Community Profiles The neighborhoods of Oahu are as unique as the distinctive blend of people and cultures that live in the United States.

Finding a place to live on Oahu is no easy task. The cost of housing on the Island is one of the highest in the country.

Zone 1

DowntownIwilei Kalihi KaiKalihi-PalamaMoanalua-Salt LakeNuuanuPacific Heights-Punchbow

Downtown Honolulu is one of America's loveliest and most compact cities, with most of the financial and business districts and residential high-rises covering 12 square blocks.

Honolulu residents of a generation ago nostalgically remember a “Grand Downtown” with tea dances atop the Alexander Young Hotel and colorful confetti and streamers cascading down the pier at world-famous “Boat Days” in Honolulu Harbor.

In Chinatown, first generation residents found a place for themselves and opened restaurants, bakeries and vegetable stands, as the newest immigrants still do today.

Today, Downtown and Chinatown are linked into one busy and congested residential, shopping and business district at the heart of Honolulu.

The area stretches from Aloha Tower Marketplace, to School Street on the mauka side, and from South Street in the east to A’ala Park in the West.

Prominent features in the area include the State Capitol, Honolulu Hale, Aloha Tower, Fort Street Mall, ‘Iolani Palace and the Mission Homes Museum.

New condominium towers are in different stages of development as more and more people find living in the area convenient with an exciting night life. Monthly art walks, street fairs and live music fill the air on weekends.

Today, ocean liners still dock at Aloha Tower, which is part of an array of shops and restaurants. Downtown/Chinatown has become a major tourist attraction.

Iwilei, once Oahu's notorious red light district, is now the respectable home of such retail denizens as Hilo Hattie, K-Mart, Home Depot, and the charming shops, restaurants and movie theaters of the restored Dole Cannery.

Kalihi Kai is a crazy-quilt collage of tiny and tenacious older houses and aging apartment buildings, car repair shops, industrial businesses, and venerable mom and pop establishments. The neighborhoods of Kalihi-Palama are so similar, they're like conjoined twins.

What once was urban sprawl came and went a long time ago, leaving Kalihi and Palama with the lived-in look and neighborly feeling of real ohana. The world's greatest repository of Pacific and Polynesian research and artifacts is located here in the stone gothic confines of the Bishop Museum.

Moanalua-Salt Lake are as different as Kalihi-Palama are alike, with a major exception: the military presence. Both neighborhoods can certainly claim to be well protected.

Moanalua has the Army's Fort Shafter on one side and the Navy's Red Hill Naval Reservation and the military's Tripler Medical Center on the other. Salt Lake is encircled by U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy bases, and low-cost military housing.

Nuuanu is as much a botanical garden as it is a wonderful place to live. Sudden rain showers swoop over the Koolau Mountains creating perfect mists for this community's profuse tropical vegetation.

Both the Pacific Heights and Punchbowl communities have the advantage of loftier perches going for them, creating spectacular views and cooler temperatures.

Zone 2

Ala Moana-KakaakoKapiolaniMakikiManoaMcCully-MoiliiliSt. Louis Heights

Ala Moana-Kakaako are Oahu's major shopping and cultural centers, comprised of mostly high-rise condominium and low-rise apartment communities. Ala Moana is home to Ala Moana Center, Hawaii’s largest shopping megalopolis, with more than 200 shops and restaurants in a setting of lush landscaping and colorful fish ponds.

Kakaako is Oahu's cultural headquarters. The fine arts collections of the Honolulu Academy of Arts are here, as well as Hawaii's leading entertainment complex. Showcased at Blaisdell Center, Concert Hall and Exhibition Hall are the

Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, live broadway shows, major concerts and exhibits and trade shows of all kinds.

Prices for homes in the area’s modern residential high-rises are often expressed in the millions. At the beginning of 2007, the average listing price for these luxury “homes in the sky” was set at

$782,000. Medial sales prices hovered at $537,500. About 75 percent of condo owners are full- or part-time residents — 10 percent are from California; 10 percent from Japan, and the remaining 5 percent are from other parts of the Mainland and Asia.

Makiki marches up the side of the Koolau Mountains in a steady procession of high-rise condos and apartments at the lower elevations to expensive residences toward the top in Makiki Heights. About half way to the top is the stunning Contemporary Arts Museum, one of Honolulu's most novel and cultural places to dine.

Makiki is a community of 43,277 people almost evenly split between homeowners and renters. Makiki is notorious for tight parking and has few public parks, but the Makiki Nature Center and the hiking trails in Tantalus are gems on the edge of town.

Manoa means vast in Hawaiian, a perfect description for this deep valley. A neighborhood of mainly older homes with immense character and charm, the valley's profuse vegetation is made more lush by frequent showers followed by spectacular rainbows. The University of Hawai'i is located here, as well as Lyon Arboretum, the Manoa Valley Theatre and Manoa Marketplace, one of Oahu's loveliest little shopping and dining centers.

The close proximity to the University of Hawai'i and Chaminade University campuses make McCully-Moiliili favorite haunts for local college students. The area is packed with student-friendly businesses and activities, mom and pop shops, and affordable to mid-priced low- medium and high-rise apartments.

Zone 3

Aina Haina-Kuliouou-Niu ValleyDiamond HeadHawaii Kai-PortlockKahalaKaimuki-KapahuluPaloloWaialae-KahalaWaikikiWilhelmina

The peaceful, eclectic, mid- to upper-priced neighborhoods of Aina Haina-Kuliouou-Niu Valley are tucked into the foothills and up the sides of Koolau Mountain ridges along Kalanianaole Highway. On the makai (ocean) side, the Maunalua Bay beachfront is graced with lovely beach parks, lavish homes and Paiko Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary.

The base of Diamond Head, the extinct volcano that is Oahu's most famous natural landmark, is embroidered with affluent homes and condominiums. At Kupikipikio (Black Point), the portion of the Diamond Head community that swoops out into the Pacific Ocean, the late billionaire Doris Duke built her beloved Shangri-La.

At the extreme southeastern tip of Oahu are the sunny Hawaii Kai-Portlock communities. Hawaii Kai is the California marina-style dream development of the late steel tycoon Henry J. Kaiser. Threaded through the community's picturesque canals are mid- to high-priced single-family residences, townhomes and condominiums, a marina, golf course and shopping center.

Kaimuki-Kapahulu are two of Oahu's most lively communities, dripping with appeal to yuppies. The houses along the neat, hilly streets have personality and character. Waialae Avenue, which is downtown Kaimuki, looks like 1940s-50s Main Street, U.S.A. with plenty of quaint coffee houses to keep the population energized and happy.

In the fertile depths of Palolo Valley, crops and orchids still grow. Working-class Palolo is a homey, multi-ethnic suburb of affordable homes. Each September, the community holds a good, oldfashioned Palolo Pride celebration in Palolo District Park.

For decades, the wealthy community of Waialae-Kahala is not only one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, it has some of the most expensive real estate in existence.

Located between the shops and restaurants of Kaimuki on the West, Aina Haina on the East, and enclosed by the Koolau mountains and the Pacific Ocean, Kahala is primarily a residential community. The well-maintained homes are just a couple miles from the tourist Mecca of Waikiki.

The Kahala Hotel and Resort, with its dolphin lagoon, white sand beach, and fine dining establishments, is known as the hideaway hotel of Hollywood stars. The adjacent Wai’alae Country Club and Golf Course is the site of the world-famous annual Sony Open golf competition.

The air-conditioned, carpeted “boutique” Kahala Mall sits next to the elevated H-1 freeway which bisects the mauka and makai areas.

The area has shopping, parks, beach access, recreation and public and private schools, and is just 15-minutes from the downtown center of business in Honolulu.

The most expensive homes line the beach front. That exclusive area was pricey enough in the 1980s, before foreign tycoons triggered a buying frenzy that shot prices beyond the reach of most working residents.

Statistics: • Sixty-six percent of residents drive to work alone — only 6 percent bus it. A mere 2 percent used two wheels, bicycle or motorcycle. Some 3 percent walk. • Most of the foreign-born residents of the caucasian and Asian population in Kahala were Japan-born — 22 percent. Some 14 percent are from Vietnam; 12 percent from China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan.

• Former residents include Clare Boothe Luce and Jack Lord.

Waikiki attracts tourist, locals. The urban resort destination of Waikiki is Hawaii's major visitor attraction and an exciting place to live. On the mauka (mountain) side of the world's most famous beach is a self-contained neighborhood of highrises, restaurants, shops, fun activities and entertainment.

Visitors and kamaaina alike frequent Waikiki Beach, the new Beachwalk featuring lots of new restaurants and stores, the soon-tobe renovated Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, the DFS Galleria, and nightclubs including Zanzabar, Fashion 45, and Moose’s.

Favorites also include the Waikiki Zoo, Kapiolani Park and the Bandstand, concerts at The Waikiki Shell and events such as the Okinawan Festival, the Korean Festival and Sunset on the Beach.

Waikiki Median Condominium Prices

Zone 4

KahaluuKailuaKaneoheLanikaiWaimanalo

This is the side of Oahu that gets the most rain; hence, it's the most luxuriant in plant growth. The natural beauty of Kahaluu, the northernmost of these neighborhoods, is a spiritual experience.

Kailua, the largest community on the Windward side, is Oahu's windsurfing capital, and Kailua Beach is one of the world's most beautiful shorelines. The 47,000 lucky people who reside here enjoy a relaxed lifestyle in lovely, moderately priced neighborhoods, with excellent restaurants, parks, libraries, schools, shopping centers and a pleasant downtown. Historians believe Kailua was home to Hawaiians at least 1,500 years ago. Ali‘i were attracted to the place in the 16th century and the are is replete in historical and cultural sites, including the Kawai Nui Marsh, a large freshwater fish pond, heiau and taro fields. At one time the town had a horse racetrack. Sugarcane, rice and taro grew in the marsh that was eventually used to raise cattle.

Crops were also grown in the town, which had a dairy farm. Bumper coconut crops led to one section being named Coconut Grove.

In the 1940s it was considered a sleepy town but after the war development spread to surrounding areas forming subdivisions including Pohakupu, Olomana, Enchanted Lake, Kalaheo Hillside and Aikahi Park.

The second biggest community, with 53,000 residents, is Kaneohe. Windward Community College and fabulous Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden are both here. Mokapu Peninsula, which rests between Kaneohe and Kailua, is the home of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, formerly known as Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station.

It’s a tropical nirvana wedged between the incredible cathedral spires of the Koolau Mountains and the turquoise opalescence of Kaneohe Bay. Home prices vary from mid-range to expensive, with views that take your breath away.

Residents commute to work on the Honolulu side of the Island via the Pali and Likelike highways.

Zone 5

HauulaKaaawaKahukuLaiePunaluu

This part of the Windward Coast leading up to the North Shore looks like the Hawaii about which people have always fantasized. Here are the modern versions of the sleepy little beachside towns and undulating coconut palms of old Hawaii, with glorious mountains on one side and the electrifying blue ocean on the other.

Originally a tiny Hawaiian fishing and taro farming village where folks lived in grass huts, Hauula is now a charming little community of affordable single-family residences and condos. A sandy procession of beach parks lines the makai side, and a new beach pavilion and the newly renovated Hauula Shopping Center have townsfolk understandably proud

With only 1,445 residents, Kaaawa has the smallest population on Oahu. The legendary crouching lion rock formation and the Crouching Lion Inn mark the north end of Kaaawa. Otherwise, you might not know you’ve been through town. Here, the steep, green cliffs of the Koolaus allow barely enough room beside this coastline-hugging stretch of Kamehameha Highway for the neat affordable to mid-priced homes of Kaaawa.

Adventure to the northern part of Kualoa Ranch deep into Kaaawa Valley where Jurassic Park, Windtalkers, You, Me & Dupree, 50 First Dates and Lost were filmed. The tours take you through forested areas, past World War II bunkers all with fantastic views of the Kualoa Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

A former sugar plantation town, Kahuku still retains its warm-hearted plantation village personality. The old sugar mill is now a shopping center and the old plantation hospital is a modern medical facility.

La’ie town has often been hailed as a gathering place. And no wonder—with an average of 800,000 visitors per year, this small town is well known to many tourists as the home of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Despite a population of barely 4,500, La’ie is also home to a private college, Brigham Young University-Hawai’i, and a Mormon Temple.

Zone 6

North ShoreWaialua

Mother Nature blessed the North Shore with some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. This is rural Hawaii, with giant, sweeping vistas of pristine green countryside, never-ending azure ocean and miles of sandy beaches edged with tropical trees. This must be one of the most peaceful, beautiful places on earth. But, wait, what is that? A 20-foot wave?

Welcome to the Surfing Capital of the World. The endless North Shore summers are self-indulgently laid-back and leisurely. But come November through April, the once-tranquil beaches are pounded by monster waves reaching bone-crushing heights. In come droves of big-wave surfers and wannabes, and the North Shore rocks. Most of the visitors stay in vacation homes and bed and breakfasts, since the North Shore big surf vicinity has no hotels. The only luxury resort in the area is the Turtle Bay Hilton in Kahuku.

Communities on the North Shore are small, homes aren't cheap, and it's a long way to everywhere from here. Still, a lot of the North Shore populace commutes to other parts of Oahu to work and returns here to scoff at those who live any other way.

The neighborhoods of Waimea, Sunset Beach and Kawailoa are all tiny and situated precariously close to such world-famous surfing spots as Banzai Pipeline, Kimmieland and Gas Chambers.

The undisputed star of North Shore neighborhoods is Haleiwa, acharismatic community proud to be a part of the State List of Historic Places.

Zone 7

Wahiawa

Pineapples may be prickly, but the town they created is as easy to take as a pineapple smoothie.

In earlier times, the area was attractive to ancient Hawaiians who liked its cooler climate and plentiful game. On the land now occupied by the U.S. Army's Schofield Barracks, Oahu chiefs once trained their armies.

Wahiawa can lay claim to having the island's coolest temperatures because it's situated on the highest terrain. Oahu's tallest peak, 4,000-ft. Mt. Kaala is part of Wahiawa. The Dole pineapple empire took root here over 100 years ago when James Dole planted his first 61 acres in Wahiawa. Pineapple is still grown around these parts and the Dole Plantation Center welcomes nearly a million visitors a year.

Zone 8

MakahaNanakuliWaianae

Far west Oahu is a study in contrasts, corraled as it is between the dry, craggy Waianae Mountains and the watery depths of the blue Pacific Ocean. This was perfect for the first Hawaiians who sought shelter here over a thousand years ago. They felt that the majestic mountains provided a safe wall of isolation, allowing them to feed from the ocean and maintain an independent lifestyle.

Today, this part of Oahu is the closest thing to a true Hawaiian place on the island. Proud and independent like their forbears, Waianae Coast communities nevertheless opened their hearts to diverse cultures, welcoming others to the ocean-loving pleasures and simple lifestyles enjoyed by centuries of Hawaiians.

All of the Waianae Coast shares 20 miles of what many feel are the island's most beautiful, unspoiled beaches. Certainly, Oahu's best big-game fishing is off this coast. The community of Waianae is home to one of the most unusual healing centers in all of the islands. The Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center has served the area for 30 years, with a broad range of health and healing services deeply rooted in Hawaiian values.

Zone 9

Mililani

If there is any community on Oahu that looks like an all-American city, it's Mililani. It's a town of well-kept homes and streets, modern shopping centers, movie theaters, churches and fine schools. The beautiful parks, tennis courts, ball fields, hiking and biking trails, swimming pools and recreation centers were all part of the plan. Faced with a shrinking demand for the pineapple and sugar grown on this part of west central Oahu, landowner Castle & Cooke turned to real estate development. This was a great location for the company to start a new town.

In 1961, the company began creating the master plan for a fully functional satellite city. Their dream was to build a well-designed community with none of the gangly urban sprawl that had marred other areas.

Today, Mililani is a tribute to the builder's dream and the people who fulfilled their own dreams by making Mililani their home

Zone 10

WaikeleWaipahuWaipio

For decades, central Oahu was agricultural country. Waipahu was a sugar plantation town, Waipio was a dot on the map, and Waikele didn't exist at all. In the 1970s and '80s, things began to change. Sugar started to fail as a viable crop and there was nothing economically stimulating enough to take its place.

That's when the people-growing business of real estate development took hold, waking up this sleepy part of Oahu, and creating hope for new families to buy their own homes and begin new lives. Waikele and Waipio rest on slightly elevated land, offering vast views all the way from Diamond Head to the Waianae Mountains. These are communities of beautifully designed homes, townhomes and condos in lower to middle price ranges, with a nice selection of affordable rentals also available.

Many residences in these neighborhoods are priced to give young couples just starting out their first chance to buy a home.

The community of Waikele is built around gently curving, tree-lined streets, beautiful Waikele Golf Course and Oahu's leading premium factory outlet center. The 50 discount outlets, shops and restaurants of Waikele Shopping Center include such celebrated names as Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Saks Fifth Avenue, Anne Klein, Brooks Brothers and Banana Republic.

Waipahu has undergone several incarnations over the years, from fishing village to wetland farming area to sugar town. Part of the community's rich and colorful history can be viewed in the 50-acre Waipahu Cultural Garden Park, a must-see attraction. Visitors are able to experience what life was like from 1850 to 1930 in the park's Hawaii Plantation Village.

Zone 11

EwaKapoleiMakakilo

Who'd have thought it? Vibrant, people-filled communities on this flat Ewa plain where the tallest things around, other than a few plantation houses, used to be sugar cane tassels? Well, look around. Developers are building some sweet neighborhoods where sugar cane once grew.

Beginning in the early 1960s, the opening of Campbell Industrial Park brought thousands of new job opportunities to southwest Oahu. Two petroleum refineries, a steel fabricating plant, cement plant and many other industrial enterprises started an economic upsurge in this part of Oahu that just kept growing.

With more jobs came more homes, and now there's no end in sight. Developer Gentry Homes is building several first-class, master-planned neighborhoods in central and west Oahu. The company’s Ewa by Gentry development in Ewa and Ewa Beach include the new Tuscany, Latitudes and Haleakea communities.

Haseko's 1,100-acre Ocean Pointe Ewa master-planned residential development now under construction is a 15- to 20-year project that will include Ewa Marina, the largest marina in the state.

The 32,000-acre, master-planned urban center of Kapolei rivals Honolulu in size. The development won a National Developer of the Year award for owner-developer Campbell Estate. Thirty years of planning went into the creation of Kapolei, and the rewards are beginning to pay off big-time.

The closing of the Barbers Point Naval Air Station in the mid 1990s resulted in the transfer of military families once based there and left vacant thousands of Ewa military housing units. These housing communities, including Iroquois Point Island Club, are now available to civilians as rental homes.

Makakilo, located on the southern slopes of the Waianae range, is up off the Ewa plain, providing residents with enviable Ewa and ocean views. At elevations of 580 to 1180 feet above sea level, Makakilo is cooler and breezier than its lowland neighbors.

Zone 12

AieaPearl City

The city of Aiea covers almost 11,000 acres, from Pearl Harbor northward to the Ewa Forest Reserve.

Up Aiea Heights Drive is 384- acre Keaiwa Heiau State Recreation Area and Aiea Hiking Trail, a serenely beautiful forested locale, carpeted with pine needles and dotted with lovely picnic areas.

This community of 41,269 started out as a sugar plantation town, and the presence of the Aiea Sugar Mill provided the hard-working people with a proud identity. In 1998, following the demise of the sugar industry, the sugar mill was demolished, but the people prevailed. On 19.4 acres of the former sugar mill site, a new Town Center has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Here, the people of Aiea are able to embrace their plantation past as they look forward to the future with renewed vigor.

Within both the city limits of Aiea and Pearl City are all of the amenities one would want in a home town. The comfortable and attractive homes are generally in the moderate price range.

The schools and churches are sources of community pride. The area offers public libraries, recreation centers, lovely parks, ball fields, medical centers and dental services, and, if anything, an overabundance of places to shop.

Pearlridge Center, which lies between Kamehameha Highway and Moanalua Road, is a mammoth air-conditioned shopping complex built in two sections and linked by a monorail.