Can anyone who Has LIVED on Hawaii tell me about it?

Question

My husband and i are in the Army and we might be stationed there...some other army buddies told us that it's expensive and the locals don't like us over there....but i don't really think that's the whole story...one of my friends lives there with her two children Lelani and Leland and they are both half hawaiian..i love the place and the culture but i just want some more info to present to my hubby before moving there.

Answer 1

My husband is stationed here. Mililani is a nice city to live in. We prefer it over Kunia, another nearby city where military live off post.There's plenty of shopping areas nearby like Walmart, etc...but shop on post for the most part since it is very expensive otherwise. They give about $400/month COLA to help offset it, it varies per month. Post is within 20 minutes to North shore (famous beach, historic town of Haliewa)/ 25-35 minutes to Honolulu. Being centrally located has its advantages, however, some locations will take a while to drive to. There are a lot of pineapple fields along some of the roads. You can see nice views of the two mountain ranges. It doesn't get much colder than 65 degrees. Right now it's 72 and rainy. It's 85 easy in November. The more rainy months are winter (DEC,JAN, FEB..) It'll rain while the sun is shining bright sometimes. Try to avoid areas such as Wahiawa (city right outside of post), and Waianae. I don't care for Waipahu either. The locals don't neccessarily care for us, but we haven't had any confrontations. There are so many homeless people here. Most are on the west coast, less rain (Leeward), but you'll still see them off the side of the road holding up signs. I feel bad and help them, but then they are there the very next day asking for more $, food, etc. The east coast (Windward) is where it rains more and is more green, lush. Most people live and work in Waikiki and Honolulu. Traffic is terrible on this overcrowded island. Five lanes to drive to Honolulu at 5am, back to back traffic. But the better jobs are there. There is a decent bus system, but it takes a long time to get anywhere. Rent in Mililani may range from $1200-2000/month for a 2-3 bedroom. BAH is about $1925/month for us. Roaches, centipedes are abundant depending on what part of the island you live in. Central and Leeward is not as bad as Windward. They are building a lot of new homes on post, so if that's your preference (probably better if you have kids). ITR office on post offers the military many activities for discounted prices such as luaus, helicopter rides, etc. There are many things to do here from surfing, historical sites at Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head. Basically, it is 'paradise' with the exception of traffic, bugs, high prices, etc...:) I really like it here, but every place is what you make of it. Hope this helps...

Answer 2

Living in Hawaii is definately not cheap...however, if you are military, you have access to the commissary where the prices of such items like a gallon of milk are more reasonable (it is close to $5 on the "outside). There are also many, many establishments that offer military discounts (more places offer discounts to military than they do to locals).

Housing however is a different story. Hopefully you folks get military housing.....other wise you'll have a hard time finding a reasonable place to live on your housing allowance. The rental market here is really competitive so you'll be competing with everyone else if you don't have military housing. It's possible to find a place.....you just have to know where to look.

As far as the local people not liking you, there will be some people that don't like you here (for various reasons) but Hawaii is considered to be a very friendly state to anyone and everyone which is why we're considered to be the melting pot of the Pacific.

Answer 3

I live in Hawaii. About the 'locals hating the army', a lot of locals (especially Native Hawaiians) don't appreciate the military coming onto the islands and just doing whatever crap they want to do. The Stryker Brigade is very unpopular among the community. Caucasian people (I don't know if you are white) are usually looked down upon, given their unnecessary contributions to Hawaii's history, but it really shouldn't be a problem. Everyone is very friendly.

Things in Hawaii are pretty expensive, especially gas and houses. I've also heard that things like groceries are cost little a bit more than it would on the continental US.

Answer 4

you like rain and humidity? my friend was stationed there for a good while, he said the locals were friendly but the rain and humidity was the down side