Moving to Oahu -- Advice Please (car rental, transplants, to rent)

[AADAD]

You will want a place you can have the following:

1) An address to either receive mail or obtain a Post Office box.
2) Ability to prepare meals to reduce costs.
4) Access to transportation to get to interviews and shopping.
5) Short month to month or six month lease.

I recommend making contact with apartment communities once you land. Rent a car for a week and look around and collect impressions of where you want to live. Make sure its on a bus line or walking distance to shopping etc.

Stay low and focused. To bad there is not a Marriott Residence Inn. That would be great. Move to the beach after you get settled. =)

[oahudave]

Originally Posted by AADAD

You will want a place you can have the following:

1) An address to either receive mail or obtain a Post Office box.
2) Ability to prepare meals to reduce costs.
4) Access to transportation to get to interviews and shopping.
5) Short month to month or six month lease.

I recommend making contact with apartment communities once you land. Rent a car for a week and look around and collect impressions of where you want to live. Make sure its on a bus line or walking distance to shopping etc.

Stay low and focused. To bad there is not a Marriott Residence Inn. That would be great. Move to the beach after you get settled. =)

Thank you again everybody for all the great advice. If any of you ever need to know anything about Japan please feel free to ask me as I have lived here for the last 6 years; very much looking forward to getting to Hawaii though.

[Lomistick]

Originally Posted by oahudave

Hi everybody. My wife and I will be moving to Oahu in a little under 2 months, and I had 2 questions that I was hoping you might be able to help us with.

First, does anyone know of affordable short-term (1 to 2 weeks) rentals? While we are apartment hunting we don't really feel like staying in an expensive hotel so we were hoping there might be some kind of alternative.

Second, although we have done a lot of research about the different neighborhoods in the "Metro" Honolulu area I was wondering if anyone had something really good or really bad to say about the neighborhoods in that area? To give you a better idea of the area, I mean Makiki, Ala Moana, Punchbowl, Moanalua, etc.

Well, thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Hey Dave. What a coincidence. I am also living in Yokohama and I plan on moving to Oahu next year around April.

Yeah, you should do it. Your wife will have an easy time finding a job. There are LOTS of jobs listed on "craig's list" for Japanese ability. I plan on cashing in on my Japanese ability as well. A lot of the jobs involve being a tour guide for Japanese people and you can make around 12 dollars an hour doing that. I know it's not a lot of money, but it's something you can start on.


$50,000 should be plenty of money.


Have no fear. Hawaii is a wonderful place. Especially for you and your Japanese wife.


Lomistick

[Honolulu is calling]

Hey Dave,
I understand how you feel as I'm one of many who want to relocate to Honolulu. I am very excited, but also nervous as well. It seems quite difficult to secure a job remotely so I'm flying over to have several interviews at the end of this month. But, at least I was able to set up several interviews even with my out of state address and phone number, so I think you should start sending out resume and be frank about your intention to move. I just wanted to drop a line as I noticed you're from Yokohama.. where I love every bit of. My wife is also from Yokohama so let's keep in touch.. our wives may make themselves good friends.

[melaniej65]

Originally Posted by 808 island style

Oahu is ghetto as fu*ck honestly.....just look around....half the island is grimy as fu*ck, with slums like KPT and half of the areas on the westside (nanakuli waianae waipahu).

Honolulu has the highest meth use in the country....and its a damn island. Other then the excessive police force you will constantly see around hono-zoolu, is alright, just dont come here thinking it will be all fun in the sun. crime does happen.... im just warning you because many times people are caught off guard when coming to the islands, especially oahu.

Are there less than desirable neighborhoods on Oahu? Of course there are but to that half of the Island is "ghetto" and "grimy" is just plain ridiculous and untrue. There are perfectly lovely and SAFE neighborhoods here and while there are a few incidents even in these neighborhoods the same is true for every single neighborhood in the United States.

As for meth use, again it has permeated every city in the US but as long as a person uses common sense and their social circle does not include drug users and less than ideal persons the chances of being affected are slight.

We have a Mercedes SUV and it was broken into in Elizabethtown, Kentucky but it has not been defaced, broken into nor stolen since we have been on Oahu from 2006 until the present. Our home has not been burgled nor have our persons been robbed. We have not come face to face with a drugged out individual; but then we do not place ourselves in situations where this is likely to occur.

You made a reasonable comment here:"crime does happen.... im just warning you because many times people are caught off guard when coming to the islands, especially oahu." - just as people need to be careful whenever they are in a big city and unfamiliar territory.

[oahudave]

We have no expectation that crime doesn't occur in Oahu, but as melaniej65 points out, avoiding crime has a lot to do with using common sense and the social circle that you participate in. Seems to me that we can expect more property crime, such as car break-ins (melaniej65 glad that hear that your Merc has avoided that), than crimes involving physical attacks.

[slick828]

Have lived in Makiki and near the Kakaako area (two that you listed). Makiki is a nice area full of apartments. The further up the street you go from Wilder St. the nicer. It has minimal crime and is still really close to town. The weather is a little wetter than what you would expect (its a little closer in the valley). The Kakaako area depending on where you live is busy and loud. The rents are a little higher here than in Makiki. You are closer to the ocean and also close to many shops and town. Many more bus options here as well. If you have any other questions about other areas just post this forum is full of friendly helpful people.

[808islandstyle]

Originally Posted by oahudave

We have no expectation that crime doesn't occur in Oahu, but as melaniej65 points out, avoiding crime has a lot to do with using common sense and the social circle that you participate in. Seems to me that we can expect more property crime, such as car break-ins (melaniej65 glad that hear that your Merc has avoided that), than crimes involving physical attacks.

wouldnt be to sure about the "circle of friends" crap...people get stabed out here for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and running into uncle kimo somewhere outside a bar.....then they get sliced up because uncles high of the crystal meth. brada neva had a chance.....

so yea be carefull....try to get local quick so you know how the lifestyle is down here. other then that enjoy oahu....ill let you see for yourself...

[808islandstyle]

[808islandstyle]