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I live on Oahu. I absolutely don't get how anyone couldn't like it out here! Cost of living is high, but I'm not sure why people expect to pay the same on an extremely remote tropical island that people around the world flock to that also happens to be a major city as they would in the burbs of Peoria! It is tough for a lot of folks to make ends meet, but if you're moving for job you should be okay on that front and if you're coming from a major urban area you actually won't have a lot of sticker shock, though you probably will if you're coming from somewhere inexpensive. That said, in a lot of ways it's not that bad. Electricity is expensive, but you don't need heat or much AC most places, groceries and tsuff are expensive, but there's Costco, Target, and Amazon has free shipping. You'll probably find you do a lot of hiking, going to the beach, kayaking/snorkeling, etc., barbecues, things that are basically free for entertainment. There's a ton of great inexpensive food options.
And complaining about the weather!?! That's just nuts! The climate is really ideal, more mild than say the Caribbean or a lot of the mainland in the summer, but still beach weather all year round. Um, there are sometimes afternoon showers? I don't even know what to say. Yes, it can be variable sometimes and some areas are much more prone to rain the others, some are too dry, etc. The totally diferent micro-climates just a few miles from each other are pretty amazing actually.
Saabs are actually pretty popular here. The dealer is still around, and you even see them on the outer islands where there never was a dealer. Shipping from eEuro is reasonable too if you need parts. You won't have a problem finding a nice one here, though the selection isn't always huge at any given time (so could be tough to hold out for an Aero 5-speed for example, and there definitely aren't enough 9000s!). The salt is rarely an issue, and used car prices are pretty low across the board. Shipping a car out here isn't too bad either, especially if you're already west coast and can drop it off at the port. Insurance is very reasonable (at least liability, haven't priced out anything else). I just use the gecko brand which is the largest here, but there's tons of options. Whatever you do don't get a Wrangler! Yes, they're very popular, but you'll have to trust me on this, you'll look like a total douche in one here. If you need you stuff shipped, a full container is pretty good value, or Pods and Relocube are good value for smaller loads (anything in between is a bit trickier).
On traffic it can be bad, but really the major issue is people commuting from the west side of the island into town and back. It's an absolutely nightmare for these people, so make sure wherever you live you're not fighting this. Being in Pearl Harbor you can really avoid this issue though. I live in town and aren't super familiar with the neighborhoods out there. A lot of people live in Pearl City, Waipahu, and Aiea and they're pretty suburban. You could also look at Mililani, it's in the middle of the island but an easy trip to the North Shore. i might recommend living in town (eg Kakaako, Chinatown, Ward areas) if you want a more urban setting with a lot of restaurants, etc. and the commute wouldn't be too bad. Again, I'm not an expert on the Pearl Harbor area though.
The only people I know who really hate it here, to be totally honest, are some military wives. I feel they kind of get stuck on the bases, don't really fit in with the local community, the schools can be kind of rough on their kids, and I don't know really, it just sometimes doesn't seem to be a great fit. Like a lot of places there's probably a little bit of a military/civilian issue especially near the bases, so just kid of stay away from that and don't worry about it. A lot of military have a great experience here, especially if they live off base.
In the end, the weather is great, it's beautiful, the people are nice, and there's tons of stuff to do. It does somehow rub some people the wrong way and some people do get 'island fever,' but I can't see how you could go wrong for 2-3 years!
posted by 24.165.21...
, Wed, 24 Jun 2015 22:53:32
, Fri, 26 Jun 2015 10:49:41
, Wed, 24 Jun 2015 08:55:32, Wed, 24 Jun 2015 03:32:02, Wed, 24 Jun 2015 18:09:14, Wed, 24 Jun 2015 08:29:43
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