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I have some question: would a $2,000 month budget get a me a decent house with at least 3 bedrooms? I've heard that the public schools are bad, is this a fact? What is traffic like getting to Sand Island from most neighborhoods? Are flights back to the east coast always at least $1,000? Are utility costs high compared to stateside? How is the medicine there? Specialist like neurology, and physical therapy is my major concern. Is there a lot of community involvement activities or is it like any other military town where culture is stripped and most people are isolated? Is it hard to bring your pets to the island? How much would it cost to ship a vehicle from say Seattle? If someone is disabled and can't really do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and surfing, is it a tough place to live?
I have some question: would a $2,000 month budget get a me a decent house with at least 3 bedrooms? I've heard that the public schools are bad, is this a fact? What is traffic like getting to Sand Island from most neighborhoods? Are flights back to the east coast always at least $1,000? Are utility costs high compared to stateside? How is the medicine there? Specialist like neurology, and physical therapy is my major concern. Is there a lot of community involvement activities or is it like any other military town where culture is stripped and most people are isolated? Is it hard to bring your pets to the island? How much would it cost to ship a vehicle from say Seattle? If someone is disabled and can't really do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and surfing, is it a tough place to live?
You have just asked eleven questions that have all been asked and answered here (separately) over the last many months.
I have some question: would a $2,000 month budget get a me a decent house with at least 3 bedrooms? Depends on your definition of decent, but not by mainland standards. Maybe somewhere on the west side on that budget.
I've heard that the public schools are bad, is this a fact? Don't have kids, but that is what I hear.
What is traffic like getting to Sand Island from most neighborhoods? Traffic in rush hour is comparable to LA.
Are flights back to the east coast always at least $1,000? Not all the time, usually just high season and holidays.
Are utility costs high compared to stateside? Yes. Figure $250+/month with air conditioning.
How is the medicine there? Fine
Specialist like neurology, and physical therapy is my major concern. It isn't a problem
Is there a lot of community involvement activities or is it like any other military town where culture is stripped and most people are isolated? Honolulu is not a "military" town
Is it hard to bring your pets to the island? Not hard if you follow the process, figure 4 to 6 months to get the process completed and up to $1,000 per pet plus airfare.
How much would it cost to ship a vehicle from say Seattle? about $1,100
If someone is disabled and can't really do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and surfing, is it a tough place to live? not if you can afford it
I have some question: would a $2,000 month budget get a me a decent house with at least 3 bedrooms? No, not "decent" by most mainland standards. Hawaii houses are much smaller than mainland houses and there is a huge competition to live in the islands from folks who want to "live in Paradise" and other illusionary things.
I've heard that the public schools are bad, is this a fact? Generally speaking, yes.
What is traffic like getting to Sand Island from most neighbohoods? Fairly brutal, especially if you are heading to and from Ewa.
Are flights back to the east coast always at least $1,000? Not always quite that much, but usually more than you have available to spend.
Are utility costs high compared to stateside? Depends on the utilities and the location being compared but usually, yes they are high. Also a small note, Hawaii IS "stateside" we ARE part of the United States, although it is sometimes hard to convince folks of that. Especially when trying to get them to ship things to us.
How is the medicine there? Specialist like neurology, and physical therapy is my major concern. It should be okay, but you may want to check availability of whatever you are specifically interested in before moving over. Oahu has much better medical availability than the rest of the islands.
Is there a lot of community involvement activities or is it like any other military town where culture is stripped and most people are isolated? It's not a military town, it's a tourist town if anything. The Hawaiian culture as well as a dozen others are alive and well. The people would love to be isolated, Honolulu has some very dense population.
Is it hard to bring your pets to the island? Yes, and expensive as well, but if you carefully follow the list of things to do, it can be done. It is also a lot more difficult to find rentals when you have a pet, too.
How much would it cost to ship a vehicle from say Seattle? As whtviper mentioned, about $1,100.
If someone is disabled and can't really do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and surfing, is it a tough place to live? Why pay so much to live in such an expensive area where most of the reasons for being there are being outdoors? Everything costs usually at least a little bit to a whole lot more in Hawaii and your employment opportunities will be a lot less and pay less than their mainland counterparts. If there even is a job here to match a lot of the ones available on the mainland. Add those two factors together and you get a tough place to live. Usually, being able to enjoy the outdoors somewhat offsets the drawbacks and does a lot towards making it worthwhile. Most people who move to Hawaii and stick around have fairly compelling reasons for being in Hawaii. Otherwise it is just too expensive and too much bother to make it worthwhile.
Aloha Conroy 25 - If you haven't already done so, please visit your local bookstore and pickup a copy of "So You Want to Live In Hawaii" by Toni Polancy. It will definitely be the best money spent. It has ALL the info you will need to live there....it details what to expect, shipping household goods and/or your vehicle, via Matson or Horizon, quarantining your pets after arrival, you name it.
Take your time and research before you move. You will be glad you did. Another thing you may want to check out is vrbo.com, which will allow you to look at rentals. The free site is primarily for vacationeers, however, you can contact the owners directly and advise them that you are moving over, not vacationing. Most of them will be glad to work with you in terms of rent. The amounts you'll see on the site are for those who are vacationing, so do get overwhelmed. However, please be prepared to pay more than what you would on the mainland. There are not many regular type hotels on Oahu, so you'll need to take that into account. I mean there's a Hilton, a Sheraton, and so forth, but there are not any Motel 6's, Red Roof Inns, etc., therefore, you'll pay more per night, hence, the vrbo might be a better deal in the long run.
I have some question: would a $2,000 month budget get a me a decent house with at least 3 bedrooms? No, not "decent" by most mainland standards. Hawaii houses are much smaller than mainland houses and there is a huge competition to live in the islands from folks who want to "live in Paradise" and other illusionary things.
I've heard that the public schools are bad, is this a fact? Generally speaking, yes.
What is traffic like getting to Sand Island from most neighbohoods? Fairly brutal, especially if you are heading to and from Ewa.
Are flights back to the east coast always at least $1,000? Not always quite that much, but usually more than you have available to spend.
Are utility costs high compared to stateside? Depends on the utilities and the location being compared but usually, yes they are high. Also a small note, Hawaii IS "stateside" we ARE part of the United States, although it is sometimes hard to convince folks of that. Especially when trying to get them to ship things to us.
How is the medicine there? Specialist like neurology, and physical therapy is my major concern. It should be okay, but you may want to check availability of whatever you are specifically interested in before moving over. Oahu has much better medical availability than the rest of the islands.
Is there a lot of community involvement activities or is it like any other military town where culture is stripped and most people are isolated? It's not a military town, it's a tourist town if anything. The Hawaiian culture as well as a dozen others are alive and well. The people would love to be isolated, Honolulu has some very dense population.
Is it hard to bring your pets to the island? Yes, and expensive as well, but if you carefully follow the list of things to do, it can be done. It is also a lot more difficult to find rentals when you have a pet, too.
How much would it cost to ship a vehicle from say Seattle? As whtviper mentioned, about $1,100.
If someone is disabled and can't really do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and surfing, is it a tough place to live? Why pay so much to live in such an expensive area where most of the reasons for being there are being outdoors? Everything costs usually at least a little bit to a whole lot more in Hawaii and your employment opportunities will be a lot less and pay less than their mainland counterparts. If there even is a job here to match a lot of the ones available on the mainland. Add those two factors together and you get a tough place to live. Usually, being able to enjoy the outdoors somewhat offsets the drawbacks and does a lot towards making it worthwhile. Most people who move to Hawaii and stick around have fairly compelling reasons for being in Hawaii. Otherwise it is just too expensive and too much bother to make it worthwhile.
Thanks for your honesty. I've been to Hawaii before but it was on a port call 10 years ago and Hampton Roads, VA is the only place where I saw more military than Hono, that's why I called it a military town sorry to offend. I'm in the Coast Guard so I'm not concerned with the employment situation on the island. I suppose I could just live in government housing if need be. The school situation is worrysome and the pet process seems very annoying but necassary. It appears that the reailties of living there don't match up with mainland expectations from what I'm gathering. The reason I was thinking about going there is because my wife is stroke survivor and our family has been constantly kicked in the ass with terrible things for the past few years and now I'm being deployed to the middle east for a year. Hawaii seemed like somewhere that would be nice to unwind but after reading a lot of the stories on here it may be just the opposite.
Most people who move to Hawaii and stick around have fairly compelling reasons for being in Hawaii. Otherwise it is just too expensive and too much bother to make it worthwhile.
That about sums it up to me.
A city really needs to completely fit....the local culture, the local flavor.
For example. I once went to live in San Francisco to 'check it out' and try to live....sure, it was better than the other city I lived in before that, but not worth it to stay by any means. While I don't mind gays, I'm not gay, so didn't feel a strong bonding there. I really didn't like yuppie culture whatsoever, which is basically most of SF these days. Whatever was hippy, was basically drug culture, and drug culture wasn't that interesting to me. It didn't fit for me.
In short, the weather was better in SF for me and I liked California. But the local 'scenes' were a mismatch. I think more people have to take into account the local culture of a place as well.
If someone is disabled and can't really do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and surfing, is it a tough place to live?
Maybe someone else in Honolulu can correct me if I'm wrong.
But, I think for the OP, being disabled would be difficult. Honolulu has a lot of hillsides and high-rises and beaches, and such. While I'm not 100% sure, as I've never been disabled, it seems like that could be a problem.
I have some question: would a $2,000 month budget get a me a decent house with at least 3 bedrooms? It would be decent just for the cost of housing and basic utilities
I've heard that the public schools are bad, is this a fact? There are some decent schools the closer you get to town, i.e. Moanalua, Radford, etc.. and a lot of great private schools
What is traffic like getting to Sand Island from most neighborhoods? If you move within Aiea, Moanalua, Kalihi, Alewa heights, Nu'uanu, Honolulu the traffic isn't bad. If you live past that then avoid commuting before 7am-9am and 3:30pm-6:30pm.
Are flights back to the east coast always at least $1,000? Avoid Summer and Winter, or buy your tickets 3-4 months in advance for the best deals, and using the airline's website.. such as: Hawaiianairlines.com
Is there a lot of community involvement activities or is it like any other military town where culture is stripped and most people are isolated? There are quite a good number of community involvement and community activities, it's a small island so people enjoy getting together. There are many cultural events based on ethnicity, prominently polynesian. Check out the Polynesian cultural center or Chinese New Year's in China Town.
If someone is disabled and can't really do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and surfing, is it a tough place to live? There are still a lot of parks and places to go, especially downtown. I used to live on O'ahu (born and raised) and now live in northern California and there aren't nearly as many things to do here as compared to O'ahu
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