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Originally Posted by HI_Bound
I am glad to see that others are in the same boat! We are also looking to move to Oahu in the near future. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on schools/neighborhoods (middle school). My husband will work on Pearl Harbor and would like a 30 minute or less commute. We have seen some nice houses in Ewa Beach but have no idea. What are the taxes and insurance like on Oahu? Any info would be great!!
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I drove to Ewa one weekday evening after work to pick up some boxes from a freecycler and was shocked at how bad the traffic was on Fort Weaver Road. You always hear on the morning traffic report how bad traffic is on Fort Weaver Road, but to realize that they have bad traffic in the AM and the PM was terrible. Ewa Beach has some really nice houses, but you'll find nice houses in Mililani too. There are also some not very good areas in Ewa Beach as it used to be a Sugar Plantation camp area (ie. economically depressed). Coming down the H-2 from Mililani and Mililani Mauka is not nearly as bad as coming from the West-Side. You'll hear that the traffic is backed up to the "Managers Drive Overpass" on the west side, but coming south on the H-2 is clear until you reach the Waiawa Road overpass. This overpass is miles closer to town than the Managers Drive Overpass. Mililani to Pearl Harbor is maybe 1/2 hour. Especially since the people I know that work at PH start at 6:30 am and end at 3:30 pm. They pretty much miss most of the bad traffic.
I'm not absolutely sure what our property tax rates are as I just want to know the bottom line monthly commitment. Our "sales tax" on Oahu is 4.712%. Here is a link to the City and County of Honolulu's Property Tax website
City and County of Honolulu Public Access
The closer you get to town (Pearl City, Aiea, Moanalua, Salt Lake) the higher the cost of properties and rent.
Good luck and enjoy your time in Hawaii. It is a beautiful place, but it sure is tough to live comfortably.