Kapolei, Hawaii

File:Kapoleihale.jpg

Kapolei Hale is the civic center of the City of Kapolei. A Spanish mission architectural revivial, it houses a satellite city hall.

Kapolei, Hawaii, is a community within the City and County of Honolulu in Hawaii, and is designated as an unofficial city on the island of Oahu colloquially called The Second City. The name "Kapolei" is derived from that of a nearby cinder cone: Pu‘u o Kapolei—in Hawaiian, pu'u meaning "hill" and kapo lei meaning "beloved Kapo" (a sister of Pele).

The City of Kapolei is being developed as a second urban center for O‘ahu (after Honolulu), the most densely populated island in the state of Hawai‘i. Much of O‘ahu's population growth is occurring—and future population growth is slated for—the ‘Ewa Plain and southern slopes of the island's central valley: that is the former agricultural lands of ‘Ewa and the mostly gentle slopes between Waipahu on Pearl Harbor and Wahiawa near the center of the island.

Initial construction of residential units began in the late 1980s, with commercial developments following shortly thereafter. Despite ongoing efforts at making Kapolei a self-sufficient city, it remains largely a bedroom community to Honolulu with some continuing traffic problems, although major new road construction has begun. A Manawai Street-Kama‘aha Avenue extension was completed in August 2006 and helped to reduce congestion along Kamokila Boulevard and Farrington Highway. Kapolei Property Development began construction in January 2007 on a $2 million road to extend Kamokila Boulevard from Kapolei Parkway to Roosevelt Avenue. Kapolei Property Development recently contributed $6 million for a joint project with the State Department of Transportation for the construction of an additional freeway on-ramp. Although the state and city governments and some of Hawai‘i's largest companies have set up significant sub-centers in Kapolei, the rapid population growth in the area has far out-paced local job creation, and a majority of adults living in and near Kapolei are employed in Honolulu, causing heavy congestion on the main traffic artery, Interstate H-1. In December 2006, Honolulu City Council approved a fixed-guideway transit system from Kapolei to downtown Honolulu. In January 2007, Oahu residents began paying for the system with a 0.5 percent increase in the general excise tax.

Associated with Kapolei are the previously developed communities of Makakilo and Barbers Point Naval Air Station (now Kalaeloa), the industrial area known as Campbell Industrial Park (industrial area of O'ahu) with its deepwater port, Barbers Point Harbor, and the resort community of Ko Olina (formerly West Beach).

Kapolei is home to both State of Hawaii and City and County of Honolulu Office Buildings, as well as a public library, post office and schools. Construction of the Kapolei Courthouse is scheduled to begin in summer 2007. A private school (pre-K through 12) opened in 2004.

The U.S. postal code for Kapolei is 96707. In 2002, Pacific Business News reported that Zip Code 96707 had the second highest income on the island of Oahu, with a median income of $62,303. Nearly one household in five has income exceeding $100,000. The City and County of Honolulu reports that Kapolei has a home ownership rate of 70%. Sterlings's Best Places reports that Kapolei now has a Median Household Income of $70,129 compared to the national average of $42,350.

Weather

• Average high temperature in August, 87°F (31°C)
• Average low temperature in August, 69°F (21°C)
• Average high temperature in January, 80°F (27°C)
• Average low temperature in January, 61°F (16°C)
• Average rainfall in January, 4.1" (104.1 mm)
• Average rainfall in August, 0.4" (10.2 mm)

Geography

Kapolei is located at the southern end of the slopes of the Wai‘anae mountain near the town of Makakilo. It is located on the ‘Ewa Plain approximately 25 miles from Honolulu. The Interstate H-1 freeway divides more recently developed Kapolei from Makakilo, and traveling eastward on H-1 connects to Waipahu. In the other direction, the freeway ends about 1 mile west of Kapolei, merging into Farrington Highway (State Rte. 93) to Kahe and then Nānākuli on the Wai'anae Coast. Traveling eastward on Farrington Highway connects to Honouliuli. Exit 1 on H-1 is Kalaeloa Boulevard, the entrance to Barbers Point and Campbell Industrial Park. Less than 1 mile beyond (west of) the merge of H-1 and Farrington Highway is an off ramp and overcrossing to the West O‘ahu resort area of Ko Olina.

To the south, Renton Road connects Kapolei to Kalaeloa and, further east, to 'Ewa Villages.

File:Ewa Plain02.jpg

External links

• City of Kapolei
• Kapolei just behind Hawaii Kai when it comes to wealth
• Kapolei Aerial Photograph