Moving to Oahu
 

So I recently found out that work is moving me to Oahu late spring of next year. They're moving all my stuff, even shipping my FRS! I guess my question becomes then, what's it like, living in Hawaii? I know everything is more expensive than I'm used to, but what about everything else? (Tourists, traffic, weather, silly/different laws and or customs).

Also, since I've never been, does anyone have suggestions for good neighborhoods to live in? I'm looking at renting a small house, (<$1800/month) preferably with at least a 3 sided car port if not a full garage, within 20-30minutes of Hickam AFB.

I'm pretty excited to be going somewhere new, I've been getting tired of the desert.


Sent from...somewhere?

I'm moving there in January. I'll be in the Schofield Barracks area (a bit farther inland than you). Once I'm settled in, I'll offer up any tips/advice I think you'd benefit from. I'll be in government quarters (I'm military) so I can't say anything about what neighborhoods are good or not. I'll be bringing my FRS (at my own expense... $1900 shipping!) so looks like Oahu is getting two more!

Just from a car perspective, here are the average gas prices by state:

http://www.arizonagasprices.com/Prices_Nationally.aspx

Currently there is an $0.80/gal ($3.11 and $3.92) difference between AZ and HI. You can expect it to be above $4/gal normally, and thats just for regular.

Congrats on the relocation, despite the prices, you are going to love it!

Where are you guys moving from? First thing, don't expect to get anything very big for $1,800 a month haha. In that area you might be better off with a condo. Try looking in the Salt Lake, Moanaloa area. You can also go towards Aiea or Pearl City.

Traffic is pretty horrible here during rush hours. You can check out the traffic cams here:

http://www1.honolulu.gov/cameras/traffic.htm

I'm coming from the People's Republic of Illinois. I can't get away from this COLD (and this state) fast enough! I've been stationed here for five years and am looking forward to a change of scenery. Corn fields just don't do anything for me... LOL

I'm coming from Southern Arizona.


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Ditto. Salt Lake would be ideal but you won't be getting anything huge, more than likely it'll be a condo in that area. Other neighborhoods would be just like Hayashi said above that'll be really quick to work.

PROS:
Food is diverse (some mainlanders complain there's no great authentic Mexican/Italian restaurants if you're used to that kind of cuisine), people/culture is diverse, all kinds of activities to do especially water sports, the weather for the most part is great all year round, different neighbor islands to visit, etc.

CONS:
Traffic sucks, gas is expensive (it's been dipping under the $4 mark for Regular, though :thumbup: ), roads are crapped up, no formal race track but there is auto x held on occasion at the stadium, everything is usually a little more expensive (including shipping stuff from the mainland), don't know how old you are or if you're into the bar/club scene, but it's obviously not as big and easy to go to different hot spots like the mainland where you can just make a long road trip somewhere.

There will be tons of things you'll learn about Hawaii in due time, such as Hawaiian words/names since many of the street/housing names are in Hawaiian but just take it all in and enjoy it. Overall, it's a great place to live. :thumbup:

I was looking towards the Mililani area, little further away from the base but didn't look too far to be inconvenient.


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What time are you gonna be starting work? Best thing to do is figure out the times you will be going to work and home and watch those traffic cams. The H1 / H2 merge is crazy ridiculous on traffic.

Welcome to the land of no free shipping on anything including car parts!

I won't really know until I get there, honestly. I know I'll be working 12s, so I'm sure I'll catch shitty traffic on one end of my shift. I'm not above shitty traffic, as long as I know ahead of time and leave earlier, I'm not allergic to traffic. More important to me is being away from an urban center if possible (not downtown) and in a relatively quiet neighborhood.

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there is a good mexican joint here just got to know where to look ;) hawaii isn't that bad only cons I can say is the traffic is horrible and the roads sucks oh and some locals may not like you but I've been living here for 3 years now and Ive never had a problem

Yup, traffic sux. Yup, lots of krappy roads, they're finally fixing some of it. Millilani is a pretty nice area, youll have to deal with traffic. There are some decent drives, not a whole lot of distance though, 140 miles and you can go all the way around the island.

Millilani has really bad roads...haha I hate driving through there and trying to avoid all the pot holes and patches. Its a nice area though.

Just to give you an idea of the traffic. I had to drive to Waipio yesterday at around 3:30 which is about 14 miles from where I work. I didn't get there till 5. Granted I think there was an accident earlier and it freed up once I hit H2. On the way back they were doing traffic so it took me another hour or so to get back into town.

Kapolei's got some nice places to rent out :) Also nice roads as well.

I'm in that area and I commute to Pearl Harbor. I leave around 5 AM (5:20AM at the latest) to avoid majority of the morning traffic. That takes less than 20-30 minutes on a regular day. Going home around 3:00 might take about 30-45 minutes on a regular day.

Just an FYI, traffic into and out of the main gates to Hickam or Pearl Harbor can take a bit, especially in the afternoon rush out. Of course this is assuming normal work hours (6AM -3:30PM).

Mililani is great community (I'm biased though because I was raised there). It's got majority of shops and a small group of restaurants but is still a short drive to other nearby areas if needed (like Kapolei). If you're looking towards that area you may also want to consider Waipio Gentry or Waikele. I wouldn't go anywhere past that though as traffic is KILLER.

I live in Waipio and the housing is not too bad. Your price though won't get you much in terms of a garage or 3 bedroom (2 bedroom if you're lucky). You're best off settling for a townhome..or condo. Good luck with your search. Don't forget to use zillow. I just did a quick search in my neighborhood for you.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent...72_rect/14_zm/

Lucky!

I wouldn't worry about the traffic with those beaches!

Hey Redleader got tired of DMAFB; I can't imagine why:eye bulge: I aaas stationed there for years.
But Your going to a place that is car crazy from what I've experienced and seen on TV. So there has to be good shops to get them worked on, or some locals that got it going on.
Hang loose Brother :party0030:

If all else fails get with the HANG Guard a bunch of locals that should set you str8.
Last but not least also there is a group on this site also.

Thanks for your continued service & Happy Holidays

I got tired of DM and my old job. Figured it was time for a change.

Oahu people: how is the supply/price of e85, and is there a shop that you prefer on the island (for things I can't do like fabrication and alignments and such custom work)?


Sent from...somewhere?

Only E85 on island is for government vehicles only and is on one of the bases I think. All we have is 92oct.

Yup, there's a tank on Pearl Harbor but it's for federal vehicles only. I'm sure other bases are like that too around the island.

Your only private option is E10 92 octane which is a standard sold everywhere on island.

sound nice until you're standing in front very beast you mock!

Huh? I think autocorrect may have got you

Don't rule out the Windward side! I live over in Temple Valley, takes me about 30 minutes to get to work. Its about a 10 minute sway either way.

Got a 3bedroom 2.5bath with a 2 car garage for 2000 a month. But it does rain more on this side!

Hey @RedLeader
You will love this road above Honolulu::burnrubber:

Tantalus road. It's got a lot of banked switchbacks on nice pavement. Made for a light RWD car with a limited slip.

Maybe a lunchtime drive (<1hr door-to-door). Or a nighttime rendezvous with a date.
:thumbsup:

& 1 from the Big Island:

I enjoy driving Tantalus once in a rare while, but please be careful. It's a fairly heavily used road. Cyclists, joggers, walkers, hikers, dog walking,etc. DH skateboarders, but they're pretty nuts anyway.

There is the one station in town selling 100 octane race gas, but I heard from someone who just got some that its close to $20 a gallon!
Back when we had a track, they used to sell it out of one of the normal pumps and I remember getting some before an autocross for less than $10 a gal.
Yes, you heard right, there is no race track on Oahu.

That'd be the 76 Station in McCully. I'm not sure if they still sell them from the barrel. I'd be concerned with how long it has been sitting inside that barrel, though. Who knows what the demand is like for race gas on Oahu after the track closed.

Picking up my Ultramarine FRS from the docks in a just a couple hours... FINALLY, I can ditch the crap-tastic rental car and drive in some style! I live up in the Wahiawa area. (Schofield Barracks FML) I've spotted about three other BRZ/FRS on post. Any of those belong to any of you? A Firestorm FRS, and a WRB and SWP BRZs. I think the white BRZ is in my brigade.

See you guys around!

Hey guys, I'm another soon to be newbie to the island. My wife and I currently own 2 GR WRXs but we're trading my WRX on a BRZ at the very end of this year so I can trade it and ship it to the island a few weeks later so it's waiting for me. We're pretty lucky because a week after I found out we're going (my report date is April 10th 2015 at Scholfield) we found out her brother, an AF officer, is going to Hickam. So we will have somewhere to stay while she job hunts (she is an ABA/BCBA if anyone knows what that is) THEN we'll find a place to live.

Honestly, I'm beyond excited to get to Hawaii. New place, new car, kind of a "new" life from the crap I've dealt with the last 8 years. I will stay there as long as the Army allows. I'm happy to see there are SO many other BRZ/FRS owners down there. I plan on keeping my car fairly stock power wise the first 2 years and doing nothing but my extencive interior upgrades and minior exterior, well, except the air ride, that's not minor.

It's a ways off before I get there but I'm very much looking forward to it! Hope to meet some of you!

-Ajay

Traffic blows. That is all.

+1 ^

I can live with traffic. I commuted into Boston for almost 3 years and it's likely that I'll ride my motorcycle more than drive the BRZ for commuting purposes.

Please dont go bombing up or down the mountain. I go up for a drive after work and lately there have been a lot more cops than usual due to complaints about people driving fast or making too much noise. There are parts of the road where its super bumpy and there is only enough room for one vehicle to pass through due to the road being narrow. Just cause there is a yellow solid to split lanes up doesnt mean much up there.

In fact, I went up this morning after work just to see cops everywhere on the mountain. There was one Celica pulled so maybe he did something dumb but you cant even enjoy the drive. I always cruise up and down but all I got this time were a lot of blue lights blinding me.

I own a lowered "hot lava" (orange) FRS and go to a lot of the #86hawaii meets. They are normally last weekend of the month. I am on Schofield Barracks as well.

What is the rust like in Hawaii, and does it make much difference if you are windward or leeward?

Windward is pretty bad. Salt air everywhere. Leeward is better.

Finally have a date! I'll be on the island on the 21st, not sure when my car will arrive, since I drop it off to get shipped on the 19th. Hopefully I can ride out most of the car-less time on base so I can just walk everywhere, or bum rides from someone at my new unit. I'm excited to get out of this desert and off to somewhere new.