Honolulu No Kai Oi (is the best) or lucky you live Hawaii (+ slideshow)

July 5, 10:53 PMHonolulu Affordable Travel ExaminerSandi Yara

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Photo - HTA Ron Garnett

People who live in Hawaii are pretty lucky.  As a matter of fact, there’s a local saying ... lucky you live Hawaii.  A lot of reasons make that  true:  the weather is pretty great year-round, the air is clean, the sky is clear and blue, the water is safe to drink, etc., etc., etc.

About 80% of Hawaii’s population live on Oahu where the capital city of Honolulu is located.  And, when Honolulu receives an award, many residents seem not to give it a second thought - perhaps it's because they know they’re lucky to live Hawaii.

While residents make take it for granted, accolades received by the city are worth mentioning.  After all, they’re not easy to come by – there is a lot of competition out there.  The recognitions are earned.  

Here’s a list of the recent awards received by the city of Honolulu:

Most ‘livable’ city’ U.S. city by Monocle magazine
Criteria is based on a number of factors including environmental sustainability, quality health care and commuting patterns.

So who is Monocle?  According to their website, Monocle launched in February 2007 and is a global briefing covering international affairs, business, culture and design. The publication is headquartered in London with bureaus in Tokyo, Sydney, Zürich and New York. 

Honolulu named U.S. city with the ‘Best Quality of Living’ in the 2009 Mercer Quality of Living Survey
Each city was rated on 39 quality-of-living factors, from traffic congestion and air quality to schooling and recreation. Mercer’s Quality of Living ranking covers 215 cities and is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments.
 
Mercer describes itself as, “the global leader for trusted HR and related financial advice, products and services. The company has more than 18,000 employees serving clients in over 180 cities and 40 countries and territories worldwide.”

Photo of Honolulu Harbor, courtesy HTJ and Hawaii Convention Center, courtesy HTA Chuck Painter

Honolulu is the ‘most romantic city’ in the United States, according to American travelers
TripAdvisor conducted an American city survey of more than 3,400 U.S. travelers to get opinions on the best and worst of major U.S. cities and Honolulu was named the most romantic.

TripAdvisor LLC says it attracts more than 33 million monthly visitors.

No. 8 of the ‘top 25 walking cities’ by Prevention magazine
Cities were evaluated for their safe streets, beautiful places to walk, mild weather and good air quality.  Specific criteria used by Prevention to create the list included percentage of population that walks for exercise, percentage of adults who walk to work, use of mass transit, parks per square mile, points of interest per square mile, average winter/summer temperatures, and percentage of adults who walk for fitness.

An excerpt from their website, “Prevention is the #1 healthy lifestyle magazine brand and the 10th largest magazine in the nation, with more than 11 million readers.”
 
And, while not directly awarded to Honolulu the following award qualifies for this list just the same ...

‘Best Conference or Convention Center City’ by Business Traveler Magazine
The magazine awarded the Hawaii Convention Center with its 2009 Best in Business Travel award in the category of. Best Conference or Convention Center City.

Business Traveler editor in chief Eva Leonard said, “The Hawaii Convention Center is a highly functional showplace, featuring an attractive, visitor-friendly design that appeals to the readers of Business Traveler as a shining example of what a convention and meeting facility should be. Its location in one of the most beautiful destinations in the world only enhances its appeal, and is complemented by the center’s serious facilities for getting down to business, as well as its rich reflection of Hawaiian culture.”

With 10 editions and a worldwide distribution of over 500,000 copies, Business Traveler is the world’s leading publication geared toward frequent business travelers.

Honolulu No Ka Oi!  If you can’t live here, come and visit sometime – it’s a great city.  

Scroll to tne bottom to check out the photo gallery for more images of this great city.