Midstate01;828150 wrote:You can come live in Hawaii. Traffic is unreal and the locals will call you a Hali. But other then that its perfect.

Why is the traffic so bad? Tourism year round?

I Am Ahab;828111 wrote:Anyone spent any time in South FL?

I lived near Daytona Beach for little less than 6 months. Hated it. Worst place I have ever lived.

Commander of Awesome;828212 wrote:I lived near Daytona Beach for little less than 6 months. Hated it. Worst place I have ever lived.

But you're the commander of awesome.

If you're looking to keep yourself outside, Austin probably wins again - its a really outdoors/casual culture and the people are the most welcoming of anywhere I've ever been. Housing prices are seriously reasonable even if you wanna live within walking distance of downtown. The job market is also one of the best in the country - a huge plus if youll be job hunting post move. The tech presence here is amazing and start ups pop up every day looking for employees.

Obviously im pimping it cause i live here, but its by far the most vibrant place ive ever been to or lived...also 2 hrs from dallas and houston, 1 hr from san antonio if you like weekend trips

Just moved to Chicago...I know weather sucks but there is so much to do and public transit is decent and easy to understand

Midstate01;828150 wrote:You can come live in Hawaii. Traffic is unreal and the locals will call you a Hali. But other then that its perfect.

Yeah they will definitely call you a Hali. Especially if you've got blond hair.

ernest_t_bass;828199 wrote:Why is the traffic so bad? Tourism year round?

That and the highway system is a clusterfuck there.

Pretty much all the off ramps are ridiculously tight spirals.

ernest_t_bass;828216 wrote:But you're the commander of awesome.

Yes.

ernest_t_bass;828199 wrote:Why is the traffic so bad? Tourism year round?

1 mil live here. And about 10 mil cars on the island with tourists, I'm not exaggerating either. We were given those numbers on our newcomers tour. I was amazed. Till we started driving the island. You have 3 major highways, H1,H2, and H3. Then small highways. During mornings and evenings, those major highways are at a standstill for hours. We know people who live 5 miles from base and it takes them 45-1 hour to just get onto base. Tourists have no idea where they are going, and locals hate tourists and military. All of that makes traffic awful.

Because of tourism there are tons of jobs here and the job market is pretty good. BUT living here is sooooo expensive. A 3 bedroom house, away from the beaches will run you close to 3,000 a month. Utilities are 500-900 a month. Then cable, intent, and phone, it gets very expensive.

Hawaii is beautiful and the fun things to do are free... Beaches, hiking, pearl harbor. And we love it here, but I know when our 3 years is up, we will be happy to go back to the mainland or another overseas assignment.

I Am Ahab;828169 wrote:Are there many Migrants from the mainland living in Hawaii (excluding military)? Whats the job market like? I prefer to work outdoors.

Most ppl who move here on their own from the mainland, are retirees.

Midstate01;828273 wrote:1 mil live here. And about 10 mil cars on the island with tourists, I'm not exaggerating either. We were given those numbers on our newcomers tour. I was amazed. Till we started driving the island. You have 3 major highways, H1,H2, and H3. Then small highways. During mornings and evenings, those major highways are at a standstill for hours. We know people who live 5 miles from base and it takes them 45-1 hour to just get onto base. Tourists have no idea where they are going, and locals hate tourists and military. All of that makes traffic awful.

Because of tourism there are tons of jobs here and the job market is pretty good. BUT living here is sooooo expensive. A 3 bedroom house, away from the beaches will run you close to 3,000 a month. Utilities are 500-900 a month. Then cable, intent, and phone, it gets very expensive.

Hawaii is beautiful and the fun things to do are free... Beaches, hiking, pearl harbor. And we love it here, but I know when our 3 years is up, we will be happy to go back to the mainland or another overseas assignment.

Just curious, what is a 1 bedroom or studio go for in a decent apartment complex? Is it possible to live there without a car? I've heard solar power is really big there due to the high cost of utilities. My coworker's sister lives there and he's always talking about picking up and moving there. That would be a crazy place to relocate to. I don't know if I could do it.

It's definetely doable without a car. There are busses and such. Depends on where you'd live/work I guess. Lot of people have scooters.

balk14;828233 wrote:If you're looking to keep yourself outside, Austin probably wins again - its a really outdoors/casual culture and the people are the most welcoming of anywhere I've ever been. Housing prices are seriously reasonable even if you wanna live within walking distance of downtown. The job market is also one of the best in the country - a huge plus if youll be job hunting post move. The tech presence here is amazing and start ups pop up every day looking for employees.

Obviously im pimping it cause i live here, but its by far the most vibrant place ive ever been to or lived...also 2 hrs from dallas and houston, 1 hr from san antonio if you like weekend trips

This is why Austin would probably be tops on my list if we were to ever move out of Ohio.

I Wear Pants;828293 wrote:It's definetely doable without a car. There are busses and such. Depends on where you'd live/work I guess. Lot of people have scooters.

True, but just downtown to base (11 miles) was 2 1/2 hours on the bus. So working 8 hours amd adding 5 hours to that in drive time. No way!!

Automatik;828286 wrote:Just curious, what is a 1 bedroom or studio go for in a decent apartment complex? Is it possible to live there without a car? I've heard solar power is really big there due to the high cost of utilities. My coworker's sister lives there and he's always talking about picking up and moving there. That would be a crazy place to relocate to. I don't know if I could do it.

Downtown a studio is about 2k a month. Go to one of the smaller towns like pearl city or aiea and they're about 1700.

To buy here, it's almost a minimum of 300,000. You pay for location first. Houses that look like dumps from vinton county, go for 500k+ on the oceanfront. And that's on the west side where locals dont appreciate any non locals being.

An acre here will cost 95,000+.
Making 116,000 here is the equivalent of 72,000 in Cali.
It's between 30 and 60% more expensive to live here based on family size.

A big Mac meal here is 8.99
A double cheeseburger is 1.69
A mini blizzard is 3.69
Little things that add up fast.

While we were still downtown in a hotel, for 2 people, we spent $54 at ihop. Amd got nothing special.
We were in a hotel and ate out twice a day for 17 days because we had no choice with no kitchen. Put 8,500 on the government travel card.

Well yeah. It really would depend on where you lived/worked. If you worked withing a few miles of where you lived you could just ride a bike there as it's not like weather is really going to be a factor much of the time. Hell, even when it's raining it's still at least 60 something most of the time.

I loved running from campus down to Waikiki when I was there. About a mile jog I think, take a nap on the beach, jog back. Awesome.

I agree with those who said Austin and San Diego but I will throw out another that has not been entioned-- Houston.

Houston has improved a lot since the 80s and 90s. It's always had great weather, plenty of activities (the beach is nearby) but the city has also undergone a major change in the last decade with job opportunities and, affordable housing and a now vibrant night life. A buddy of mine has a house in the burbs that would easily run $300-400K in suburban Columbus that he bought for $200K there.

I Wear Pants;828313 wrote:Well yeah. It really would depend on where you lived/worked. If you worked withing a few miles of where you lived you could just ride a bike there as it's not like weather is really going to be a factor much of the time. Hell, even when it's raining it's still at least 60 something most of the time.

I loved running from campus down to Waikiki when I was there. About a mile jog I think, take a nap on the beach, jog back. Awesome.

60?? You mean 80. Only once since weve been here has it been 72 at night. Its more like a mist or shower then rain. The tradewinds are great!! Can't wait for "winter" for some big waves!! Biggest so far have been about 8-10 feet. Boooo

Midstate01;828309 wrote:Downtown a studio is about 2k a month. Go to one of the smaller towns like pearl city or aiea and they're about 1700.

To buy here, it's almost a minimum of 300,000. You pay for location first. Houses that look like dumps from vinton county, go for 500k+ on the oceanfront. And that's on the west side where locals dont appreciate any non locals being.

An acre here will cost 95,000+.
Making 116,000 here is the equivalent of 72,000 in Cali.
It's between 30 and 60% more expensive to live here based on family size.

A big Mac meal here is 8.99
A double cheeseburger is 1.69
A mini blizzard is 3.69
Little things that add up fast.

While we were still downtown in a hotel, for 2 people, we spent $54 at ihop. Amd got nothing special.
We were in a hotel and ate out twice a day for 17 days because we had no choice with no kitchen. Put 8,500 on the government travel card.

Damn, I've always heard Hawaii was expensive, but never really saw any number. Basically Manhattan prices.

Midstate01;828322 wrote:60?? You mean 80. Only once since weve been here has it been 72 at night. Its more like a mist or shower then rain. The tradewinds are great!! Can't wait for "winter" for some big waves!! Biggest so far have been about 8-10 feet. Boooo

I said "at least" 60s because that's about the minimum you'll ever get.

Winter on the North Shore the waves get pretty big. I was up there in February I believe. Was weirded out by some wearing hoodies at night. I was all "gtfo it's hot as shit".

Little Danny;828315 wrote:I agree with those who said Austin and San Diego but I will throw out another that has not been entioned-- Houston.

Houston has improved a lot since the 80s and 90s. It's always had great weather, plenty of activities (the beach is nearby) but the city has also undergone a major change in the last decade with job opportunities and, affordable housing and a now vibrant night life. A buddy of mine has a house in the burbs that would easily run $300-400K in suburban Columbus that he bought for $200K there.

I almost added Houston to my list. It would be my 3rd choice, I think.

Arizona in the valley is great about four months out of the year. If I was ever to move back to Arizona it would be closer to Flagstaff. Was not a fan of Phoenix.

Commander of Awesome;828212 wrote:I lived near Daytona Beach for little less than 6 months. Hated it. Worst place I have ever lived.

Holly Hill?

Wilmington, NC would also be a place to check out. Sweet town.

You will have a hell of a time finding good work doing landscaping in AZ, Cali, or Florida right now. Housing market is Texas is decent, I'd go there.

If I ever move from Ahia, it will be to the Carolina shores, either Wilmington or Charleston.