u/discosoundtrack

Could anyone share their experience moving from town to Kailua (or from folks who have lived in either or both at some point?) My husband and I may be looking to make that move sometime in the near future. We currently live in town and have for many years, we love being town for the conveniences, walkability, access to medical care, and short commutes. Many of our loved ones are in town and we don’t want to feel isolated, but we’re thinking of starting a family soon so heading windward has come up as a possibility for budget, safety, schools, etc. We both work in town, and I’m curious to know how bad that commute can get. I know it’s not far, but it is a different lifestyle, and we’ve spent time up there but have never lived there so curious to hear your thoughts.

What are the pros/cons of moving Kailua side? Anything you missed, gained, anything specific to consider? Raising a family in town on a budget (small apartment) vs heading to the windward side for more space? I also love the sunshine, and I love how sunny and warm it is in town almost all the time. Is it significantly greyer/rainier up that way? We also travel off island a few times a year, how is it getting to the airport? We also appreciate town for its diversity. I know there are some stereotypes of Kailua being homogenous; Are Kailua neighborhoods/parts of Kailua town fairly diverse?
Mahalo!

Could anyone share their experience moving from town to Kailua? My husband and I may be looking to make that move sometime in the near future. We currently live in town and have for many years, we love the conveniences and walkability and having everything very close by, and many of our loved ones are in town. We’re thinking of starting a family soon so heading windward has come up. I know it’s not far, but it is a different lifestyle, and we’ve spent time up there but have never lived there so curious to hear your thoughts.

What are the pros/cons of moving Kailua side?

My wedding is in July in Hawaii.

Fuel prices have gone up so significantly due to geopolitics in the last few months when most of my guests are trying to buy plane tickets, that most tickets are double to triple what they were when we sent out invitations. Many people are having to decline because it’s no longer affordable.

In addition, the recent growing news and concerns about this summer’s forecasted Super El Niño in the pacific is expected to bring severe weather conditions, at best scorching hot temperatures and humidity and diminished winds, and at worst increased risk of hurricanes and wildfires. The peak of these weather conditions and risks will be the time of my outdoor wedding.

Finally, news about the hantavirus. I know we’re told not to worry, but I can’t help but worry, and maybe some of my invitees are too.

We’ve had so few people respond, and our RSVPs are due in one week. We invited 200, and have heard back from about 40. We know this is all a perfect recipe for limited attendance, and we understand. It’s become so expensive and risky to attend our wedding, and I don’t blame anyone at all. I’m just really bummed about how it’s unfolding. The day we envisioned is feeling less likely to happen with each passing day. For the folks that can come, I’m also really stressed because I don’t want to put them in financial strain just getting here, then once they’re here I don’t want to put them in an uncomfortable situation with unusually severe hot and humid weather, or at worst a dangerous one with a potential extreme deadly weather system, fire risk, or deadly disease. And what if we have to cancel due to these risks? The thought of that upheaval is stressing me out too.

We invited 250 guests, and sent our invitations by mail. I’d feel awful if we got to the RSVP deadline then found out that some folks never got the invitations in the mail (if they got lost, etc) and we find out then that they were just in the dark and didn’t have time to plan. How would we know? Do couples tend to reach out to every guest to make sure they received it after mailing them out? Do guests reach out on their own if they didn’t get anything after a while? Or is waiting until the RSVP deadline and reaching out to the no-responses enough?