bli8

Just got back from Hawaii and the family loves it there. With what I do, I can live anywhere and am seriously thinking about moving to Hawaii. I know the car culture is nowhere near as vast over there, but sales tax is about half that of here in CA. But what about sales tax on car sales w/ a trade-in? What part of Oahu has good schools and not so sky high housing prices? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Mahalo

uniqueMR

Would like to hear whats special about Hawaii..
Different culture, beaches, etc. Maybe?

subshooter

I've lived in Hawaii (Aiea, Oahu) and in CA (Monterey twice and Alameda). Both are absolutely gorgeous areas. In Hawaii, public schools suck. Private schools are adequate. I didn't have school age kids when I lived in CA.

Politics, unbelievably high taxes and high cost of EVERYTHING is a deal breaker for me. Politicians destroyed those states.

I've lived and worked in 12 different states. If I had a choice, I'd live in PA. Low to moderate taxes, fantastic driving roads in rolling country side. Numerous tracks nearby. Plenty of car culture stuff to do. When you retire, Social security and 401(k) withdrawals are not taxed.

For what you would save in taxes by living there, you could take numerous vacations a year to CA or HI.

I live in NOLA now. Great food, culture, and people. Reasonable taxes. Cheap to live. A very nice track 6 miles from my work. But the roads suck (straight, flat and potholish) and it is hot AF here.

You asked.

mchrono

there are a few HI residents and HI expats here. First off, you can forget about "good" public schools, so don't bother looking for a good school district. There are just one or two good private schools. You will HATE sitting in the slowest traffic in the county and some of the highest-density and most crowded roads. Sales tax rate is half of CA but cost of most everything except probably gas believe it or not is higher. Costco is very popular. Anyways, rant off. It's beautiful and you cant beat the weather. better than CA and warmer water. If you can swing it and arent relying on finding local employment, go fo it brah!

Lots of discussion and advice for potential new residents here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/

Nizer

Plus they have a sweet velodrome....

AllAboutThatP

Island fever is a real thing. Look it up.

sampelligrino

Honolulu is and always will be home for me, but I left for SoCal because as a car enthusiast it's just not a great place to be among other reasons

There are cops on every intersection (overall I consider this a good thing, Hawaii is extremely safe), speed limits are 55 if that on major highways, people drive slow/carefully intentionally and unintentionally, and there just aren't any real good roads other than H3 IMO for spirited driving on Oahu. On other islands there are great roads, but there is no easy way to get to them as they took away the Super Ferry for environmental reasons years ago which was a bummer

Now for a family environment, Hawaii is truly amazing if you can afford it. Housing costs are mostly sky high, most people who can (or cannot) afford it send their kids to private schools where tuition is quite high annually because the public school system sadly is not great. If I had kids, I would much rather raise them in Hawaii than CA personally if given equal chance/equal choice

Every place has pros and cons, IMO Hawaii has the best people in the world, the best food in the world, and the aloha spirit. It also has the worst infrastructure/roads in the world, is just as expensive as CA even with half the sales tax rate, and just isn't a place to own a high end sports car or supercar IMO. If you love the beach, nature, laid back family friendly atmosphere, tourist spots (I really do enjoy them), amazing restaurants, amazing melting pot of cultures (mainly Hawaiian, Japanese/Asian, and American), it's truly a paradise. Just not for petrolheads

Hope that helps, feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. I split time between Kahala and LA, and have been calling Oahu home for 16 years now. There are also a few other local RLers who still reside in the 808 state

edit - to answer your questions (lol) - you get sales tax credit on your trade-in (very nice compared to CA, wtf are they thinking), and I would check out Kapolei/Ewa Beach/Aiea/Mililani/Hawaii Kai for more "moderately" priced housing

mchrono

Just to reinforce Sam’s message about how bad the driving is there, take a look at this photo. Notice the white sign on the right? 50 is top speed limit most places, and yes, they actually write tickets for people going under 40 on the freeway. Not many other places I can think of where that’s a thing!


and I dont know when this photo was taken, because I know exactly where this is, and it basically never has that little traffic during the day!

CardiffDweller

My experience is a little dated but possibly relevant. I don't know the answer on sales tax credits. But it is sort of a contradiction in terms to want good schools and low cost housing near each other on Oahu. I survived the Hawaii public school system, somehow became a national merit scholar (back before parents finagled extra time for their kids to take the SAT, which seems to be the norm today), and then graduated with an engineering degree from a top 20 national university. There were a few good public schools including Kaiser in Hawaii Kai, Moanalua in the Salt Lake area and Castle on the windward side/Kailua. I think Mililani was also considered to be a decent public school. I don't know how things have changed in the intervening 30 plus years. All of those schools were in more or less pricey neighborhoods. There are also plenty of good private schools. Punahou gets all the publicity, but Iolani may be better in some respects. That said, the public school I went to didn't drive home the work ethic I needed later on. I had to figure out how to buckle down and put in the time to do well in undergraduate and post-grad learning.

I agree on the comments on Oahu not being a good driving environment. Just one guy's opinion, but I think the Big Island likely has the most driveable, enjoyable roads. I've considered retiring there as I no longer need the excitement of a big cosmopolitan surrounding to be happy. You have to be prepared for a slower life style with simpler entertainments, and you have to love the outdoors above any other form of entertainment. I wouldn't mind being a gentleman farmer and building a house in the coffee belt or the Hamakua coast.

ipse dixit

Just personally, I wouldn't be able to do it.

I'd miss the mainland too much.

Porsche911GTS'16

I agree with ipse dixit. As much as I love Hawaii, I would miss the mainland, but that is just me. Also, I was chatting with a practice manager for a physician's office in Oahu the other day. He told me - and this is just what he told me, I have not verified - that even though his doctor owns the building where he practices, he does not own the land on which the building sits. Thus, even though he owns the building, he still pays rent to lease out the land on which the building he owns sits. He told me that there are a few land owners who own huge chunks of land in Oahu. Again, I have not verified this as true, but he is a pretty sharp guy and he is the manager of the practice. Perhaps a native can confirm or refute.

I have another colleague who owns a house in Oahu. He has Air B and B'd his house out for quite some time now. Apparently, the hotel industry has deep pockets and is pushing through legislation to ban Air B and B. Not that this is unique to Hawaii - I read about this in LA as well. He did not have kind words for the city government. Something along the lines of "they are a bunch of idiots." For me, anyway, Hawaii is a great place to visit on occasion but not to live. So Cal has more than it's fair share of issues but I prefer the dry climate (Hawaii is super humid) and the easy access to all that California has not offer, not to mention the continental US.

mr965

Hawaii is beautiful. My wife and I have entertained the idea of relocating many times.I would miss my track hobby too much. I also love golf but not so much to replace a day at the track. Conclusion is to just rent a house/condo for an extended stay to get it out your system on an annual basis. Rock fever is a real thing and this is the best way to discover if it affects you before taking the plunge.

bli8

As to humidity, I couldn't stand it while I lived in Houston, and felt Miami's almost as bad (my company's HQ is in Sunny Isles Beach). Hawaii's humidity is just in the middle as I feel CA is way too dry.
I agree the car culture and driving roads are much better here in CA, with so many local tracks within a 2 to 3 hour drive.
Are there any road race tracks on Oahu???

Porsche911GTS'16

Bli8 - As far as humidity goes, numbers-wise, the humidity in Hawaii is probably just as bad as it is in Houston and New Orleans. The big difference being that neither Houston nor the Big Easy are surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and its cool breezes. In fact, the Big Easy is not only in a swamp, it is below sea level. I know some people do not like the word "moist." Well, if you don't like moist, you will probably give the hot and humid Big Easy the cold shoulder, so to speak. Houston has been called the humid capitol of the world. I would not disagree, having lived there for 10 years as a youth. But I also lived in New Orleans for four years during medical school, and I gotta say, I think the Big Easy takes the cake for the most humid place on earth. Once, it was so humid that my rear view mirror fogged up. I mean, when does THAT happen? I never saw that before and I have not seen it since. I used to walk out of my house as a third year medical student at 5 am on a balmy August morning. The moment I exited the AC and entered the outdoor sweat box, I was sopping wet. You feel like you need to take a shower after, oh, 15 seconds outside. And that was before the sun even started shining. Sorry, off topic. Back to leaving the relatively humidity (but not earthquake)-free People's Republic of CA...

evilfij

PA is great from mid-March until mid-June, and in September and October. Mid-June through August, sometimes into September, are unbearably hot and humid and then there is salt season.

But, you won’t get any argument from me that it is a great place overall. I just need to figure out how to snowbird while being full time employed.