| Kapolei | |
|---|---|
| — Unincorporated community — | |
| Aerial Photo of Kapolei, Oahu | |
|
Kapolei
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Hawaii |
| County | Honolulu |
| Time zone | Hawaii-Aleutian (HAST) (UTC-10) |
| • Summer (DST) | HADT (UTC-9) |
| ZIP codes | |
| FIPS code | |
| GNIS feature ID | |
Kapolei is an unincorporated community in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States on the island of Oahu and is colloquially known as the "second city".[1] Second to Honolulu in size, it is not a legal municipal corporation and thus not properly a city.
The community takes its name from a volcanic cone, Puʻu o Kapolei. In the Hawaiian language, puʻu 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 James Campbell. Kapolei's major developer is Kapolei Property Development, a subsidiary of James Campbell Company.[2] Kapolei sits primarily upon former sugarcane and pineapple fields.
Contents |
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 ʻEwa Plain and southern slopes of the island's central valley, between Waipahu on Pearl Harbor 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.[3]
The U.S. postal code 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%.
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 Aulani and Ko Olina Golf Club.
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. In December 2006, Honolulu City Council approved a fixed-guideway transit 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.
Kapolei is located at the southern end of the slopes of the Waiʻanae mountain near the town of Makakilo. It is located on the ʻEwa 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 Oahu resort area of Ko Olina.
To the south, Renton Road connects Kapolei to Kalaeloa and, further east, to 'Ewa Villages.
Kapolei Hale is the civic center 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.[4]
The Honolulu Police Department operates the Kapolei Regional Police Station.[5]
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 Academy (pre-K through 12), opened as a private school in 2004. Kapolei Middle School and Kapolei High School serve older children with Kapolei addresses.
|
||||||||||||||