Wanting to move to Oahu (Honolulu, Kaneohe: credit, home, private school)

[sl_wolfe]

I first want to thank anyone who gives us input on this thread. My husband and I are strongly considering moving to Oahu with our 16 year old son. We lost a 16 year old son two years ago to suicide and we need to make a change. We are fully aware that our grief will follow us. We vacationed on the North Shore last August and have not been able to shake that it is the change we need. I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder as well, and I have always felt better being where there is a lot of sunshine. We live in Indiana. We would probably home school our son through an accredited program that would give him a diploma at graduation time. He is very cooperative about the move, but only concerned about going to a public school. He has attended a charter Montessori school, and we cannot afford private school.
The question I mainly have is that we do not want to live right in a big city, so how far out can we move without having more than about an hour commute? We love the North Shore over Waikiki. It is just our speed. We know we would probably have to have jobs elsewhere so we were wondering what some of the most popular cities are that are still out a little ways? Any helpful information would be appreciated.

[whtviper1]

Kaneohe, Kailua, Hawaii Kai are your best bets with a commute in the 30-45 minute range. The downsides with Kailua and Hawaii Kai is they are expensive areas to live. Kalama Valley is a little less expensive and also an option and the commute is getting closer to 1 hour from there. Kaneohe is a little more affordable.

Going west of downtown Honolulu doesn't get you very far within a 1 hour commute (or far enough you aren't in a big city). Mililani (only 17 miles away) in summer typically has a 45-60 minute commute in the summer and definitely over an hour the rest of year.