Ewa

Today, the 'Ewa Plain is a place of rapid development and change. Once the site of sugar cane fields and the 'Ewa Mill, today 'Ewa is expanding as a residential bedroom city to Honolulu. Located to the west of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, agriculture has been replaced by large planned developments. Several new communities have sprung up, splitting 'Ewa, which means 'crooked' in Hawaiian, into several distinct communities. Golf courses turn up literally everywhere you turn here, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to get a reservation, with a growing population of over 43,800 residents.

Good luck finding your way out of THIS residential maze, especially since there is aonly one main thoroughfare in and out. Traffic problems have grown exponentially as new communities are built without corresponding adjustments to the area's overburdened transportation infrastructure. In the meantime, residential expansion continues unabated, and there is no way to know when it will slow down.

'Ewa Beach

'Ewa Beach is the community closest to the ocean, home to beautiful beaches and the largest population in the area with 14,650 residents. Despite the continual changes that 'Ewa Beach has undergone in the past decade, its roots as a plantation town remain. Like the rest of the state, 49% of 'Ewa Beach reports Asian ancestry. Can't use census data to talk about homes, etc--TOO out of date, esp since figures are always changing.

Ewa by Gentry

Several successful projects built by Gentry Homes in 'Ewa include the communities of Huelani and Terrazza. The Thomas H. Gentry Community Center provides the area's 5,000 residents with resources for meeting, swimming, and taking various community-centered classes.

Ewa Villages

Home to Renton, Varona, Fernandez, and Tenney Villages and a very large golf course. Over 70% of the resdents of 'Ewa Villages are of Filipino ancestry, with a median household income exceeding

$61,000. The western border of 'Ewa Villages is adjacent to Kapolei, another booming suburban city that is unofficially known as O'ahu's second city.

Ocean Pointe 'Ewa

Japanese developer Haesko Hawai'i Inc. is currently building Ocean Pointe, 'Ewa's newest development. Located on the western edge of 'Ewa Beach, it will include expansion of Oneula Beach Park, another golf course, and the construction of the largest marina in the state. The project plans to complete construction on 4,850 new homes for an estimated 13,000 residents within the next few years.

Kapolei

It's hard to believe that the vast, dry 'Ewa Plain to the west of Pearl Harbor was once populated only by sugar cane fields. A residential and commercial development boom has transformed the area into a bustling series of suburbs, shopping centers, and golf resorts. The 'Ewa Development Plan, adopted in 1997, was the first of the city's new conceptual development plans. The plan calls for development of the 'second city,' including a mix of retail, office and residences for the city of Kapolei; the new University of Hawai'i West O'ahu campus; the Ko 'Olina Resort and Marina; industrial areas of Campbell Industrial Park; and Kalaeloa, formerly Barbers Point Naval Air Station.

Kapolei

Kapolei is one of the newest communities on O'ahu. The urban center of Kapolei is similar in size to that of Honolulu, and many hope that its master-planned infrastructure--which includes a business park, shopping center, 16-screen theater complex, medical park, commercial work centers and complexes for government services--will help to take pressure off an increasingly overcrowded urban Honolulu.

As the vision for creating a real 'second city' in West O'ahu at Kapolei comes into focus, major community concern lingers over developing a suitable infrastructure to handle the growth. While development continues at a rapid pace, transportation and school capacity remain critical issues for the support of continued growth. Heavy traffic in Kapolei is a fact of life for residents, a burden that city and state officials hope to alleviate through the construction of new traffic corridors and the implementation of more effective mass-transit options.

Makakilo

Located north of Kapolei on the slopes of the Wai'anae mountain range, Makakilo is an older West O'ahu subdivision with views of the ocean and 'Ewa plain expanse. Accordingly, Makakilo literally means "observing eyes" in Hawaiian. A population of 13,156 brings in a median family income of $67,267. Despite most of the area's exponential growth occurring in Kapolei and the surrounding plain, Makakilo is also experiencing new growth in the form of new residential projects.

Waianae

Various communities along the Wai'anae coast extend from Nanakuli to Makaha, a long stretch of west O'ahu that is also the driest part of the island. It is bounded by the Wai'anae Mountain Range and the Western coastline of O'ahu. Wai'anae and its surrounding communities are known for a high Native Hawaiian and Polynesian population. In recent years, the area has seen an increase in violence, crime, and overall poverty, with the incidence of homelessness estimated at over 1,000 people living on the beach and in area parks.

With a literal meaning of "look at the knee," or "look deaf." Nanakuli was not highly populated in ancient Hawai'i because of its dry climate and lack of accessible fresh water. Things changed in 1879, when the McCandless brothers drilled Hawai'i's first artesian well in Nanakuli. While most of the well water was used to nourish cane fields on the Leeward plains during the sugar plantation area, Hawaiians began to settle in the area during the first half of the 20th century, often hauling in thier own water supply from Ewa or Makaha. Since then, the area has grown to a population of encompassing over 10,000 residents. Seventy-five percent of the population reports Hawaiian or mixed-Hawaiian ancestry. With over 84% of residents born and raised in Hawai'i, it comes as no surprise that Nanakuli is known for it's 'homegrown' local population.

This small, inland community consists of a Hawaiian Homelands tract and significant Navy installations, including an ammunitions magazine and radio transmitter site. Residents of the area are overwhelmingly Native Hawaiian, with almost all of the area's 1,800 residents reporting Hawaiian and mixed-Hawaiian ancestry. Lualualei, which means "beloved one spared," was the name of a child whose family narrowly escaped execution. Lualualei Valley was once the center of the Wai'anae volcano that formed O'ahu.

With a population just less than 6,000 residents, Ma'ili is one of the smaller areas of population density on the West side. That doesn't make it any less attractive, however. Named for an abundance of small, round rocks on the shoreline, Ma'ili literally means "pebbly" in Hawaiian. Ancient Natives held races on the plains of Ma'ili, while Westerners later chose to hold horse races on the Ma'ili shoreline during the 19th century. Like the rest of the Wai'anae Coastal communities, Ma'ili is home to a high percentage of residents reporting Hawaiian or mixed-Hawaiian ancestry; it is also home to a large Asian population, with 51% claiming Asian or mixed-Asian ancestry. Mai'ili Beach Park is a popular place for camping, canoe regattas, and paddling races.

Wai'anae

Comparable in size to Nanakuli with 10,503 residents, Wai'anae literally means "mullet water" in Hawaiian, a reference to the many fish once farmed in fishponds along the coastline. Because the dry climate could not support wetland taro lo'i (patches), dryland taro was farmed extensively in Wai'anae. Like the rest of the Coast, Wai'anae town is predominantly comprised of Polynesians, 62% of residents reporting Pacific Islander descent. 17.5 percent of families in Wai'anae live below the poverty level Like many of the island's far-flung country people, Wai'anae residents report a $46,717 median household income, a figure significantly lower than the state average. Residents enjoy an annual Wai'anae Sunset on the Beach, Christmas Parade, and Ho'olaulea.

World-famous for Makaha Bay's surfing and the Makaha Resort and Golf Club, Makaha continues today as a desirable destination for surfers and tourists alike. The area was named after a famous ancient fisherman who attracted the favor of 'Anuenue, the goddess of Manoa. The far-west settlement of O'ahu remains a country town to this day, with a population little more than 7,000. Like much of the rest of the coast, Makaha struggles with poverty; at $35,674, the median household income is only half of the state average, and 22.3 percent of Makaha families live below the poverty line. Water sports are popular among residents, with famous resident surfer Rell Sunn's Menehune Surf Competition one of the year's premeire events.

Waipahu

Waipahu is a diverse neighborhood located just northwest of Pearl Harbor that comprises the neighborhoods of Waipahu, Kunia, Waikele, and Waipi'o. Over fifty percent of the area's residents are of Filipino descent, with a ten percent Japanese population. The area also has a significant Samoan installment, which comprises nearly 7 percent of Waipahu's 33,000 total residents. Ten percent of families and 14 percent of individuals in Waipahu live below the poverty level, with median yearly earnings of 23,000 for females and 28,000 for males.

Originally a village called Auali'i, it was renamed Waipahu, or 'gushing water,' after the O'ahu Sugar Company developed various methods for transporting vast amounts of water to the sugar fields. Like many other plantations in Hawai'i, immigrants from China, Japan, Portugal, Norway, and the Phillipines settled in Waipahu as unskilled laborers. Skilled labor was imported from Germany to run O'ahu's first twelve-roller sugar mill, which provided an average sugar production of over 12 tons per acre of cane.

Today, Waipahu is home to many descendants of the laborers who worked at the mill, which stopped production in 1940. The mill closed in 1995, leaving economic doldrums in its wake. Within the past ten years, however, Waipahu has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts. An economic restructuring of the old sugar mill into the Mill Town Shopping Center is aimed at maintaining the area as the center of town. Construction of a new Waipahu Festival Marketplace, the Filipino Community Center, and landscaping along roadways are part of what the Waipahu Community Association hopes will be a massive revitalization of old Waipahu.

The Waipahu Plantation Village Foundation holds regular cultural events to celebrate the diversity of Waipahu's varied ethnic communities, including a permanent exhibit on plantation life during the early 1900s. Plantation celebration events provide residents with a connection to the area's rich plantation history.

Waikele

Waikele was born during O'ahu's economic transition from sugar dependence to real estate. As the viability of sugar production waned in central O'ahu, planned communities were built on the lower slopes of O'ahu's central plain, providing beautiful vistas of Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, and the Wai'anae mountain range. Waikele's main attraction is a popular oommercial factory outlet center, which features a wide array of name-brands and a comfortable shopping experience.

Waipi'o

Home to Hawai'i's largest Costco and Autoplex, Waipi'o has become more than just a tiny central town on O'ahu. Like Waikele, one of the big draws to the area can be found in these popular commercial centers. The area also boasts the Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Complex, which provides state-of-the-art facilities appropriate for youth leagues, high school, college, and international matches. It has also become a significant residential area with a population near 17,000.