Where is the best place to live in Oahu?

Question

I am moving to oahu for a few years and will be renting an apartment. I was wondering what location would be the best, I can find places for under$1000 a month anywhere pretty much....looking on craigslist. I am 22 years old and male, caucasion and am single. I only have to worry about myself but would try to find someone else to help for the rent. Anyway, what towns/cities in oahu would be the place for a guy my age?

Answer 1

It really depends on what you want. As a howlie you will feel more accepted in Honolulu or Hawaii Kai. I personally preferred Honolulu...Just be ready for the constant Howlie gibe. Hawaii is not paradise for a outsider - Good Luck.

Answer 2

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RE:
Where is the best place to live in Oahu?
I am moving to oahu for a few years and will be renting an apartment. I was wondering what location would be the best, I can find places for under$1000 a month anywhere pretty much....looking on craigslist. I am 22 years old and male, caucasion and am single. I only have to worry about myself but...

Answer 3

Deciding where to live in Oahu is not a simple matter. I recommend that you determine what you will be doing here-- attending university, or working. Because traffic is very bad and really terrible in some areas, you'll want to balance convenient location with low price. Ideally, it would be great to live reasonably close to where you work, or at least an easy commute (perhaps by The Bus) and also somewhere where you can find some places to go in your free time. And all of that combined with a low rent can be a real challenge.

I think it is important to be comfortable in the neighborhood. Not all neighborhoods feel comfortable to everyone. Only your comfort matters.

I recently opted to move out of town and life in a beachfront condo on the NorthEast shore. It works perfectly for me; but would not work for everyone, especially someone who works in the city or Waikiki.

The race comments made in reply to this question surprise me. It does take a while to get used to being in a racial minority. That is a really great life lesson. It is a real gift of the culture here that everyone experiences not being in the majority. Yeah, people make comments about haoles and they make them about all the other races too. The local comedians make their living mostly by telling jokes about the different races, including their own. We haoles have been in the majority too long and have no idea what people of other races experience. Obviously, from this small sample, it is apparent that there is a lot of offence taken by the new haoles who move here. Fortunately, a great many people learn from it, rather than complain and demonstrate haole entitlement issues.

The diverse races and the inter-racial marriages and children have made Hawaii a place like no other. East really meets West here and then generations of inter-racial propagation has created a large segment of the population who are beige and Hapa and more who are Heinz 57.

Answer 4

Craigs Oahu

Answer 5

Oahu is a small island. You can drive around the island in 4 hours. Honolulu is the main city, which is small compared to mainland cities. Honolulu is getting crowded. I suggest you get an apartment near your work place. High rise apartments are all quite new. Avoid Hawaii Kai and North Shore, as traffic is really bad during rush hours.

Answer 6

I'd tell you to move to Maui because that's where I lived for a bit. If you must live in Oahu and you're single, live in one of the nice high rises between Waikiki and Downtown. They are newer and you will be able to make friends living in the center of the action. Don't worry about the racial slurs. A jerk is a jerk and if you ignore it you'll be fine. I heard it once when I lived there in 4 years. Real native Hawaiians are very friendly.

Answer 7

I would suggest getting an apartment with a roomate in Kailua or Kaneohe (close to the Marine Corps Base) or rent a room in someone's house in that area (close to Kailua Beach). It's quiet on that side of the island, much more cooler as well since it's on the Windward, very nice neighborhood & next to the beautiful Kailua Beach. If your going to be working in Honolulu, you can just take the H3 freeway (no traffic at all). I use to live in Honolulu & would NOT recommend it to anyone. Indeed it is crowded, yes traffic is bad, the neighborhood is not as quiet or clean as the ones on the Windward side, just my personal opinion.

Answer 8

I'm half Polynesian and the only racist people in Hawaii are the ones who try to act local. Real Hawaiians, Samoans, and etc are very friendly people who show aloha. Its choke hapa haole people in Hawaii. I would say don't stay downtown. If you have a partner to help pay half of the rent you will be fine.**

Answer 9

Like people are saying, if your white you'll get messed with and same if your darker then the locals.
But a good thing to keep in mind is stay out of the cities begining with a "W", Waikiki, Waianae, Waipahu, Waikele,Waimanalo,Wahiwa. These tend to be rougher cities for haole to live in. I would suggeest to live in Kunia, Ewa, Ewa Beach, Mililani, North Shore. These areas tend to be a little more haole, cuz of the military, also try to find a place near a military base cuz like i said, tends to be more "non-locals"
But in all honesty th locals here are extermly nice and have the true aloha spirit. Just don't disrespect them and they will treat you good. I would go to craigs list and look for a roommate there....Rent is extermly expensive out here.

Answer 10

As you can tell already from the 1st answer, you are going to face racism in Hawaii. Only in Hawaii is it acceptable to walk around calling out racial slurs like haole. Haole originally meant "foreigner" or "without breath" . Nowadays it is used as a derogatory word against white people.

It's not a paradise unless you have brown skin. Too dark or too light and you are going to have problems sooner or later. Good luck.