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I recently visited Hawaii from NYC and I fell in love!.. with the kind people, slow pace of life and beautiful almost dream like scenery. I am strongly considering on moving there to raise my daughter. I recently read that Hawaii is one of the safest states. Where I live, it is horrible( and I do not live in the ghetto)! I am afraid for my daughter to grow up here. Everyone is oding, and killing everyone!
I am a single mother and I want the best for my daughter, any suggestions on areas with the best schools? (in Oahu)
I also don't get why people say Hawaii is so expensive, NYC is definitely more expensive, I wonder who is writing these statistics?
OP, I don't want to rain on your Hawaiian parade but the schools in Hawaii really suck. Private schools are about the equivalent of NYC public schools and expensive (the two best usually have waiting lists). Also massive amounts of drugs in most public HSs there. I used to see kids smoking joints every week. Local adolescent English is a profanity filled patois of several languages.
It is generally safe from violent crime and most folks are laid back. Rental housing is readily available and some condos are very nice. The place is fun and the outdoor time can't be beat but it is no NYC when it comes to the social scene or worldly attitudes. If you go (and I would encourage it) I would recommend living in Honolulu or just around there - like Waikiki. Just don't sink any roots (like buy a house) until you are sure it's the place for you.
It is generally safe from violent crime and most folks are laid back.
True, but there is a lot of non-violent property crime. Things like car break-ins, bike theft, moped theft, etc. Things of at least a little value that are not chained down securely has a habit of walking away at night.
True, but there is a lot of non-violent property crime. Things like car break-ins, bike theft, moped theft, etc. Things of at least a little value that are not chained down securely has a habit of walking away at night.
Lets not forget the drug problems - specifically around meth (and they need to pay for meth somehow)
Op since many here have kindly pointed out how public schools suck and there is high drug use and petty crime without any real explanation, i thought i would explan. One reason public schools suck here in Hawai'i is our refusal to pay teachers a reasonable salery for the cost of living. As one of the most expensive places to live, some saleries haven't caught up. Also living in Hawai'i it is often difficult to focus on school work when its sunny and pretty outside alot. But despite all this one can get a good education if they choose to. Further there are experiences that one can get at Hawai'i public schools that you can't get on the mainland. Some public schools provide Hawai'i language and culture immersion classes. Some have judo as a competitive sport. Some teach Ukulele in music for example. Each school has +s and -s and provides different programs. Do research. As for the rest, You will also learn quickly when you move to oahu that the lines between the have and havenot communities is clearly defined.
OP, I don't want to rain on your Hawaiian parade but the schools in Hawaii really suck. Private schools are about the equivalent of NYC public schools and expensive (the two best usually have waiting lists). Also massive amounts of drugs in most public HSs there. I used to see kids smoking joints every week. Local adolescent English is a profanity filled patois of several languages.
It is true that the best public schools in NYC will perform better than the best public schools on Oahu... but the worst public schools in NYC are far worse than the worst public schools on Oahu.
The quality of public education, whether in NYC or Honolulu, will be based on the demographics and socioeconomic status of those families with children residing in the neighborhood the school is located in. If the school is located in an affluent demographic, the school will perform better than average. If the school is located in a low income neighborhood, the school will perform worse than average. NYC contains neighborhoods of extreme poverty; schools located in those districts are literally dangerous to attend.
One reason why so many people here complain (particularly transplants) about our schools is because they pay relatively massive amounts of money for housing (and other COL) and therefore expect to have an appurtenant and complementary level of education available to them. In most other places in the country, the most affluent neighborhoods command high housing prices and affluent neighborhoods almost always have the best performing schools. People will have a normal tendency to relate cost of living (particularly housing cost) with other quality of life measures (e.g. education). Since everything is so expensive, there is a relative expectation that schools should perform at least reasonably well.
There are good public schools here. You just need to live in a neighborhood with high relative affluence. Which is exactly the same case in NYC. As mentioned, East Honolulu, Manoa and Nuuanu are the most affluent neighborhoods on Oahu and therefore will have the best performing schools. Mililani does not have the same relative affluence but is still considered to be middle to upper middle class. The schools there have also historically done well due to their high density Japanese population.
As for marijuana use, New York statistically has a higher marijuana use incidence among high school students than Hawaii. And that's including the outer islands that skew marijuana use much higher.
Why does every answer here has to turn into a pissing contest?! Meaningless overall stats never compare to lived experience. If the OP will describe in more details what her individual desires are we can address them.
Yeah, and increasing one's social life it's just a question of how much one is willing to downscale.
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People don't live in Pearl because they want to - people live in Pearl City because they have to.
I disagree with you big time here. I choose to live in Pearl City (hopefully moving to town soon, though, but that's more to do with me missing "city living" vs. not liking Pearl City). And Pearl City up in the hills is fairly nice (closer to Kam, and I see your point about it not being such an attractive area).
I came from NYC, too. I lived in Brooklyn, where my family still lives (Prospect Heights, so a pretty expensive part of Brooklyn). Housing definitely cost more in Northwest Brooklyn (closer to Manhattan) and in Manhattan than it costs in comparable locations here on island. That said, basic necessities are more expensive here in my experience. While NYC can be expensive in that regard, too, there are also many, many more areas where you can find a deal. Also, living here, its good to own a car (and, depending on where you live, owning a car effectively a necessity), which adds to the expense of living here. I suppose what another wrote about salaries is true, but I don't know enough about the situation to speak to it.
People say Hawaii is expensive because 1)compensation imbalanced with the cost of living and 2) the same reason they say NYC is expensive...you know where I live you can rent a three bedroom house on an acre of land for about $400/month (utilities included)? I can walk across the road to my neighbors farm and get a 5 gallon bucket of milk for $1 and a barrel of sweet corn for $3. So to someone who lives in my area, Hawaii (and NYC) seem quite expensive. Most areas of America are much much less expensive to live in than Hawaii and NYC.
The place you live in Wisconsin called Wausay must be really bad.. For it to be so cheap.
I lived one year in Missouri and in my suburb, I could not find a decent one bedroom apartment to rent under $650. There were some as cheap as $450 a month for a one bedroom apartment but they looked horrific, and located in a shady neighborhood. The nicest one I found was $698. And that's a one bedroom apartment, not a house.
Last edited by Islander7; 06-22-2016 at 10:12 PM..
It's pretty hard to compare rents from one area to another when they aren't very similar to one another. Hawaii has the lovely distinction of being one of the most remote locations on earth with about a 2,500 mile supply chain. Add in lovely weather, beaches and a high demand for housing and the costs and rents skyrocket. But, these conditions aren't going to show up hardly anywhere else.
However, Hawaii is not just one homogeneous place, either. Rents in different areas will be higher and lower depending on the area. This is typical of just about anywhere, I'd expect. Also, Hawaii isn't even just one island and each island is very different. So YMMV. But, overall a lot of folks get sticker shock when they see the rents that folks pay in Hawaii, especially on Oahu, and then compare the rentals with what a similar amount would bring in other places.
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