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Thinking about moving to Hawaii

BD

Legendary Member
Joined
18 September 2005
Messages
5,804
Location
Southern California
Hello guys, just like to get a feel of how tough is it to relocate to Hawaii, the process of getting the NSX there (and service availability), and of course, the job market.


I need a change and Hawaii is on my radar.

Thanks
 
have you given up on the state of Ca? I remember your posts complaining about the decline in business ,and how unfriendly the state was to small business.
 
What exactly is it that you do? It can be pretty rough here, but I absolutely love it. The service here is quite limited, but I've done quite a bit on my car so if you need help we have some knowledgeable people down here. Another Prime member on here JC just had his shipped down hopefully he can comment on the process. I've shipped a bunch of cars down here, pretty straight forward.
 
Hawaii is great, pleasant and welcoming locals, no crime but there's a huge meth shortage (not sure if this would be a problem)
 
Hawaii is great, pleasant and welcoming locals, no crime but there's a huge meth shortage (not sure if this would be a problem)

I used to get my meth at Ron's Performance. A 5 gallon drum of VP Racing Methanol was under $100, which would last me at least a year in my M3. Not running Meth on my NSX, but could in the future....

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Hello guys, just like to get a feel of how tough is it to relocate to Hawaii, the process of getting the NSX there (and service availability), and of course, the job market.


I need a change and Hawaii is on my radar.

Thanks

Hawaii is a different place to live, that's for sure. Personally, I love it and can't think of living anywhere else, but most people who move here, leave in less than a year. It's simply not the mainland when it comes to population and lifestyle. When I moved here, I brought a 40' container with my 3 bedroom house, my Acura TL, my 1969 Bronco and my Harley, all stuffed inside. If I had to do it over again, I would have brought just my 69 Bronco and my Harley and sold everything else.
About the only thing I really miss is a long drive, and since they shut down our Super Ferry, we can't even get to Maui or BI anymore.
Oahu is a small island, and the roads pretty much suck ass, BUT it's ok, because the view, the food and the lifestyle is worth the bumps.
 
No tracks is the only problem there. And everyone has a Ford SVT Raptor.
 
I moved to Hawaii (Oahu) from LA a few years ago and recently purchased and shipped an NSX here from Arkansas. If you have any questions about either of those processes, I'd be happy to answer what I can for you. The job market is a little tough out here because the employers know they have a captive audience, but some industries (particularly the medical field) both excel and are in constant demand.

In terms of how tough the relocation to Hawaii is, I've had a lot of past experience with coworkers and military personnel coming out here so there are two caveats I'd usually give anyone who's thinking of picking up and moving to Hawaii:

1) Coming from California, this wasn't as big of a shock for me (and probably won't be for you either), but the cost of living in Hawaii is significantly higher than most areas of the US. Real estate is at a premium (particularly on Oahu) so housing prices are pretty high. I lived in Westwood, CA (right outside of UCLA) while going to school and the housing prices over most of the island are pretty comparable to that area, in my opinion. Of course your finances aren't my business so this warning may be completely unnecessary for you, but it's one of the things many people are shocked by when they come out here, so I usually throw it out there just to be safe.

2) The lifestyle in Hawaii is pretty unique compared to other parts of the US. Have you been the Hawaii before? I've found that people that the majority of people that move to Hawaii without prior experience either love it or hate it. Bonhamsuf summarized it perfectly: people who move here either stay forever (we're glad to have you, Paul!) or move shortly thereafter because they didn't expect living in Hawaii to be so different. If my girlfriend (originally from Sacramento) and I hadn't stayed together after moving to Hawaii, I'm sure she would have moved back to CA within 1-2 years. Now that we've been here for almost 7-years, though, she's found several things she likes about living out here.

Sorry, took the shotgun approach and threw a little of everything at you. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask and I'm sure the Hawaii Primers and those who have been out here can chime in for you. If you do decide to move out here, I know we'll be glad to have another Primer on the island!
 
It's a very liberal state... I don't know how that will work out for Vance. Birthplace of Obama, lots of hippie culture, environmentalists.... Vance might hang himself. LOL
 
I have a few questions for the folks who have made the move. It's always been on the back of my mind to eventually either buy a vacation home there or move there permanently. I spent 7yrs of my childhood on a tropical island so the weather and landscape isn't new to me. Though, Hawaii offers some of the amenities a 1st World country can offer which is nice.

It's tough to find a job there. I get it. However, I've heard that the medical field is still in decently high demand (which was also mentioned by JCPDS3). What parts of the medical field? Are we talking the entire medical field and it's various support services also (hospitals, clinics, schools)? As in, do locals get trained there for vocational jobs (i.e. Medical Assistants, Phlebotomy Techs, Vocational Nurses, etc)? OR does the island typically import talent from the mainland in the form of Doctors, Registered Nurses, PA's, etc?

I ask because my friends who are doctors typically have two choices. Get paid significantly less by working in major desirable cities (LA, SF, NY, and maybe Honolulu) OR get paid stupid money to move to soe po-dunk small town Ohio, Arkansas, Wyoming, and even Central CA etc...
 
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ryu what island did you live on?
 
@ Doc, Even though I spent significant amount of time in California, I never wanted to be here. I'm here because I'm the only child of three brothers that is not married, so I'm here at my parents’ request because of their old age. I'm the only one who can be there immediately if help is needed. However, all that will change the next 12 months because my parents recently bought a retirement home in Taiwan and is planning on moving back there.

The state of California will soon render it impossible for me to continue my business (according to my way of conducting it). Two years ago, Sacramento negotiated a tax deal to raise cigarette tax in exchange of lowered none cigarette related tobacco tax. They lowered the cigar/hookah/pipe tobacco tax from 47% down to 31% while increased the cigarette from $3.50 a pack to around $5.00. Now they have what they wanted out of cigarette, they’re working on a new law to raise cigar/hookah tax to 64%. It’s going to happen, just a matter of time. Last month, my ex employee offered to buy my shop below market rate, but it’s enough for me to be completely debt free (pay off my cars, credit cards, student loans), and still have some left to relocate.
@ JCP, I'm from Taiwan, think of it as a giant Hawaii, so I don't mind it. I was there two years ago for a wedding and I absolutely love it. I didn't find things to be as expensive as what people are making it out to be, because it is mostly on par with S. Cal. You know what they say, if you can survive S. Cal, you can survive anywhere.

At the moment, I'm looking at three possibilities:

1. Back to the greater Seattle area where I lived for three years since I have some job/business opportunities with some old friends. I don’t mind the cold but the rain is bothersome.

2. Houston/Dallas area try to find a job with energy related construction company such as Flour/Parson/Halliburton - since I had two years worth of training through Fluor for oil refinery piping design.

3. Hawaii because five hours east or west, I can be back to Taiwan to see my folks, or back to mainland, a rather convenient location, of course been in paradise is very enticing.

@ bonhamsurf, that's part of the information I was looking for, thank you.


If Hawaii is my destination, I have to seek a job in the field of service or sales since that’s what I have been doing all my life, I will have to go there for a job scouting mission first.

I have three cars - NSX, CRZ, and a Pilot, I bought the pilot for my parents so I'll be taking the NSX and CRZ. I'm assuming that renting a container for both cars and few boxes for my belongings will be sufficient. Regardless of my destination, I will do a complete service of my NSX (T Belt, Water Pump, etc) before leaving California.

At the moment Hawaii just makes sense because for some reason, I have a feeling I'll be back in Taiwan during my twilight years. My parents put their retirement property in Taiwan under my name. I'll thinking about Oahu since that's the most convenient island, but I'm open to suggestions/recommendations.

Thanks guys.

@ Turbo, sigh... Do you know what a Donk is in poker term? Google it, your picture is all over that word... More attention seeking, pointless posts...
 
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@ Turbo, sigh... Do you know what a Donk is in poker term? Google it, your picture is all over that word... More attention seeking, pointless posts...

LMAO! I'll respond to the rest of your post tomorrow when I'm not going to bed, but had to laugh. I used to play Texas all the time and haven't heard that term in awhile! @BD are you a regular player?
 
LMAO! I'll respond to the rest of your post tomorrow when I'm not going to bed, but had to laugh. I used to play Texas all the time and haven't heard that term in awhile! @BD are you a regular player?


Just a quick note, although I've only had 230 posts, I've been a member and weekly lurker since 2007, so I've had 5 years of reading posts, etc about the members on here. I've never seen anything that would make me think of @Turbo to be a donk himeelf. I simply was laughing at the usage of the word "donk" in any sense, as I quit hearing that term 2 years ago when I got married and quite playing poker 10 times a week.

@BD, if you're interested in playing in Hawaii, there's a good game from 1-2 to 2-5 24/7 if you know where to look. PM me if you're iterested.
 
Moving to HI is back on the table with the Mrs. again. I'll be in Oahu tomorrow after hanging out in Kauai for 5 days.

Thinking of driving around and checking out the real estate.

Where do normal people live? I'm from LA so I consider Pasadena, Culver City, Palos Verdes, Irvine... "Normal" :)
 
If you want something suburban like Irvine or so, you need to look west past say, Pearl City. Newer homes in Ewa, Waipahu, Mililani, etc. are fairly close to typical SoCal suburbia in layout and structure. There are definitely similar homes closer to Honolulu depending on how you're willing to stretch the definition of 'normal'. My wife half-jokingly talks about buying a home in Manoa or Hawaii Kai some day.

Source: I've lived in SoCal and regularly visit family on Oahu.
 
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Thanks! Where would the bad parts be?

so after all that time and effort building your dream street /track nsx you are moving to a smallish island:eek:
 
so after all that time and effort building your dream street /track nsx you are moving to a smallish island:eek:

It's true, there isn't a single track there. There is a shitload of street racing, but that sounds pretty dangerous to me - where are you going to hide from the cops on a tiny island?
 
Access to a decent track is an issue.

I did go to Costco today and saw a brother

Must be a sign. Anyone here?

IMG_20140424_171546_zpsfo1drelz.jpg
 
Have you tried contacting Paul or ChrisK? I met them both at a local car meet right in Honolulu. Steven Lee is also on Oahu.

The 'bad parts' of Oahu are kinda nestled in. While in California we can say "oh yeah, pretty much the entire Central Valley sucks" or "avoid Inglewood ~ all of it", Oahu in particular is much more nuanced and you'll have kinda bad neighborhoods tucked right in/next to very nice neighborhoods. It'll be very obvious when this happens. My wife's family for example is in McCully-Moilili which is historically a really shitty neighborhood and even now isn't really all that great; it is right next to Waikiki and down the street from Punahou though, both of which are very nice.

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Oh yeah and as mentioned, the car scene is terribad especially in comparison to California. While the cars themselves can be quite nice, there is little support for sanctioned events. Avoid H1 far west on weekends, for example. On the other hand, if you are okay just driving around and cruising, Oahu is pretty beautiful (duh).
 
It is true that the so called bad areas are all mixed in. You can't really just say west, or east. For example. West side is not too bad, but traffic is terrible. Houses are cheaper there though. On the West side if you are in the Aiea/Pearl City area it's old houses but a nice neighborhood. A little further west you hit Waipahu which has a few good pockets but mostly kind of so so to shady area. A little further from that is Ewa Beach which has a mix of middle to upper middle class to meth addicts. Then further out Kapolei/Koolina is pretty nice. Further West you have Waianae and I wouldn't move there unless you had family there to protect you. Now east side is upper middle class to very wealthy, but further east although beach front property in Waimanalo is a druggy and chop shop area. The next town over in Kailua has million dollar plus houses again. Near town you have the nice expensive realestate on the hill, but just below that you have Kalihi which is another druggy shady area. So as you can see, the good and bad areas are all mixed in. A couple of miles either direction can make a big difference.
 
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