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Because it offers something they want that they can't get wherever they are now. I'm talking about people who know what they're getting into, not starry-eyed dreamers with romantic notions that being poor will feel just fine, because of the beaches, palm trees, and great weather. It's similar with, say, New York City. I've heard more than one person say, "It takes commitment to live in New York City." If you want to live in Manhattan, you'll probably have to live in a tiny, no-frills apartment that costs a fortune. Most things you buy will be expensive. You'll probably never be able to own property, just rent. But for people who love what NYC has to offer, it's worth it. I have friends who wouldn't live anywhere else, but they acknowledge the sacrifices they have to make.
I've had to make trade-offs to live in Portland. Because of the Urban Growth Boundary that limits where houses can be built, I can afford only a small house on a small lot. Back in Atlanta, where I moved from, I could have afforded something bigger and nicer. But I love what the PNW has to offer, more than I love what Atlanta has to offer.
Finally, some people want to downsize and simplify their lifestyle, anyway, so they don't view it as a sacrifice. To be clear, I'm talking about altering one's lifestyle from "more than we need" to "what we consider enough," not from "what we consider enough" to "just barely scraping by." The latter gets old for most people pretty quickly.
And Hawaii is more than "just a place." It has a unique culture, vibe, and lifestyle. It doesn't resonate with everyone, ad that's fine. The same is true of every place. I love NYC, but I wouldn't live there unless I had a lot of money. My best friend is from there, and he moved back about a decade ago, because no other place he's lived feels like home to him.
Excellent analogy. I lived in NYC and loved it.
That being said, I've routinely heard or met people who just couldn't stand living there for various reasons. But the people who really love NYC, couldnt imagine living anywhere else.
NYC is another of those cities with plenty of locals, but also plenty of transients. I'd imagine a high number of those who move there, also move on just as well.
From my experience, many locals and people who were born on the Islands have 2 or 3 jobs. That's normal. Plus, many need them to survive since they take care of immediate and extended family. Living on Oahu showed me that (I wondered why 2/3 jobs) and I appreciated their devotion to family and wanting to care for their parents and grandparents all living in one house.
I won't be giving up politeness because where I live - its all over. We can make lasting friendships in the grocery lines - and I hope that extends to Hawaii as well. I will be giving up 100+ temps in the summers which is okay with me.
As for the "exit" statement - I just felt the person was dissatisfied in general and thinking things will be better on the mainland may not be true. You need to enjoy life where you are - running to find happiness won't work even in Paradise.
That being said, I've routinely heard or met people who just couldn't stand living there for various reasons. But the people who really love NYC, couldnt imagine living anywhere else.
NYC is another of those cities with plenty of locals, but also plenty of transients. I'd imagine a high number of those who move there, also move on just as well.
I spent two months living with friends in NYC in the late 1980s when I was between jobs, and I've been there on business and pleasure a few times since. (And I was there as a wee lad for the 1965 World's Fair, staying with my grandparents.) I both love it and am overwhelmed by it. A few years ago, I had a potential opportunity to transfer there with my company, at a salary that was just tempting enough. There were practical obstacles, such as that my wife would have had to quit her job and find something comparable, but we thought it would be a great experience for a couple years. The company would have wanted me to stay in NYC permanently, though, which we weren't sure about. Then the economy tanked, and my company eliminated the position before it was filled, thereby solving my dilemma.
I met quite a few people in NYC who were living there for just a few years, because they wanted the experience, but they said that day-to-day life was too hard there (unless you're rich) for them to consider staying permanently. Several native New Yorkers told me that I was out of my mind for even considering moving there, and that they stayed only because of jobs and family. Some, though, loved living there. My NYC best friend would have been happy having me live close to him again. (We met in high school and lived in Georgia for years.)
It's what you hear about Hawaii: some people plan to stay only for a few years for the experience. Many find day-to-day life too hard, or the culture too different from what they're used to. I know Hawaii well enough to be confident that I'd love living there, and my wife is a native who would love to return, but we struggle with the question of what lifestyle changes we'd be willing to make to live there. A few years ago, we got caught up in "bigger and better" housing-boom mentality, and we were dreaming of ocean-view homes high up in the hills of Hawaii Kai. I'm in an industry where it didn't seem impossible that we could eventually afford a million-dollar home. Our plan was to move to Oahu and increase our standard of living; we certainly weren't willing to decrease it. In retrospect, it was pure fantasy. The BI is within our reach when my wife retires (unless there's another housing boom where home values run up twice as much as those in Portland, which happened last time), but on Oahu, we'd probably have to rent a small apartment. Are we willing to do that? We don't know yet, but the crash caused us to reexamine our values and how much "stuff" we really want and need.
It's what you hear about Hawaii: some people plan to stay only for a few years for the experience. Many find day-to-day life too hard, or the culture too different from what they're used to. I know Hawaii well enough to be confident that I'd love living there, and my wife is a native who would love to return, but we struggle with the question of what lifestyle changes we'd be willing to make to live there. A few years ago, we got caught up in "bigger and better" housing-boom mentality, and we were dreaming of ocean-view homes high up in the hills of Hawaii Kai. I'm in an industry where it didn't seem impossible that we could eventually afford a million-dollar home. Our plan was to move to Oahu and increase our standard of living; we certainly weren't willing to decrease it. In retrospect, it was pure fantasy. The BI is within our reach when my wife retires (unless there's another housing boom where home values run up twice as much as those in Portland, which happened last time), but on Oahu, we'd probably have to rent a small apartment. Are we willing to do that? We don't know yet, but the crash caused us to reexamine our values and how much "stuff" we really want and need.
That housing bubble was pretty crazy, wasn't it? I wasn't living in the US at that time, but I was constantly reading real estate in markets across the US. I had this feeling that the entire country was going in the direction of landowner or non-landowner, and it was all being decided in that era. It was bizarre watching some plot of land in Clark County Las Vegas go from 100K to 400K in just a few short years. Actually, I flew to Vegas on a visit, I cashed a check, and the bank teller offered me a 500K loan 'ON THE SPOT'...??!!! Which was certainly an indication to me where all this was going.
I'm glad it all crashed, and everyone's perspective changed, and reality set in that we all must live within our salary brackets again.
That housing bubble was pretty crazy, wasn't it? I wasn't living in the US at that time, but I was constantly reading real estate in markets across the US. I had this feeling that the entire country was going in the direction of landowner or non-landowner, and it was all being decided in that era. It was bizarre watching some plot of land in Clark County Las Vegas go from 100K to 400K in just a few short years. Actually, I flew to Vegas on a visit, I cashed a check, and the bank teller offered me a 500K loan 'ON THE SPOT'...??!!! Which was certainly an indication to me where all this was going.
I'm glad it all crashed, and everyone's perspective changed, and reality set in that we all must live within our salary brackets again.
Yeah, it was crazy. I bought our Portland house as a single guy for $145K in 1999. When I met my wife-to-be and made my first trip to the BI in 2001, a comparable house in Hilo cost about $10K more. We thought about moving, but we didn't have enough savings, and of course there was the question of jobs. At the peak of the housing bubble, our house was worth $260K, but a comparable Hilo house would have cost about $550K. We're talking about a small, nothing-special, 3-bedroom/2-bathroom ranch house. To make things worse, Donald Trump had gone on Oprah and told the audience that the last great real-estate deals in Hawaii were on the east side of the BI, and to buy up land there while you could. Mainlanders started buying land without even visiting it in person. Much of this land was what locals considered "junk" land: old cane fields on the Hamakua Coast with no utilities or paved-road access, with dirt roads that turned into mud holes when it rained, or similar land in high-risk lava zones between Hilo and Volcano. We thought that living in Hawaii was forever out of our reach -- at which point, we shifted into fantasy mode ("Hmm... If I can become a consultant, then we'd have to live in Honolulu, because that's where the work is. If I can make $300K per year, then we could afford a million-dollar home in Hawaii Kai. How hard could that be?")
Then the housing bubble burst. Fortunately, we didn't upgrade to a house we couldn't afford, and our house is still worth more than I paid. BI prices also tumbled back to earth, Pele having spit out a lot of people who shouldn't have moved to Hawaii in ths first place. Prices on comparable Hilo homes are a bit higher than what ours is worth, but they're within reach. Oahu, though, is a different story. In 2001, the median price of an Oahu home was roughly twice what our Portland home was then worth. Now the median price is three times what our home is currently worth.
A good thing that came out of all this was that my wife and I are now content with our small house and yard. By making some relatively inexpensive updates and getting rid of stuff we didn't need, we've managed to squeeze in most of the functionality we thought we'd only be able to get if we upgraded to a house twice as big as the one we have now. Our epiphany came from seeing some of those small apartment mock-ups at IKEA. It's the same approach boat builders employ to make maximum use of a small space. A small house and yard, of course, are easier to clean and maintain, and they're less expensive. We'd be happy even going a little smaller in Hawaii, because we'd spend more time outside than we do in cool, rainy Portland.
I am moving to Hawaii because my husband, who has been unemployed for over a year, happened to get a job there. I see so many comments throughout the forum about how you should not move to Hawaii if you cannot afford or do not think you would enjoy the lifestyle. Don't get me wrong I think I will enjoy the lifestyle and hopefully we will be able to afford but to pass up any good job in this economy seems crazy. Sometimes people move to Hawaii out of necessity. To move to Hawaii we are giving up unemployment and lack of health insurance. Things have got to be better on the Big Island.
I am moving to Hawaii because my husband, who has been unemployed for over a year, happened to get a job there. I see so many comments throughout the forum about how you should not move to Hawaii if you cannot afford or do not think you would enjoy the lifestyle. Don't get me wrong I think I will enjoy the lifestyle and hopefully we will be able to afford but to pass up any good job in this economy seems crazy. Sometimes people move to Hawaii out of necessity. To move to Hawaii we are giving up unemployment and lack of health insurance. Things have got to be better on the Big Island.
Just curious...vaguely, if you don't want to specifically say....
Up at Volcano National Park? They've been doing a lot of revamping at that park lately. Plus it's about the only National Park we have on the island, isn't it? Although the Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau is also a National Park, too, I think. But it is much smaller.
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