Hawaiin DUers, What are the pros and cons of living in Hawaii?

[Gogi]

I've always thought I'd like to live on the Big Island. (I have a thing for volcanoes.) How much does the average house cost? I know prices on food and other necessities are high but how much higher than in Missouri? Where are the best places to live? How about taxes? Will my cat have to be quarantined for 160 days or 30 days? (He's had his shots.)

[proud patriot]

1. The big Island is great

I don't live there ..But someday ....

[PartyPooper]

2. Bring lots of $$$.

:D

[Leilani]

3. Housing is quite expensive

but some places are much worse than others. If you want to be near the ocean, MUCHO expensive. All the resort areas are the most expensive.

I don't know what prices are like in Missouri, so I can't compare.

They've changed the quarantine rules about dogs, & shortened the times a lot. Also, if you do lots of paperwork beforehand, you can avoid quarantine. These laws are for rabies. Do cats get rabies? I only know about dogs.

Some people come & never leave; some get island fever, & go back to the mainland. I vacationed here for years, before I made the move. Also, if you can come & do an extended stay, for at least a few months, that will really help.

Try Hawaii web sites for info; realtor .com for housing prices, State of Hawaii.gov for official info. You can really get a lot of info on the web. Also try our newspapers for info. Yahoo has a good newspaper search site.

[pmbryant]

4. I lived in Honolulu for two years

In the late 1990s. My verdict is that Hawaii is a great place to visit, but not a particularly fabulous place to live. Housing expenses were especially outrageous. But I was in Honolulu, and not on the Big Island.

With all my old friends and family on the mainland, 5 or 6 timezones away, living in Hawaii felt isolating for me. If you have friends and family there, that consideration shouldn't be a problem, though.

Whatever else it is, Hawaii is a very spectacular and a very interesting place. And the Big Island is probably my favorite of the islands.

:bounce:

--Peter

[YIMA]

5. You may need to post this later

it's still 4:45am there!!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ