Hawaii residents - feedback about Makiki?

[simple girl]

Hi all,

We are considering a housesit/catsit in Makiki. The owner has been very honest that it is city living, a very busy neighborhood, and she wants whoever comes to be comfortable with that. She said to expect the noise that comes with city life. I don't know the exact address of the housesit yet. It is a 3rd floor condo "walkup" building that is made up of quiet working class folks. Her unit has a lanai and her buidling has a small pool. No security on the building itself. She says it is relatively safe but like anywhere you have to use common sense. She said she has never had a problem regarding safety/crime in the neighborhood. She is within walking distance to buses, grocery stores, etc. It is street parking only if we rent a car.

Are there any local Oahu residents on this board that can give me their feedback on this specific neighborhood? I am trying to do my due diligence by researching it fully online, including here. I am adventurous, but only to a point! Safety is my main concern.

I will PM Nords and direct him to this thread. Not sure if he has been active on here lately or not.

Thanks!

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by simple girl Hi all, We are considering a housesit/catsit in Makiki. The owner has been very honest that it is city living, a very busy neighborhood, and she wants whoever comes to be comfortable with that. She said to expect the noise that comes with city life. I don't know the exact address of the housesit yet. It is a 3rd floor condo "walkup" building that is made up of quiet working class folks. Her unit has a lanai and her buidling has a small pool. No security on the building itself. She says it is relatively safe but like anywhere you have to use common sense. She said she has never had a problem regarding safety/crime in the neighborhood. She is within walking distance to buses, grocery stores, etc. It is street parking only if we rent a car. Are there any local Oahu residents on this board that can give me their feedback on this specific neighborhood? I am trying to do my due diligence by researching it fully online, including here. I am adventurous, but only to a point! Safety is my main concern. I will PM Nords and direct him to this thread. Not sure if he has been active on here lately or not. Thanks!

Thanks for your PM! I check in every week or so to search for keywords like "Nords" and "military".

Makiki's a nice neighborhood, and convenient to town. However you might have to get used to sleeping with earplugs or using a room air conditioner (white noise). If you're living near a bus stop or a bar/nightclub, it could get a little noisy when your windows are open.

Hawaii's crime is mostly addict-inspired property, not violence, so if property is not displayed then you're usually not a target.

You'll definitely want to hold off renting a car until you get a feel for the parking. Since you're not commuting for work, I think you'll do fine with Da Bus and an occasional Uber or taxi. It's mostly a walkable neighborhood.

You'll have to ask about longboard storage-- serious question. If you're living with elevators or three flights of narrow steps, then hauling around the longboard gets painful.

Since you're going to be on Oahu for a while, you may want to sign up at HawaiiThreads.com and ask your question again along with seeking suggestions on local Makiki entertainment, businesses, and annoyances. Ryan Ozawa does a good job of running the forum and there are lots of passionately opinionated posters who will eagerly debate the merits of Makiki. I'd also suggest signing up for an online subscription to the Star-Advertiser, the local newspaper. Most of the website is behind a paywall and your Mainland subscription (from a Mainland IP address) is a lot cheaper than the local one. You may also prefer Civil Beat and the Honolulu edition of the Pacific Business News.

If she gives you a street address then you can do a pretty good Google Street View tour, and (depending on the address) maybe even 3DHawaii.com.

I'm driving "all the way into town" on Friday afternoon, so if you PM me an address then I'll try to do a drive-by. Or if you really have a detailed issue to discuss with her then give her my e-mail address (NordsNords at Gmail) and I can chat with her.

[simple girl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Thanks for your PM! I check in every week or so to search for keywords like "Nords" and "military". Makiki's a nice neighborhood, and convenient to town. However you might have to get used to sleeping with earplugs or using a room air conditioner (white noise). If you're living near a bus stop or a bar/nightclub, it could get a little noisy when your windows are open. Hawaii's crime is mostly addict-inspired property, not violence, so if property is not displayed then you're usually not a target. You'll definitely want to hold off renting a car until you get a feel for the parking. Since you're not commuting for work, I think you'll do fine with Da Bus and an occasional Uber or taxi. It's mostly a walkable neighborhood. You'll have to ask about longboard storage-- serious question. If you're living with elevators or three flights of narrow steps, then hauling around the longboard gets painful. Since you're going to be on Oahu for a while, you may want to sign up at HawaiiThreads.com and ask your question again along with seeking suggestions on local Makiki entertainment, businesses, and annoyances. Ryan Ozawa does a good job of running the forum and there are lots of passionately opinionated posters who will eagerly debate the merits of Makiki. I'd also suggest signing up for an online subscription to the Star-Advertiser, the local newspaper. Most of the website is behind a paywall and your Mainland subscription (from a Mainland IP address) is a lot cheaper than the local one. You may also prefer Civil Beat and the Honolulu edition of the Pacific Business News. If she gives you a street address then you can do a pretty good Google Street View tour, and (depending on the address) maybe even 3DHawaii.com. I'm driving "all the way into town" on Friday afternoon, so if you PM me an address then I'll try to do a drive-by. Or if you really have a detailed issue to discuss with her then give her my e-mail address (NordsNords at Gmail) and I can chat with her.

Thanks so much for this extremely helpful reply! I am going to see if she will give me the street at least (we are competing with a few others, so not guaranteed the assignment yet - but want to make sure we want it first, lol!).

Longboard, lol! Neither of us have ever surfed! Although hubby would love to try. (Actually, I would, too, but there is a snowball's chance in hell that I could even come close to succeeding in staying upright for even 5 seconds, lol). So we will probably just take a lesson or two and won't be carrying or needing to store one.

We have a white noise machine and are used to sleeping with it and earplugs (loud kitties at night!). We should be ok without a/c at that time of year, right?

I will go check out those other resources for sure - thank you again Nords! If we end up doing the housesit would love to meet up!

Will post back with an update!

[W2R]

I had an apartment in Makiki 40 years ago, though I doubt I have any information that would be currently helpful to you!

However, even 40 years ago it was very convenient to everything, and very walkable. I walked everywhere with no problems. TheBus came by every minute or two, so if I didn't feel like walking, I could still go anywhere I wanted with no delay. It really seemed like "the big city" to me after growing up in Kailua. I loved living in that neighborhood but probably there was a lot less noise there at that time than there is now.

[simple girl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I had an apartment in Makiki 40 years ago, though I doubt I have any information that would be currently helpful to you! However, even 40 years ago it was very convenient to everything, and very walkable. I walked everywhere with no problems. TheBus came by every minute or two, so if I didn't feel like walking, I could still go anywhere I wanted with no delay. It really seemed like "the big city" to me after growing up in Kailua. I loved living in that neighborhood but probably there was a lot less noise there at that time than there is now.

Thanks W2R, that is so cool! We love how convenient this neighborhood sounds. We are ok with noise as we already use white noise and earplugs to sleep (have a very meowing kitty at night).