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It's good to have several points of view as everyone's experience will be different no matter where you live. Sure, you can make more on the mainland but can you walk downtown in YOUR city at night after bar hoping and not worry about getting mugged or killed? Do you even have an entertainment district in your mainland town? Heck, would you even want to? HNL's downtown is now vibrant and a destination for locals and tourist at night. Can you lay on the beach in December in your mainland town? While you're diggin out of snow, we're kicking back at the beach enjoying life. And let's talk about traffic.... Have you driven through Atlanta or LA during rush hour? Who wants to live 3 counties away so the can live the good life? There's traffic in every major city, and people are quick to forget HNL is a major city. And the "haole issues" theme has been beaten to death already.... Take a look at the man in the mirror....maybe the problem is you. I don't have a problem living with multi culturalism. I'm Black, been here forever (24 years) and never been told to leave or denied service or gotten "tude" from anyone. And those that give attitude will give it to a "local" just as quick as anyone else, hey there are ignorant folks everywhere. I love it here and the fact that there is no Black side of town, no white side of town, no "across the tracks", no real ghettos (not counting KPT)..... Bottom line is if you truly embrace what Hawaii has to offer and leave your baggage (be it racial, economic, status, etc. ) behind you when you get off the plane, you'll do just fine. Everyone has to weigh what's important to them before they make a choice to come here. That applies anywhere you live.
It is consistently near the top of the rankings each year (as is honolulu).
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Originally Posted by Rayinhawaii
Do you even have an entertainment district in your mainland town?
yes
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayinhawaii
Can you lay on the beach in December in your mainland town?
yes, not in shorts but we don't get snow here at the beach. I walk my dog, ride my bike, or play volleyball down there most of the year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayinhawaii
And the "haole issues" theme has been beaten to death already.... Take a look at the man in the mirror....maybe the problem is you.
Maybe in some cases... but when I was sitting on the bus with my headphones on minding my own business and a man started screaming obsenities at me, telling me that I (me personally) stole his land, and that I need to go back where I came from I would hardly think the problem was mine. I understand that the guy was probably either down on his luck, homeless, on ice, or mentally unstable... but I don't want to deal with that stuff and I had incidents like that more than once. I walk everywhere with my headphones on, I nod or smile at people when they look at me, and I do not EVER start trouble with strangers... these incidents were not provoked by me unless being an easy target is somehow my fault.
This "the problem is you" attitude is a double edged sword, in some cases it is probably true, but it also is a free pass for the locals to mess with people and justify it to each other. I worked hotel security at a major hotel in waikiki for a couple years, trust me, there are unprovoked incidents all the time. Not saying it is any worse than a lot of other places, but it happens. I will concede though, a lot of people (particularly military guys) bring the trouble on themselves and that in most cases you get what you give.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayinhawaii
I love it here and the fact that there is no Black side of town, no white side of town, no "across the tracks", no real ghettos (not counting KPT).....
No doubt, there are "ethnic" neighborhoods but the mixing is a good as any place I have been and the overall vibe is very accepting of different cultures. That is a definite positive point about the place.
Since you are black, and you come from alabama, then I would expect that you would love it. I suspect the crap I dealt with in Hawaii as a haole were not anything near as bad as what you put up with as a black man in alabama. I thought it was a great learning experience, I came from a well-mixed area before Hawaii but it was still a white majority, being a minority for a while was eye-opening. But for people not used to being a minority, and especially a moderately disliked minority, they need to consider that before making the move.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayinhawaii
Bottom line is if you truly embrace what Hawaii has to offer and leave your baggage (be it racial, economic, status, etc. ) behind you when you get off the plane, you'll do just fine. Everyone has to weigh what's important to them before they make a choice to come here. That applies anywhere you live.
Agreed, this is all true for the islands and a lot of other places. I'm just trying to put out some of the economic and cultural challenges that people will have to deal with and why some of us choose to move on. I appreciate that everyone wants to stick up for the place, it is good that you are proud of where you live. But people planning on moving, particularly those who are going to uproot their families, need to see both sides. That is all I am saying. I don't think I have posted anything in here that is not either fact or direct personal experience.
20k for me. And the median home price is less than 1/2 that of honolulu.
I still live by the beach, the public schools are great, the taxes are lower, and i still live in a diverse area with family and good friends close by. The beaches aren't as pretty, no doubt, but it is a trade off that I was willing to make for my family.
As a general comment, not directed at this post... Please folks, for the sake of this thread being useful, lets try to keep it on topic which is people that moved away and are happy with the decision. I know you want to stick up for the islands when you read someone saying negative things about it, but I think a thread like this is helpful for prospective transplants that want to weight their options. There are plenty of threads already from folks that live there and like it or live there and want to leave so this one is kind of unique.
UHGrad, sounds like you need to move to the outer islands my friend! the haoles are not half as discriminated against, as they are on Oahu!
Trust me.... it's different there, much more country like, and people, well, the outer islands do not have the trafic headaches oahu does!
Beautiful dramatic countryside too, not that Oahu does not have its share of gorgeous spots. Oahu IS a beautiful island, but then so is Maui, (maui no ka oi) (sp?), so is Kauai and so is the BI... don't know much about Lanai or Molokai....
Have you checked out jobs on the outer islands? If you are a surfer, biker, hiker, etc, you'd probably love the big island or maui.....
I didn't care for Oahu that much either, compared to the outer islands, in terms of people, crime rates, laid-backness, (none of my friends on Maui or BI ever told me their place was broken into, though may be tru, now the economy is in the tanker).
But Honolulu is a cool city as far as cities go! I'm not a city girl though.. so though they got great nightlife, concerts, etc.... all that busyness is not really my cup of tea.. though I think it's one of the best cities to live in America myself... but that's just my 2 cents
I appreciate the suggestion. I had friends from Lahaina, Kihei, and also a buddy from Kauai. We went out to each a few times, it seemed pretty nice and definitely more laid back. No sense we move outer island though, all of our friends and family are on Oahu so if we were to stay in Hawaii it would be there.
It's good to have several points of view as everyone's experience will be different no matter where you live. Sure, you can make more on the mainland but can you walk downtown in YOUR city at night after bar hoping and not worry about getting mugged or killed? Do you even have an entertainment district in your mainland town? Heck, would you even want to? HNL's downtown is now vibrant and a destination for locals and tourist at night. Can you lay on the beach in December in your mainland town? While you're diggin out of snow, we're kicking back at the beach enjoying life. And let's talk about traffic.... Have you driven through Atlanta or LA during rush hour? Who wants to live 3 counties away so the can live the good life? There's traffic in every major city, and people are quick to forget HNL is a major city. And the "haole issues" theme has been beaten to death already.... Take a look at the man in the mirror....maybe the problem is you. I don't have a problem living with multi culturalism. I'm Black, been here forever (24 years) and never been told to leave or denied service or gotten "tude" from anyone. And those that give attitude will give it to a "local" just as quick as anyone else, hey there are ignorant folks everywhere. I love it here and the fact that there is no Black side of town, no white side of town, no "across the tracks", no real ghettos (not counting KPT)..... Bottom line is if you truly embrace what Hawaii has to offer and leave your baggage (be it racial, economic, status, etc. ) behind you when you get off the plane, you'll do just fine. Everyone has to weigh what's important to them before they make a choice to come here. That applies anywhere you live.
I like it Ray - sounds like the city for me! I'm a dis-placed California girl with a beautiful house in Oregon, with all the amenities, and can't get away quick enough because of the weather here. I miss the lifestyle that consistently good weather provides, and don't have a problem leaving my material advantages behind to live somewhere with a comfortable temperature.
My vacations the past 4 years have all been in Hawaii, and I love the beautiful weather and nature it has to offer. Another thing that attracts me is the people, including the diversity found there. Sorry, but people in Hawaii DO just seem happier! Being a social-butterfly type, I've talked to many people on my visits, and the answer (not the most popular, but the ONLY one I've ever gotten) is "I love it". My house is on the market, and as soon as it sells I'm outta here, Honolulu bound. I've been accepted to graduate school there, so will have some assistance getting settled, which should be helpful. Having done a lot of travelling and lived abroad, I don't anticipate having cultural problems. It's all about attitude (or lack thereof), and accepting people with all their differences, whether those are cultural, political, religious, or musical. How boring would the world be if we were all the same? Probably more peaceful, but boring. Looking forward to living in a city with no 'side of town' distinctions. Mahalo for your post!
My husband I met on Kauai 8 years ago - He was born and raised there and lived most of his 51 years there. I'm from Chicago - born and raised. After living on Big Island for a few years, the place I worked as a pastry chef was closing. Jobs are extremely hard to find in Hawaii - especially Big Island so we moved to Illinois (in a lovely, small town 85 miles west of Chicago). My husband loved it there and was able to do what he loved; hunt and fish at several locations within 20 minutes of our apartment. We moved back to Kauai after only 15 months because of his manipulative, controlling mother giving my husband a "guilt trip". In fact she would ask him when he was coming back to Kauai after we were in Illinois for only 1 week! I hadn't seen my family in 5 years! Anyhow, this is the most beautiful place on earth and the warm bath water ocean temperature, white sand beaches everywhere and tropical breezes along with the low crime rate and fresh air is fantastic, however, my husband wants to move back to Illinois. This all he talks about. He says that it was the biggest mistake we made to come back here. So, as soon as we can afford to we are going back to that same small country town. Rent in Illinois was only 400 dollars for a nice one bedroom place. Kauai is ridiculously too expensive, groceries are astronomical, gas - everything. We cannot even afford to go out for a pizza or bowling. Air fare prices are crazy and the flight is so very long to go to the mainland; therefore only the rich can see family members. In fact, my local husband can tell you that the islands have changed drastically. The paradise that once was is now only for the rich. Property and land is being bought from the wealthy and too much "progress" is occuring. Several rich have bought homes and do not even live here; all they have done is cause the property taxes to sky rocket as they charge outlandish prices to rent their home to vacationers. They are not taxed on this either. It is unlawful, yet too time consuming and expensive to enforce. We miss the thunderstorms, hail , autumn leaves, decent prices for rent, eating fruits and vegetables aplenty because of the fair prices, going out to eat, going to a Cubs game, diversity, culture, traveling, Lake Michigan dog beach (we have mother and son fox terriers who are well behaved, both born in Hawaii). Getting our dogs back to Kauai was an expensive nightmare; permits, vaccines, microchips, spayed, neutered, forms, etc., etc. And when you finish with all the expense, dotted the i's and crossed the t's.....they do not like dogs here! This island is the most dog un-friendly place you can imagine. I know that I will miss this island when the Chicago winter wind blows, but we will be able to afford to have our heat on (electric on Hawaii is also thru the roof) and when the humidity in August is high, but we can turn on our air conditioner (only the rich are able to afford such a luxury in Hawaii! We can always travel to different places, and experience different weather, people and food. I love you Kauai and will miss your beauty - But I also love you Chicago and your beauty! My kinda town, Chicago is.
Oh, I did forget to mention a few things. One, unless you want to go to the beach everyday there is not much else to do. Two, if you want to go out to eat, to the show or to the single bowling alley on the island, you better be prepared to spend a whole lot of money. Also, you have to really, really like the summer. It is the only weather you will ever know. And, while there are alot of great people with aloha spirit, there is also alot of folks who are narrow-mined and who have never left been to the mainland and have crazy ideas of how we live and what we are like. They are the people who refer to us as haoles (and in a very derrogatory way) and "mainlanders" in an equally hateful manner.
Kauai does have bus transportation and it is really pretty good. Only 2 dollars and buses run every hour. Big Island public transportation is awful. You will want to have a car because most beaches can't be reached with a bus unless you get off and walk a couple miles. Cars are horribly expensive here and mechanics charge crazy prices. Each year a vehicle must be safety checked (not expensive) and registered, (very expensive -$200). Can never get used to registering the same vehicle each year. In Illinois we do it only once and just pay for city sticker every year. Hawaii is nuts in this respect. Also, do not find yourself in the court system, totally nuts! Fantastic place to visit, but not realistic for living and raising kids. (School system is rather behind in academics).
Nice posts deshawaii - Chicago is a great place! I grew up there until my mid-20s. You'll enjoy it. Very refreshing to see realistic posts. So many people post here that make it out to be some adventure in Hawaii and don't realize you actually need $$$$$'s to make it happen.
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I'm a dis-placed California girl with a beautiful house in Oregon, with all the amenities, and can't get away quick enough because of the weather here. I miss the lifestyle that consistently good weather provides, and don't have a problem leaving my material advantages behind to live somewhere with a comfortable temperature. 
