How bad is living in Waianae?

[codeninja]

Originally Posted by Dthraco

Three things come to mind here:

1. Racism - I’m going to start with Waianae has a lot of good people that live there. I have had several co-workers that commuted from there or Nanakuli. But the fact is, if you are not pacific islander, you are “not from here”. That’s pretty much all over Hawaii in general, but more intense in the more empoverished areas, like Waianae.

<snip>

My opinion would be in line with the forum - find out first if you even like the difference in the culture and environment. If you are caucasian, can you deal with not being part of the majority?

Just out of curiosity, how do you think someone black would fare? Are they accepted more by the Pacific Islander community than whites?

[Dthraco]

Originally Posted by codeninja

Just out of curiosity, how do you think someone black would fare? Are they accepted more by the Pacific Islander community than whites?

I get mixed responses from folks I have talked to. Mostly I hear that the angst is observably lower towards Popolo’s (Pidgin for African Americans). It really depends on how much a person’s ego is in check or not.

[rya96797]

I think Dthraco has some good points. I'll just add that things like commuting will probably be a bigger day to day concern than whether or not you "fit in". Waianae is far from most other areas on the island, one way in, one way out. any major accident or fatality will snarl traffic literally all day.

only way i'd ever consider living in waianae is if I had a good job in waianae and preferred to stay put in waianae most of the time.

I said it before, if you're moving to oahu, you're better off renting initially, then finding a place once you get somewhat acclimated. Buying sight unseen, island unlived, is foolhardy. But hey, everyone's free to make their own decisions. Attempting to purchase a place as soon as you get here to avoid "wasting money on rent" is penny wise pound foolish. I'd dare to even say that if he's attempting to cast off the stigma of "dumb white military guy thinks he knows better than everyone else including locals", he's not off to a good start.

[rya96797]

dsm96792 -

I personally dont care much for HS football, although I do watch games when they're televised. It's my impression that other people dont like waianae football, not because they're somehow jealous, but because their players and coaches act like huge pricks on and off the field. Is some of this bleedover from other teams behavior that you mentioned or are other teams responding to waianae's boorish behavior? I really dont know, but that's just my impression.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by rya96797

only way i'd ever consider living in waianae is if I had a good job in waianae and preferred to stay put in waianae most of the time.

There are no good jobs in Waianae - that is why it’s cheap and the commute is bad