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DH works/lives in Kona during the week...in the upper elevation (above HWY190) it is a lot like Illinois woods in May or Sept. (OK, that helps not many...but Sputnut will know) down toward the ocean there is some humidity, but not so much rain, so not much vegetation...& a lot of black lava (hence the temps are higher)... but still enough humidity (40-60%) to sweat..... but that answer depends...some of Kona gets quite a bit of rain... esp the coffee belt...kinda in the order of IL... & areas like Kawaihae harbor is DRY - less than 10", & the wind can whip away anything on you, inc. your breath at times...so can feel parching....
The big reason we are not LOVE KONA type people is the VOG - my nose does not like it one bit...& neither of us like the pace & tourism of that side...the HIlo side is more ag.... pace is more to what we are used to (waving to the neighbor cars that pass, blowing the breeze with the clerk....that sort of pace).
If we HAD to both live in Kona, we would have chosen the upper area where hubby rents for nice location, climate not too hot & VOG not too annoying...but still we have love the quantity & quality of the cultural offering here, & have not found it as easy to meet the assortment of people as over on the east side... oh & for you guys, Hilo is the only Walgreens (believe or not, my 1st job was a PDQ call operator for them, when I started college I was in their computer dept., small world!)
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Kona has the worst air pollution in the state. My cousin lived there for thirty years. Elementary school teacher. When Halemaumau blew out and started emitting tons more So2 they just couldn't take it anymore and moved. And they loved it there.
I've posted this link before but it's worth looking at again.
If I had to live on that side I'd look for something toward Waimea/Kamuela.
http://weather.hawaii.edu/vmap/hysplit/
One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.
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May and Sept are the 2 best months around here. Not too hot or cold, breezy and sept isn't too humid, either.
comin' your way soon!
comin' your way soon!
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Use Bing "bird's eye" to view prospective properties. I found a lot of chicken farms and junk yards that were NOT visible from the street. Bing is pretty current in HPP.
I wonder about people when they say to watch out for "bad" neighbors or these people are "good" neighbors. Do you think it's going to be the same forever?
ETA:
I also research ALL the neighbors that surround anything I want to buy. I have a list of all the nearby TMKs and owners. I even Google their names to find out more about them.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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Vacation Rental here. It is cheaper than my last rental on the mainland and utils are included!
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Vacation Rentals by Owner
http://www.vrbo.com/ is a good resource for short-term rentals.
Also Craigslist Big Island
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/big/ for all kinds of things including rentals and furniture and garage sales and...
><(((*> ~~~~ ><(("> ~~~~ ><'> ~~~~ >(>
Posts: 6,214
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Sputnut...yah, that is why we moved here.... Although they are the rainiest 2 months of the year there...they are the 2 that DH & I loved most, and now live in for 12 months! Not too bad a trade... heck, can even have snow to play in...& fill up a truck with...just to play in....or not (that is the best part for us! ;~)
OH, and the humidity here on the east side is from the 60s to the 80s....have not seen upper RH in 90s here....never that swampy feeling & night time usually cools off enough to warrant a bed cover...do not get that 90s & 90s here....
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well, Its 96 here now and supposed to be about 100 here tomorrow, so enjoy!(At least it's lower humidity since no rain for a month) I always found sept to not be too rainy, or too windy, cool, hot, cloudy or anything else. That is why it is my favorite month. Fairly low humidity, plenty of sun, days still pretty long and usually 70-80 for hi temps and mid to upper 50's lows. PERFECT!! I would love a place like that year round. I know... not even on Hawaii.
comin' your way soon!
comin' your way soon!
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I always google map properties, mostly because trulia's maps aren't very dependable on which property is there. You gotta look at the pics of the house / yard n figure out which one is really the one. HPP doesn't seem to be big on the rooster farms so far as I have seen, though. I still don't know why they don't arrest them, as it is obvious what they are doing.
comin' your way soon!
comin' your way soon!
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You do find that "perfect' here... except the days are 'only' ~11-13 hours long... but you have to know WHERE to find that 'perfect' .... we traded where we bought for a little more affordability (more late May than Sept.... but have friends that live in more mid Sept than May....so all good!)
Sorry to all non- middle midwesterns....but....well, how else to explain it?
