailua in the 70's (living in, beach, farmers)

[hawaiian by heart]

And i hate to say this but portland in there liberalism is kind of phony, ya we love to protest, march etc. But making any real change forget it. For myself only, there are things i love that are unique to Hawai'i that you can't find here, Like malasadas(found 1 place), a great lunch plate special(Hawaiian food is here but not as good) special events like lei day etc. Ppl are more in a hurry. Portland has better beer and wine tho, Homelessnes is also a huge problem here(but with the modern age everywhere its a problem. Portland is less congestted but all the cities around it are connected. I would say Portland is a distant 2nd. Sorry tring to not be negative but as always its just my opinion, Some ppl lts either i love Portland or hate it. Hope that helps?

[alikair]

I also live in Portland. I don't have many other cities to compare it to other than Hawaii.
But here's my take.
The weather here is great IF you don't work outdoors, then its really bad due to the constant rain.
I work outdoors and i'm wearing a raincoat almost everyday from november to june. Then when the sun comes out it feels like its twice as hot as Hawaii. I have been here for 7 years now and still have to wear special headgear like bandanas or hats that you soak in water or your brain will fry in your skull. I think the UV here or the lack of humidity is the reason.
If I put down a metal tool, within a few mins it will be too hot to pick up.
So, when its not raining and not frying your skull you have 4 good months at best.

Also don't be fooled by weather reports. they will tell you it rains more in Hawaii and most other states than Oregon.
it rains one days amount of Hawaii rain in a week, just enough at a time to keep you cold and wet and in a rain coat.

As for the people, well they are different. In hawaii if someone did not like you, you knew the moment you talked to them.
Here they are friendly up front but if you're not just like them you will never end up making friends.
the blacks stick with the blacks in the poor part of town. same with the Mexicans.
Minorities get all the crappy jobs. A sad discovery for me was when I lived in Hawaii I was considered a Haole. here in White folk land I am not white enough to be in there club. off-white makes me an outsider to both ethnic groups.

I have visited small towns on various road trips and the people do seem much friendlier or scarier lol!
As I have said on previous posts, majorities are always in charge and top dog. I liked it better when the Haole's weren't a majority. They were so much cooler.

As for Asheville, I have been there a few times. it just a tiny little town that's on the California border.
it has one block with tourist shops and restaurants, its main attraction is a really cool outdoor theater where you can see plays (i love them) but I think it was way too expensive. I read there was a lot of old hippies that moved there, I did not see any. Also read that rich Californians moved there to retire and bought up all the houses.
Ashville is next to Medford. Most folks will probably want to live in Asheville but will end up there instead.
Medford weather is harsher. its surrounded by mountains.
Also, a lot of web sites list Corvallis Oregon as a best place to live. been there a few times and ??? have no idea how they get there figures. its just a small to med size town and not much more to say.

By the way if any of you reading this are Hawaiian. look into Forest Grove. Lot more Hawaiians live there. Not sure if jobs are easy to get there though. its a town on the foothills of the coastal mountain range. (portland side not oceanside)
it looked like a nice place to live possibly. also not a sprawl. yet.
seems like a lot of Hawaiians also moved more east of there in a cities named Beaverton and Gresham. its just one giant sprawling city with no define features and tons of strip malls.

Hope I helped someone.

[hawaiian by heart]

Couldnt agree with u more Alikair, well said. I heard Eugene is a great place to live? Only visitted there. Kind of has a small liberal town feeling to it and from what i saw its very nice. I can't say if the weather is good? Thats all i know! Aloha

[alikair]

Eugene, Salem, springfield, Keizer are all freeway towns the run on either side of the I5 highway heading south from Portland.
If you wanted to live down that stretch I would recommend Roseburg (very small but has much potential) or Grants pass (lots of retired people and dukes of hazzard types) if you need to make a income, then no further south then salem or else the drive to portland metro will be to far.
As for weather, Its better the farther south you go, but cities like Grants pass and Medford have harsher weather due to the mountains surrounding them. I guess eugene is ok though. when you add springfield to its size, its large enough to support a decent working environment. I don't really care for most towns down the I5 stretch, no character or charm, just another 3 or 4 exits on the I5 is how I look at them. Also, I read or heard recently Springfield has the worse crime problems in Oregon.

There are a few neat small towns to live in Oregon, but most have a major city withing 2 hrs drive.
All the ocean cites are really neat (and cold like San Fran) Hood River also cozy but far away.

Like I said earlier. Kailua is a small town within driving distance of a large city.
Here, if you just have massive urban sprawl with Portland as its hub, or you're just too far away.

Unfortunately for me, my work kinda requires that I live near a large city the size of Honolulu or bigger.

[hawaiian by heart]

Alikair, understandable u have got to live where the work is. Your right about Hood River, nice but faraway! U know i never lived in Kailua, but lived in Honalulu in the 70s just next door to you, so i can feel for you and understand. I think the 70s and early 80s where unique times in oahu, because there was still a mix of modern life conveniences but it still had that unique local culture! Its kind of sad in this modern age that most of the local culture is gone. Replaced by everything you see in any major city. Kind of depressing, oh well. I will still go back to oahu for the weather, aloha, and hapa wahines lol.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by hawaiian by heart

Alikair, understandable u have got to live where the work is. Your right about Hood River, nice but faraway! U know i never lived in Kailua, but lived in Honalulu in the 70s just next door to you, so i can feel for you and understand. I think the 70s and early 80s where unique times in oahu, because there was still a mix of modern life conveniences but it still had that unique local culture! Its kind of sad in this modern age that most of the local culture is gone. Replaced by everything you see in any major city. Kind of depressing, oh well. I will still go back to oahu for the weather, aloha, and hapa wahines lol.

Isn't any generation is unique - I mean, wouldn't some of our elderly posters think the 50's and 60's were unique and better before the Magnum PI generation of the 80's - we have a generation of 30 somethings who don't have a concept of the 70's and 80's in Hawaii - and I have a hard time believing most 20 somethings of today would enjoy Hawaii of the 70's.

I just think every generation forms an opinion of each place in time and can enjoy it.

[MovingAloha]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Isn't any generation is unique - I mean, wouldn't some of our elderly posters think the 50's and 60's were unique and better before the Magnum PI generation of the 80's - we have a generation of 30 somethings who don't have a concept of the 70's and 80's in Hawaii - and I have a hard time believing most 20 somethings of today would enjoy Hawaii of the 70's.

I just think every generation forms an opinion of each place in time and can enjoy it.

[wyzamom]

Thank you Alikair and Hawaiian by Heart for both your input. I cannot imagine myself ever being able to afford/own anything here and that has gotten to feel kinda depressing. I am a minimal consumer and am always able to save something-just need to make a situation where I can save more, got to make up for lost time! ('Lost time' to other constructive things) Just hard (and kinda scary) to leave the only place I know to go find it . . . :-(

[hawaiian by heart]

@ Whtviper1 hmmm, i think you missed the point of my post brah! let me explain myself better because i will admit that im not the greatest writter lol. Ok i used to live in S.F for awhile, and i used to love going down to fishermens warf for good fresh clam chowder in a sourdough bowl(hmm) and fresh saltwater taffy. They would make the clam chowder fresh, and they would make saltwater taffy in the store right in front of you. I went to a conference in S.F a few years ago and thought, how nice it would be again to experience fresh clam chowder and saltwater taffy. Guess what i found? i showed up and instead of fresh taffy, they had the Candy Barrel! As for the chowder? I watched a gal open a can and pour it into the soup pott! My point being wasnt that the 70s or 80s where better then any era, it was my point that alot of local culture is vanishing. If i wantted to goto the candy barrel all i have to do is goto the local mall. Or get canned soup at any store. Hoped that helped?

[hawaiian by heart]

Each generation has there good and bad, my generation still had alot of local culture(good) made it unique, bad we also had "kill hoale day" lmao. I grewup with the first atari system but its nothing compaired to what i got my daughter(playstation 3) great! This has nothing to do with if anyone can still enjoy Hawai'l brah? H**L ya you can! Like i said, i would be there in a heartbeat just for the sun, aloha, and nani hapa wahines lol. Aloha brah