WOW: Walks on Waikiki

Reasons cited for not moving to Honolulu on the island of Oahu: The Traffic

On every YouTube blog about things wrong with living on Oahu, and why one should be prepared for moving to Hawaii, is the congestion on the H-1 interstate, how long the trip from the North Shore to the southern side in the city of Honolulu can take before and after weekends, and the horrible commute from Aiea and Pearl City to the Waikiki area. My suggestion is to follow my example: don’t have a car.

It’s important to understand my demographic and view, which is that of being a single person– not needing a full-sized home–or deducting a mortgage and listing independents–of which most family households submit during their filing taxes. Indeed, a high tax rate for the state is also listed on the many reasons of why not to move to Hawaii. Coming from California, however, I did see a slightly larger take home pay by moving here from California because state taxes here are about two to three percent lower than California. I am already coming from one high cost area to another.

Since Florida has no state taxes, many Californians prefer to move east, rather than west, to save on income. A common theme I repeat is that there are always reasons for why things cost what they do. Hawaii suffers less hurricane damage than Florida, and has enjoyable soft rains replete with rainbows. Hawaii also has year-round trade winds, which make for a much cooler summer than Arizona, Texas, or Florida. Many regulars here do without air-conditioning all together. In my opinion, this can cancel out the expense of state taxes alone.

Back to traffic. Boomers are the primary cause of traffic. We grew up with cars, and we love the freedom they bring. I submit that the freedoms a car provides, have become greatly reduced due to the cost of fuel, parking, and maintenance or repair. I don’t have to worry about a big ticket item parked out-of-sight of my view, or unexpected or immediate costs to replace a safety item of a vehicle. I just use a bus pass. I can listen to music, catch up on emails or social media, and text someone without being a safety issue.

It only costs me three dollars to go to the airport, and return. If I go shopping downtown or at the largest outdoor mall in the west, I can go to and fro for only three dollars. I have an HD backpack that’s comfortable to wear with large loads, and I have two sturdy reusable shopping bags to carry soda or paper towels outside of my backpack, if I’m stocking up large. Scooters also have storage to carry.

One of the main reasons I am converting my YouTube channel to Walks on Waikiki is to continue my message of service to live an emissions free life, and get around without a car. This is easy for someone young or on a limited income, but I find freedoms created in other areas of my life if I don’t have to spend on owning a car. Fortunately, people are real friendly here. I had three different guys help me move by using their pickup trucks. People seem very willing to give me a ride home from gatherings, and expect nothing in return. So I do indirectly benefit from living in a place where many of my friends drive. In San Francisco, there are far fewer acquaintances who have autos. I had to rent a car just to go to a party in the Bay Area. Not so here on Oahu.

One good tip about where to buy a home if you have a commute to either Waikiki or downtown. The smoothest inbound commute is from the Eastside: Hawaii Kai. The least favorable area would be Pearl City or Aiea. These two suburbs are west of downtown and have congestion, mainly because the department of cones is unable to create reversible lanes to add an extra lane for commute traffic.