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Hi all - thanks for your replies. Let me clarify -- we are NOT catholic, nor am I Christian, but we are applying to several catholic/Christian schools b/c of good reputation/cost. We are too late to apply for Punahou or Iolani.
Would you also not send a haole kid to Noelani Elementary? Is my kid haole since she is half-white? She looks more light skinned than brownish, unless she's got a tan (hard to come by in Jan in the DC area!) In Hawaii, I expect she'd get darker...anyway, is safety a real concern in Honolulu public schools?
I will be working downtown near the federal courthouse. Spouse will be working near Fort Shafter.
Are there any safe neighborhoods where you can buy a nice home or townhome, 3bed/2 bath, 1200-1700sq ft, with a 15-20 minute commute to downtown during rush hour? (The commute for my spouse to Shafter can be longer - yes, just thinking of myself for right now!) Forget how close it is to the beach. What areas, if any, would you recommend? Price range for townhomes/homes?
Also, this may seem like a foolish question, but do kids in Hawaii play outside a lot? Are there neighborhoods near Honolulu where it is safe for a kid to ride a bike outdoors, play with friends, hang out at a park? In our area, kids do not do any of these things without constant adult supervision. Thanks!!
You are used to paying a lot for housing. That won't be as much of a shock to you as it is for most folks. Prices in Hawaii are probably comparable to what you would pay in the better parts of Fairfax.
You will be shocked by the laid back atmosphere. Everything runs on Hawaiian Time...no one ever seems to be in a hurry to do anything. That can be really good or really bad depending on what you are trying to do. It will take you some time to decompress, especially moving from up here. One of the many times we moved to Hawaii, it was from D.C. Wow! Talk about a shock! Once we had time to get used to it, it was wonderful. But initially, it felt very frustrating. I constantly wanted to scream "hurry up!". That's actually a sad indictment of what living up here can do to you.
Traffic can be heavy, but is nothing like NOVA. Not even close.
The beaches are gorgeous. The mountains are amazing. Most of the people are very friendly. You'll just have to overcome the school issue. And there is no way you'll find a school anywhere in Hawaii..private or public...that compares to most of the public schools in NOVA. Woodson, Braddock, Robinson,.....those types of schools do not exist in Hawaii.
mississippi - i am glad to hear that traffic in NOVA is worse than Oahu! We also crave a more laid back pace...we are not into the DC-east coast mentality of rushing everywhere, living to work, make more money, buy more stuff, get a bigger house, buy a newer/better car, impress your neighbors, make connections with the "right" people, etc. etc.
Unfortunately, my job is such that it will be demanding even in Oahu (I think), but at least after work hours, we are hoping to live a relatively simple life spending lots of time enjoying good food, good weather, being outdoors, spending time with good friends, and enjoying nature.
Anyway, mississippi, I was happy reading your post, until you mentioned schools!! I thank you for your honest opinion, I am just bummed and surprised that even private schools in Hawaii cannot offer a top-notch education. Do most kids who go to privates in Hawaii go on to college? Do they get into universities on the mainland?
It seems you might very well do best by investing a little in a realtor to help you in your search. They can help narrow down choices and give you detailed information on the areas. Good luck!
I have been reading your comments with regards to your upcoming move to Honolulu and your desire to find quality educatin for your daughter. I saw that someone mentioned that Noelani is a good public elementary school. I thin this is very true. The school is located by the University of Hawaii so a lot of the faculty kids go to school there. We have educated both of our girls at St. Andrews Priory and I can't say enough good things about the school. I'm not sure what their cut off date is for accepting kids for the next school year but whatever it is the Priory administraiton will gladly work with you and I am sure they will allow your daughter to transfer to the Priory even if you have missed their acceptance date. I too work in a semi federal government job and the Priory is within walking distance of the fedral building. Best of luck to you.
Would you also not send a haole kid to Noelani Elementary? Is my kid haole since she is half-white? She looks more light skinned than brownish, unless she's got a tan (hard to come by in Jan in the DC area!) In Hawaii, I expect she'd get darker...anyway, is safety a real concern in Honolulu public schools?
Half white is hapa-haole, and it really shouldn't be an issue at Noelani. Lots of diversity there. I've been working with a small number of schools on Oahu, BI, and Maui. It seems to me that lots of posters who talk about kids getting beat up in schools are remembering their experiences from 20 years ago or more. I really haven't seen any of that. Also, HS may be tougher on new kids, and more local areas might be less welcoming. But I don't think elementary schools around Honolulu are really not dangerous these days. (But again, small sample size.)
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Are there any safe neighborhoods where you can buy a nice home or townhome, 3bed/2 bath, 1200-1700sq ft, with a 15-20 minute commute to downtown during rush hour? (The commute for my spouse to Shafter can be longer - yes, just thinking of myself for right now!) Forget how close it is to the beach. What areas, if any, would you recommend? Price range for townhomes/homes?
The two areas I can think of for townhomes are Hawaii Kai and Kailua. I looked at townhomes both places while house hunting about a year ago. What you describe was running $650K minimum about a year ago, and most of those places didn't have yards. (We really wanted something with a yard for our dog, but we eventually just gave up on that. Couldn't find it in our price range at all.) Prices have leveled off, but not really come down, so that's probably what you'd be looking at. (Exceptions are if you're willing to do a fixer-upper. We saw several foreclosures in the $500K range, but they were absolutely trashed... I have neither the time nor the skill to make that work.)
For both of those, the commute to downtown during rush hour is probably more like 30 min, but rush hour happens early here. I tested out morning commutes from both places at 8:30am, and rush hour was pretty much done by then. It's much worse from 7-8am, at least on those two routes.
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Also, this may seem like a foolish question, but do kids in Hawaii play outside a lot? Are there neighborhoods near Honolulu where it is safe for a kid to ride a bike outdoors, play with friends, hang out at a park? In our area, kids do not do any of these things without constant adult supervision. Thanks!!
There are two parks near my house, and kids hang out at them all the time... basketball games, soccer, playground equipment, just goofing off. Older kids go to the beach together all the time. It's refreshing actually... more like my childhood. No one parent per kid at the park, watching them carefully for a scraped knee or argument. They just play.
Not as much bike riding in my area... really hilly and narrow streets. That's probably more common in Kailua where there are actual bike lanes.
Update - in case anyone is curious. We have been living in Hawaii for the past 2 years. We made the move and we LOVE it. The best decision of our lives EVER. Our daughter ended up at St. Andrew's Priory the first year (which we did not like at all) and she switched to Punahou this year, which she loves. We are also very impressed with the school. By the way, we have NO connections whatsoever to anyone, nor did we donate any money to the school. Thanks for all of the responses.
Binky, thanks for the update. Glad you are doing well.
Where did you end up living? Was the price comparable to NOVA or did you have to give up some of your "wants"? What about commute time?
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