Kapolei, Hawaii
Encyclopedia
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Honolulu County, Hawaii
Honolulu County, Hawaii
The City and County of Honolulu is a consolidated city–county located in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The municipality and county includes both the urban district of Honolulu and the rest of the island of Oahu, as well as several minor outlying islands, including all of the Northwestern Hawaiian...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on the island of Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
and is colloquially known as the "second city". Second to Honolulu in size, it is not a legal municipal corporation
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
and thus not properly a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
.
The community takes its name from a volcanic cone
Volcanic cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic formations. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and size of the fragments ejected during the eruption...
, Puu o Kapolei. In the Hawaiian language
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
, puu means hill and Kapo lei means beloved Kapo. According to legend, Kapo was sister to Pele.
Much of the land is part of the estate of industrialist
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
James Campbell. Kapolei's major developer is Kapolei Property Development, a subsidiary of James Campbell Company. Kapolei sits primarily upon former sugarcane
Sugarcane
Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
and pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
fields.
Description
Kapolei is quickly becoming the second urban center for Oahu, Hawaii's most densely populated island. Much of Oahu's future population growth is slated for—the Ewa Plain and southern slopes of the island's central valley, between Waipahu on Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
and Wahiawa near the island's center.
Initial residential construction in the Kapolei area began in the late 1980s, with commercial developments springing up shortly thereafter. As of 2011, Kapolei has a population of 34,950 people, growing over 38% since 2000.
The U.S. postal code
Postal code
A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...
for Kapolei is 96707. In 2002, Pacific Business News reported that 96707 had the second highest median income on the island of Oahu, at $62,303. Sperlings's Best Places reports Kapolei median income of $70,129 compared to the national average of $42,350. Nearly one household in five has income exceeding $100,000 with a home ownership rate of 70%.
Communities
Considered in the Kapolei area are the communities of Makakilo and Naval Air Station Barbers Point (now Kalaeloa), the industrial area known as Campbell Industrial Park with its deepwater port, Barbers Point Harbor, and the resort and marina community of Ko Olina including AulaniAulani
Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa is a beachside hotel, resort and vacation destination at the Ko Olina Resort & Marina in Kapolei on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Part of the Disney Vacation Club, it is the third Disney Vacation Club Resort located outside of a Disney theme park property...
and Ko Olina Golf Club.
Transportation
Ongoing road construction has not resolved continuing traffic problems. 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 an additional freeway on-ramp.Although state and city governments and some of Hawaii's largest companies have significant workplaces in Kapolei, population growth has far out-paced local job creation. A majority of Kapolei adults work in Honolulu, congesting the main traffic artery, Interstate H-1
Interstate H-1
Interstate H-1 is the busiest Interstate Highway in Hawaii, United States, located on the island of O‘ahu. Despite the number, this is an east–west highway—the 'H'-series numbering reflects the order in which routes were funded and built. H-1 goes from Route 93 in Kapolei to Route 72 in...
. In December 2006, Honolulu City Council approved a fixed-guideway transit
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
system to downtown Honolulu. In January 2007, Oahu residents began paying for the system with a 0.5 percent increase in the general excise tax.
Weather
- Average high temperature in August, 92°F (33°C)
- Average low temperature in August, 62°F (16°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)
Future structures
- University of Hawaii-West OahuUniversity of Hawaii-West OahuThe University of Hawaii - West Oahu, UHWO, or UH West Oahu, is one of ten branches of the University of Hawaii system and is a public, co-ed, state university with the main campus located at 96-129 Ala Ike, adjacent to Leeward Community College and the Pearl City CDP in the City and County of...
, currently based in Pearl CityPearl City, HawaiiPearl City is a census-designated place located in the Ewa District and City & County of Honolulu on the Island of Oahu. As of the 2010 Census, the CDP had a total population of 47,698. Pearl City is located along the north shore of Pearl Harbor. ʻAiea borders Pearl City to the east, while Waipahu...
, plans to move to a new campus in Kapolei in fall 2011. - Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor ProjectHonolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor ProjectThe Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project is the official name for the plan to construct an elevated rapid transit line serving the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Plans for a mass transit line to connect Honolulu's urban center with outlying areas began in the 1960s,...
, a rail line that would link the District of Kapolei to Downtown Honolulu, and Honolulu International AirportHonolulu International AirportHonolulu International Airport is the principal aviation gateway of the City & County of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii and is identified as one of the busiest airports in the United States, with traffic now exceeding 21 million passengers a year and rising.It is located in the Honolulu...
.
Main roads
Kapolei is located at the southern end of the slopes of the Waianae mountain near the town of Makakilo. It is located on the Ewa Plain approximately 25 miles from Honolulu. The Interstate H-1Interstate H-1
Interstate H-1 is the busiest Interstate Highway in Hawaii, United States, located on the island of O‘ahu. Despite the number, this is an east–west highway—the 'H'-series numbering reflects the order in which routes were funded and built. H-1 goes from Route 93 in Kapolei to Route 72 in...
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 Oahu resort area of Ko Olina.
To the south, Renton Road connects Kapolei to Kalaeloa and, further east, to 'Ewa Villages.
Government and infrastructure
Kapolei Hale is the civic centerCivic center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building...
built by the City and County of Honolulu and includes an office of the Mayor of Honolulu as well as offices of various city and county government agencies. Additionally, several state offices have been relocated to West Oahu. In 2010 the Hawaii State Judiciary relocated family court matters from cramped offices in downtown Honolulu to a newly constructed, technologically advanced building in Kapolei.
The Honolulu Police Department
Honolulu Police Department
The Honolulu Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawai'i, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu CDP....
operates the Kapolei Regional Police Station.
Education
Hawaii Department of Education operates public schools in Hawaii. Public elementary schools serving Kapolei addresses include Barbers Point, Kapolei, Makakilo, and Mauka Lani. Island Pacific AcademyIsland Pacific Academy
Island Pacific Academy is a college preparatory school operating in Kapolei, Hawaii. The school was founded in 2003 and enrolled its first students in preparation for the 2004-2005 school year. The combined enrollment for the 2010-11 school year is approximately 660 for grades from Junior...
(pre-K through 12), opened as a private school in 2004. Kapolei Middle School and Kapolei High School
Kapolei High School
Kapolei High School, located in Kapolei community in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, on the Island of Oahu, is a public high school. It is a part of the Hawaii Department of Education....
serve older children with Kapolei addresses.