Housely
Hawaii has a wealth of natural beauty and is a veritable haven for surfers, body boarders, and lovers of water sports. Plus, short of moving to the Galapagos Islands or Amazon rain forest, you’d be hard pressed to find as wide an assortment of interesting flora and fauna. The delicious food, rich culture and history, and gorgeous weather are all huge draws that have many people wanting to pack up their bags and move to The Aloha State. However, there are serious downsides to living in Hawaii — seriously.
Here are five realities about living in Hawaii that you may not like.
1. It’s super expensive.
It doesn’t matter which Hawaiian island you choose to live on or how much you downsize, Hawaii is one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. We’re not talking Orlando or Seattle expensive, but San Francisco, New York City, I-can’t-believe-I’m-spending-60-percent-of-my-salary-on-housing expensive. Because Hawaii is so in demand, such a huge travel destination year round, and has little land for development, people who make an average income can’t afford to live there comfortably.
You can scrimp, save, struggle, or find ways to grow your own food and decrease housing costs, but money doesn’t go far at all in Hawaii. Groceries cost an average of 50 percent more than in the contiguous US, and mainland dwellers pay about 70 percent less for utilities than people who are living in Hawaii. Gas prices and restaurant tabs will also give you sticker shock, especially if you’re coming from a state with a much lower cost of living. If you really, really want to live in Hawaii, you’re probably willing to overlook the high cost and bite the bullet. However, if you don’t make much money or don’t want to work like a dog just to pay your living expenses, Hawaii may not be the best place to go.
2. Hawaii’s food economy is 90% imported
One may assume that Hawaii, a tropical environment with lush landscapes full of fruit trees and delicious goodies, would have an abundance of food available to its residents. The one who assumes this would be wrong, because at least 90 percent of the food eaten in Hawaii is imported, including about 65% of the produce. Papayas, avocados, and even bananas in most Hawaiian grocery stores are flown in from other parts of the world. Its gets even worse — much of the seafood that Hawaiian residents buy is flown in from Asia and other far away places, as opposed to being caught in Hawaii’s own waters.
The great beef and produce grown on Hawaii are often exported to the mainland rather than kept in state. Hawaii’s whole food system is madness at its finest, and the state’s residents are becoming increasingly vocal about their need for food security and sovereignty. The farm to table and locally grown movements are growing in Hawaii, but if you want to move there because you dream of being in some sort of foodie’s paradise, rethink your decision.
3. You’ll have to pay extra shipping fees for most of your online orders
Hawaii shares the same burden that Alaska has: it’s not part of the contiguous US, so most companies charge an extra fee to ship orders there. If you’ve grown to love having items from your favorite online stores shipped for free, go read the fine print. Shipping to Hawaii isn’t usually free, and the costs can be significantly more than what you’re used to paying. It’s not uncommon for people to pay $20 or more for standard shipping, and if you want your order expedited you’ll have to cough up even more cash. It’s not just consumers in Hawaii who feel the effects of higher shipping costs, but retailers who must buy wholesale goods. The shipping prices are passed on to customers, making shopping online or in-store noticeably more expensive when you’re living in Hawaii.
4. It doesn’t keep many of its best and brightest.
This isn’t to say that Hawaii is full of unintelligent people, not at all. However, Hawaii does have a problem with its brightest innovators leaving the islands for the mainland, which offers more career and academic opportunities. Retirees and those who just want to live in Hawaii for the incomparable setting and array of outdoor activities may not mind this, but if you work in business, science, or technology, you should think twice before moving there. Most college bound kids in Hawaii aim to attend mainland universities as opposed to staying in state. The economy in Hawaii is mostly comprised of the military, government jobs, and tourism. There aren’t many entry-level jobs for new graduates, few cutting edge career opportunities in other fields, and the economy seriously lacks diversity. Hawaii is trying to encourage young people to stay and is pushing to get more residents to become entrepreneurs, but those changes are coming very slowly.
5. Healthcare is much more limited than on the mainland.
Let’s say you’re on the mainland and you don’t like the options presented by the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. Instead of opting in, you decide to eat the penalty at tax time and become a self-pay patient. Or, you may join a healthcare sharing co-op or switch to an alternative mode of accessing healthcare. Residents in Hawaii don’t usually have those options, and just getting healthcare period can be a challenge. The major cities in the state have decent options, but if you’re in the more rural areas or a secluded part of Hawaii you’ll either need to drive well over an hour away or catch a flight to a city such as Honolulu just to see a doctor. This goes double for those who require specialized care due to having certain illnesses and injuries.
Even healthy patients have trouble finding doctors who meet their specifications, and since the number of physicians in Hawaii is quite small, you may have to either wait a long time to get an appointment or travel a long distance to find a doctor who’s currently taking patients. What’s ironic is that so many lists rank Hawaii as one of the healthiest US states, but that’s not the reality for many people who are actually living in Hawaii.
References
http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/can-hawaii-feed-itself/
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/06/29/hawaii-local-food
http://westhawaiitoday.com/sections/news/local-news/access-health-care-top-issue-facing-hawaii-island-assessment-finds.html
http://www.civilbeat.com/2012/08/16762-how-hawaii-can-reverse-the-brain-drain
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