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My fiancee and I are considering a move from the midwest to Oahu. I have a very good job offer at a medical practice in Kapolei. However, my fiancee and I both love living in a city (previously lived in NYC for 15 years), and with her job, we are consider living in town (most likely kaka ako or ala moana, but we are open to suggestion in term of walkable area). Is the commute from town out to kapolei reasonable? I'll probably be starting work at 6:45 or 7 am until around 5-5:30 pm.
Google maps has a really cool feature that allows you to put in the date and time you want to arrive at your destination and it will tell you when you should leave your starting point. For example, you can put in your work address and a condo address in the areas your are looking and say you want to arrive by 6:45am tomorrow and see what it tells you. I travel to new cities for work all the time and it is great for planning when I am not be familiar with the traffic I will be traveling to.
Probably 45 minutes in the morning - give or take depending on exact starting point.
Afternoon/evening commute back to Honolulu will typically take longer.
I have to agree here.....it really depends on your starting/ending points. There isn't a heck of a lot of traffic Ewa bound on the highway at 6 AM outside of military and base workers. The road is usually pretty empty. I would be surprised if it took 45 minutes, however just getting to the freeway on-ramp off of Piikoi St. (presuming you decide to reside in the Ala Moana area, etc.) can occasionally be a challenge.
Conversely, based on my experience, the afternoon return will be problematic in terms of time simply because of traffic volumes.
OP, I don't want to bust your bubble, but compared to NYC, nightlife in HNL (outside of the demands of tourism in Waikiki) is rather mundane. Lights start going out here around 10PM. Perhaps consider someplace like Manoa Valley if you want a nice, walkable, in-city area relatively close to a freeway on-ramp.
even going opposite of the "normal" flow of traffic isn't going to be a super smooth, fast flowing commute. When you're leaving town area, you'll see heavy surface traffic, as people are trying to get where they're going in the morning. Traffic heavy until you hit around bishop museum area, then frees up until you get back on the H1, where it becomes heavy again.
The free way is contraflowed, so it takes up 2 west bound lanes. It's funny because normally traffic seems to be heavier going against the flow of traffic than with it because of the contra flowed lanes. And if there's an accident or stalled vehicle, the traffic is going to be horrendous.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain Monkey
however just getting to the freeway on-ramp off of Piikoi St. (presuming you decide to reside in the Ala Moana area, etc.) can occasionally be a challenge.
even going opposite of the "normal" flow of traffic isn't going to be a super smooth, fast flowing commute. When you're leaving town area, you'll see heavy surface traffic, as people are trying to get where they're going in the morning. Traffic heavy until you hit around bishop museum area, then frees up until you get back on the H1, where it becomes heavy again.
The free way is contraflowed, so it takes up 2 west bound lanes. It's funny because normally traffic seems to be heavier going against the flow of traffic than with it because of the contra flowed lanes. And if there's an accident or stalled vehicle, the traffic is going to be horrendous.
occasionally? lol
At 6AM, westbound traffic on the H1, based on my experience, is really pretty light. I don't think it would take much more than 30-35 minutes Manoa to Kapolei on an average day. Departure much after 6 AM, and the commute time will increase. The additional issue is start and end points.
Based on my experience, Piikoi St. is onerous but not unbearable from 6:30AM to around 8:30AM and 3:45PM to 6:30PM on weekdays.
Of course, as Rya points out, accidents and stalls are deal breakers, however that is everywhere. Oahu, Des Monies, IA, NYC, etc., etc.
At 6AM, westbound traffic on the H1, based on my experience, is really pretty light. I don't think it would take much more than 30-35 minutes Manoa to Kapolei on an average day.
Where are you getting Manoa from - they said Kakaako or Ala Moana
Where are you getting Manoa from - they said Kakaako or Ala Moana
Please kindly follow the thread. The OP is open to suggestions of 'walkable' locations. I suggested Manoa Valley in an early posted reply. Hence, Manoa to Kapolei.
Please kindly follow the thread. The OP is open to suggestions of 'walkable' locations.
Gosh. If "walkable" is the criteria then might as well stay in Kapolei.
As a city person, I'd characterize "walkable" as bars/restaurants/movies/shopping which perfectly fits Kakaako or Ala Moana. Manoa won't give you that.
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