I currently live in a town on the south side of Oahu. It was originally a tiny little town but it has recently exploded with housing developments. When I first moved to Hawaii, I was based at a school in this town. I can remember driving by all the sugar cane fields and even drove through a couple of controlled sugar cane burnings, which were a little scary. The sugar cane fields are now all gone.
After living in Honolulu for a few years, I grew tired of all the traffic and buildings and decided to move out to the "suburbs". I rented a couple of places and then after a few years, I finally decided to buy. I purchased my little studio here in this town. I have been very happy living in my quiet townhouse community (except for the traffic which I will get to) and have been very fortunate to have wonderful neighbors.
When we all first moved into this new townhouse development, we were warned that this town was soon to become part of the "New Second City". It was something none of us really could imagine. It was such a quiet peaceful area. There were only a few new developments built in the area. The traffic was not so bad. Since then, more and more developments have been built. It now takes me 10 minutes just to get through one stoplight!
Here are a couple of photos (taken a few years ago) from one of the beaches nearby. It's difficult to see but Diamond Head is in the background of the photo with the little girl.
Here is the view from one of the golf courses in the area:
Comments (6)
Wow this is incredibly beautiful! Really amazing. I hope I can go there one day. But I do feel for you with the traffic. Are they doing anything to encourage alternative means of transportation? Do you have bike paths?
Posted by Chiocciola | February 11, 2008 10:37 AM
Posted on February 11, 2008 10:37
Oh, what a gorgeous place to live! I have never been to Hawaii but have friends who tell me that I MUST travel there someday. They love it, although to be honest, I'm not sure exactly where in Hawaii they go each year...time to dig out the atlas, I guess!
Posted by Anne | February 11, 2008 4:55 PM
Posted on February 11, 2008 16:55
This is a "so so" beach as far as beauty. I like it though as it is usually pretty empty. There are many beaches even more beautiful, which I am sure is hard to believe. I am very fortunate and even though I now curse daily while in traffic, I am very thankful to be able to live in such a beautiful place. I sometimes need others to remind me just how beautiful Hawaii really is.
The bike lane situation is pretty pitiful here. It is so dangerous with all the cars and crazy drivers. I have almost been hit a few times when I used to ride my bike. People open their doors right when you are riding by and never look when turning. Even pedestrians are getting hit almost as much as frogger gets run over on the frogger arcade game.
We also have rail that is supposed to come here someday but nothing will support the number of houses that are being planned to be built. I could go on and on...but instead will just be thankful for the beautiful beaches and mountain ranges :-)
Posted by girasoli | February 11, 2008 7:16 PM
Posted on February 11, 2008 19:16
Great attitude! But I can see how the transportation situation gets extremely frustrating. And I have NO respect for drivers who don't respect pedestrians and bikers!!
Posted by Chiocciola | February 12, 2008 4:22 AM
Posted on February 12, 2008 04:22
I remember the first time we visited Oahu thinking that the freeways were just like LA. Bleh!
And I've been on the Ewa Railway!
Posted by Jill | February 12, 2008 7:46 PM
Posted on February 12, 2008 19:46
Wow Jill, not many people can say that!
Posted by girasoli | February 13, 2008 9:41 PM
Posted on February 13, 2008 21:41