Moving to Hawaii for young people (Honolulu, Hilo: buying a house, dorms, buying)
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Our DH was accepted at both UH & ASU and chose UH. She likes UH small size and feels she's gotten a lot more opportunity to get to know her profs due to the smaller class sizes. She is also very active on campus.
You can get away without have a car in Hawaii, as the bus system is pretty good, weather is very nice and there seems to be no shame to not having a car. Not so in AZ. Things are very spread out, its extremely hot (100 +) from March through October, so you won't want to be sitting on bus bench most of the year.
She has a lot of friends at ASU, though. ASU is in more of a college town setting in Tempe, more so than UH. Rents & dorms are much cheaper in Arizona! And, most things are newer/cleaner than in HI. Transportation back home for holidays will be much cheaper from AZ, as well.
Also, check out the graduation rates at ASU. I recalled it was pretty dismal.
Good luck whatever you decide!
Last edited by Joliefille; 04-03-2011 at 09:24 PM..
Reason: info
Check out Hilo before settling on Oahu. Hilo has cheaper rent, more options and a decent bus system. It's WAY less crowded too. UH Hilo is a great little school, especially for the sciences. There is more work here, I think, than on Oahu. I've been offered quite a few jobs, and people are pretty cool here too.
Suggestion:
Look at the regressive state and local taxes, especially since young people usually make less money and fall into the bottom brackets, which pay the most in Hawaii: http://www.itepnet.org/wp2009/hi_whopays_factsheet.pdf
Honolulu is a lovely city to start out in although it's not a real good city for long term. It is a vibrant exciting city with loads of things to do for the younger (twenty something) crowd. However, the cost of living and the sheer city crush is too much to make it a great place to live for an extended time. If you are just planning to be in Hawaii for your education and then go somewhere else, then Honolulu would be a good choice. If you were planning on staying in the state afterwards, then Hilo would be a better choice since the friends you made in Hilo would still be your friends when you were able to start a family and live in the Hilo area afterwards. Buying a house and starting a family is a lot harder in Honolulu.
Hilo is beginning to get a lot more of a University feel to it but it is still a town and not a city. Oahu has better beaches and better surf, but Hilo is more affordable. There's pros and cons, a lot of it depends on what you want.
Honolulu is a lovely city to start out in although it's not a real good city for long term. It is a vibrant exciting city with loads of things to do for the younger (twenty something) crowd. However, the cost of living and the sheer city crush is too much to make it a great place to live for an extended time. If you are just planning to be in Hawaii for your education and then go somewhere else, then Honolulu would be a good choice. If you were planning on staying in the state afterwards, then Hilo would be a better choice since the friends you made in Hilo would still be your friends when you were able to start a family and live in the Hilo area afterwards. Buying a house and starting a family is a lot harder in Honolulu.
Hilo is beginning to get a lot more of a University feel to it but it is still a town and not a city. Oahu has better beaches and better surf, but Hilo is more affordable. There's pros and cons, a lot of it depends on what you want.
Just move to Maui. No big city, nice beaches, no volcano to bury you with lava
Edit: Oh wait, I forgot the OP was going to school
Last edited by winkosmosis; 04-07-2011 at 11:52 PM..
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