Where is a good place to live outside of Honolulu, Hawaii?
My husband and I are recent graduates from Penn State University. We would like to relocate to Hawaii from Pennslyvania. I am in the social services field of work and my husband has a degree in Information Sciences & Technology. I hear it is extremly expensive to live in Hawaii, especially near the state capital. We would like to live near Honolulu and commute to work to Honolulu but live outside of the city. Would that lower the cost of living at all? Where is a good place to live outside of the city? What is the cost of living? How much should we have saved before moving? Any opinions/advice is welcome. Thanks so much! :)
Honolulu - 7 Answers
People's Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
well if you go on craigslist hawaii you search on oahu you can find every city here BUT the good places to live are waipio/waikele/kunia (the nicer part of waipahu), North shore area, Honolulu is nice too and bigger and closer to town, maybe try looking around manoa area. My in laws family lives in Kailua and they are from Kansas and they LOVE it here. I live in waipio and been living here for 23 years (my whole life) im born and raised here. Rent for me is 1200. But rent can range from 900-2600 or more..Depending who and where you rent/buy from.
Answer 2 :
save at least 10k before you come out, you might not find work too fast or easily. the one above me mentioned Kunia, Waipio and Waipahu, may take over an hour to get to work in Honolulu every morning from those locations just to travel under 20 miles. traffic horrendous in Honolulu.
Answer 3 :
before you leave Pa , make sure you HAVE a job landed before you arrive to honolulu. took my white (haole) wife 1 year before she landed a job.
Answer 4 :
At a minimum expect to pay $1000.00 per month for rent for a studio apartment. There is a few places cheaper however you will have a small bedroom and will have to share a kitchen and in most cases a Bathroom with up to 5 other people. The Pearl City /Aiea area has average rent an close to downtown and further out in Makaha you will find lower rentals but expect a long commute, I would rely on the bus for most of my transportation needs.For a start until you find your way around I would rent a room and share a kitchen. There is plenty of places that you can rent for $160 a week to $700.00 a month that can accommodate 2. Check out the ads in the local newspaper http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ Type in rooms in the search area.
Answer 5 :
Me and my family just relocated to O'ahu a few months ago and it was pretty rough finding a decent home. We live in the Hawaii Kai area about 20 mi. from downtown Honolulu. We don't plan on staying long so we rent a beautiful home for $4700 a month 4 bdrm. If your looking for something smaller you could find something for less than $3000 mo. East of Honolulu is a little more upscale than the western side of the city. Homes in this area can reach well over 2+ million dollars but home all over the island can break the millions, although majority of them are located on the eastern side. This has to do a little with the landscape. It is more plush with vegetation compared to the western side that is far industrialized and cluttered with homes and business. It also has a serious reputation for terrible traffic and hotter weather. Definitely living outside the city will lower costs of homes. I would strongly recommend searching on the Eastern side though. The traffic, no matter how short of a distance you are from the city, is less severe. Most people are commuting to work from the western side a plus for us. Indeed costs of homes do range a little higher than most on the western side but you certainly do get more for your money, beautiful homes, gorgeous land (vegetation- plumeria trees) and views of Koko head, diamond head, and homes right on the ocean, and not to mention you save a lot on the gas tank =) Good luck with your move and finding the home of your dreams!
Answer 6 :
Nope, living outside of Honolulu does not mean cheaper. Most of my family live in Kailua today. Kailua is not cheap. You could go out towards West Oahu which would probably be cheaper, but you will be pulling your hair out of your head from the drive. Since you are in social services, you might just find work on the West side of Oahu. They need social workers out there. Your husband may be able to swing a job out there as well. It is the newest and growing community on Oahu. UH West is also out that way. Maybe you can swing work and living all on the West side of Oahu which would save you a drive into Honolulu. If you work with Teach for America. The boonies in West Oahu is one of the areas where they need teachers . . . think waianae, nanakuli, maili, makaha.
Answer 7 :
are you white?
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