Hawaii (1 Viewer)

[Cold Dead Hands]

My wife wants to live in Hawaii for a year or two. She would prefer Kauai or Maui, maybe Lanai or Molokai. I have applied to a few jobs there, mostly state government. Has anyone lived there recently or does anyone still live there? My wife has been to Hawaii a few times. I have never visited. Besides ridiculous house prices, anything else I should know?

The truth is i am more likely to get a job along the North Carolina coast but I will humor my wife.

 

[johnnycakes]

my understanding is it's practically impossible to get a carry permit there, even if you're a resident. hth.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

my understanding is it's practically impossible to get a carry permit there, even if you're a resident. hth.

Hawaii has reciprocity with no states that I can find and the carry permits are restricted to the county that they were issued in, not the state. With the crime rate so low, I am not too concerned with this. Most of our stuff would be left here, minus our cars and small electronics and some clothes.

 

[jon_mx]

Molokai would be like living on a deserted island. Outside of a wednesday fish fry, there is maybe two restaurants to eat at and saying they are mediocre is probably an exaggeration. In some ways Hawaii is like paradise, but it also is isolated. I would want to live close to Honolulu. Maui would be my second choice. Molokai is a nice place to get away from civilization for a while, but it would drive me a bit nuts on a stay longer than several days.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

Molokai would be like living on a deserted island. Outside of a wednesday fish fry, there is maybe two restaurants to eat at and saying they are mediocre is probably an exaggeration. In some ways Hawaii is like paradise, but it also is isolated. I would want to live close to Honolulu. Maui would be my second choice. Molokai is a nice place to get away from civilization for a while, but it would drive me a bit nuts on a stay longer than several days.

So we should look at Molokai as a possible camping weekend if we end up in Maui?

 

[OC Zed]

Maui tends to be the most friendly towards mainlanders.

 

[ffldrew]

Unless you know Larry Ellison and you have an in - you will scratch Lanai off your list. There isn't much there other than the 4 Seasons and a small village.

If you get a State job you'll most likely end up on Oahu - there are a lot of people(for Hawaii) there and you'll be faced with the Urban vs Suburban vs Rural question - in Honolulu you'll be pressed to have that feeling you get in tourist Hawaii

I have friends doing real well on Molokai - there a Kamaini rates at a lot of resorts so they plan weekends to other islands - but from time to time they have expressed some island fever.

On Hawaii - the government areas are in Hilo - so a lot of rain on that side. Other side is more tourist and import work but drier. I'd probably pick this island if I had to - it seems like the best value on real estate/rents vs population density and some semblance of a normal job market

Good Luck - I've been looking at it as well - but am holding off for now.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

Unless you know Larry Ellison and you have an in - you will scratch Lanai off your list. There isn't much there other than the 4 Seasons and a small village.

If you get a State job you'll most likely end up on Oahu - there are a lot of people(for Hawaii) there and you'll be faced with the Urban vs Suburban vs Rural question - in Honolulu you'll be pressed to have that feeling you get in tourist Hawaii

I have friends doing real well on Molokai - there a Kamaini rates at a lot of resorts so they plan weekends to other islands - but from time to time they have expressed some island fever.

On Hawaii - the government areas are in Hilo - so a lot of rain on that side. Other side is more tourist and import work but drier. I'd probably pick this island if I had to - it seems like the best value on real estate/rents vs population density and some semblance of a normal job market

Good Luck - I've been looking at it as well - but am holding off for now.

Excellent information. I have been avoiding Oahu. Most of the jobs I have been looking at are actually on Kauai and Maui. I am more a field guy than administration so I tend to go for less office oriented jobs.

 

[EYLive]

It rains in Kauai. A lot.

 

[Tick]

My cousins grew up in HI, and my uncle on the other side lives there now.

Hawaii itself is awesome. However, there are social problems there. I'm just passing this along:

• Hostility toward white people
• Extremely poor public schools
• Stark divide between the tourist and resident lives
• No industry, so just service jobs for the most part

 

[Mister CIA]

Random interjection - While driving across Northern Louisiana on I-20 last week I passed a big-### motor-home with Hawaii tags.

File under WTF.

ETA: So long as your exploring government job opportunities check out Guam. If you can work vacation getaways into your tour your will be much closer to Korea, Japan, Philippines, China and Indonesia (and a boatload of islands in the South Pacific).

 

[Andy Dufresne]

So it seems like the biggest barrier to moving to Oahu is the housing market. You have to pay a fortune for a decent house, right?

I'm just asking because I'm looking at a potential contract to hire situation in Honolulu. My wife would kill me if I didn't look into it.

 

[El Floppo]

My cousins grew up in HI, and my uncle on the other side lives there now.

Hawaii itself is awesome. However, there are social problems there. I'm just passing this along:

• Hostility toward white people
• Extremely poor public schools
• Stark divide between the tourist and resident lives
• No industry, so just service jobs for the most part

my SILs moved there a long time ago (north shore and honolulu)- two nieces were born and raised there.

we helped the oldest niece with her college applications. she AND her faculty advisers/recommenders were functionally illiterate. it was eyeopening and sad to see the horrific state of the educatino she got- in spite of ultimately being a smart kid. it's the ghetto there- tons of unemployment, drugs, crime, teen pregnancy, etc... but also beaches and palm trees. I dated a "howlie" for a bit in college who described the repeated racist #### she had to endure there from the "locals".

but I also have a very gb from college who's been living there with SO and their three kids- first big island and last several years Kauai. loves it. not sure what they do for money (I think he comes from it), but they sound really happy there.

 

[AAABatteries]

My wife wants to live in Hawaii for a year or two.

Just curious why? I absolutely see the appeal in visits - maybe even frequent visits but why does she want to live there other than its "beautiful", "exotic", etc.?

 

[elguapo07]

When I was a kid my dad was an architect and his company sent him out there and he was able to take the whole family - mom, 6 kids plus our maid. Let's just say once my youngest brother found this tiki idol and thought it was a good luck charm things started going downhill. Oldest brother almost drowned surfing and I was almost bit by a poisonous spider.

I guess the idol was taboo and needed to be discarded at an ancient burial ground. My brothers and I where held captive by a scary old archaeologist while returning the tiki. My dad finally rescued us and smoothed things over with the archaeologist as a big misundetstanding. We ended our trip with a traditional Hawaiin party before we returned back to 4222 Clinton Way in California

It was over 40yrs and still seems like yesterday. Groovy times

 

[bigbottom]

My cousins grew up in HI, and my uncle on the other side lives there now.

Hawaii itself is awesome. However, there are social problems there. I'm just passing this along:

• Hostility toward white people
• Extremely poor public schools
• Stark divide between the tourist and resident lives
• No industry, so just service jobs for the most part

my SILs moved there a long time ago (north shore and honolulu)- two nieces were born and raised there.

we helped the oldest niece with her college applications. she AND her faculty advisers/recommenders were functionally illiterate. it was eyeopening and sad to see the horrific state of the educatino she got- in spite of ultimately being a smart kid. it's the ghetto there- tons of unemployment, drugs, crime, teen pregnancy, etc... but also beaches and palm trees. I dated a "howlie" for a bit in college who described the repeated racist #### she had to endure there from the "locals".

but I also have a very gb from college who's been living there with SO and their three kids- first big island and last several years Kauai. loves it. not sure what they do for money (I think he comes from it), but they sound really happy there.

"haole"

 

[El Floppo]

My cousins grew up in HI, and my uncle on the other side lives there now.

Hawaii itself is awesome. However, there are social problems there. I'm just passing this along:

• Hostility toward white people
• Extremely poor public schools
• Stark divide between the tourist and resident lives
• No industry, so just service jobs for the most part

my SILs moved there a long time ago (north shore and honolulu)- two nieces were born and raised there.

we helped the oldest niece with her college applications. she AND her faculty advisers/recommenders were functionally illiterate. it was eyeopening and sad to see the horrific state of the educatino she got- in spite of ultimately being a smart kid. it's the ghetto there- tons of unemployment, drugs, crime, teen pregnancy, etc... but also beaches and palm trees. I dated a "howlie" for a bit in college who described the repeated racist #### she had to endure there from the "locals".

but I also have a very gb from college who's been living there with SO and their three kids- first big island and last several years Kauai. loves it. not sure what they do for money (I think he comes from it), but they sound really happy there.

"haole"

thanks? I've never seen it written out.

 

[bigbottom]

Frankly, I think Maui is your best bet. Most of the major downsides (hostility to mainlanders, crime, traffic) are not nearly as prevalent, and while not as cosmopolitan as Honolulu, you can have more of a normal life on Maui than you can on Kauai or Lanai. As for raising kids, though, Hawaii in general is not ideal. Schools aren't great, and there are quite a lot of bad influences (though I guess you could say that about anywhere). I have probably in the neighborhood of 100 relatives that live in Hawaii. Relatively few have college degrees, and I would say that all but a couple are non-professionals (construction, hotel workers, restaurant workers). Also, a lot of them had kids in their late teens. Not that they aren't happy. Most of them seem to be for the most part.

 

[neal cassady]

I lived on the south side of Kauai for 4 years out of college and loved it. I bartended at a resort (think the movie Cocktail) and rented a place in Poipu. Ran 5-7 miles every day near the beach. Miles and miles of dirt roads (that service the sugar cane industry) for mountain biking. Great golf courses. Someone mentioned that it rains a lot and thats somewhat true. North shore rains A LOT. East and South side a little less and the West hardly at all. Schools are not great as has been mentioned. There is some friction between locals and haoles, mainly at beaches where surfers frequent. I personally never had any problems. Very laid back and not a lot of night life. Great restaraunts. Pretty damn expensive to live there, especially to buy property. It's very easy to hop from island to island. Eventually, I moved back to the mainland to get more serious about life, but for a short period of time it's a great place and I highly recommend it. I would look to live on the South side first, East side next, followed by North side and West side last. North is rainy though. West side is very dry and hot and mostly populated with locals. There's not much at all to do out there although the Weimea Canyon is a must see and there's a beach that is hard to get to but AWESOME. Hope this helped and good luck!