Kapolei () is a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

in Honolulu County,

Hawaiʻi Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, United States, on the island of

Oʻahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

. It is colloquially known as the "second city" of Oʻahu, in relation to

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the isla ...

. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Kapolei as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

(CDP) within the

consolidated city-county In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers ...

of Honolulu. The community takes its name from a

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. 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 ...

, ''Puʻu o Kapolei''. In the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family 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 ...

, ''puʻu'' means "hill" and ''Kapo lei'' means "beloved Kapo". According to legend, Kapo, Goddess of Fertility was sister to Pele, Goddess of Fire and

Nāmaka In Hawaiian mythology, Nāmaka (or Nā-maka-o-Kahai, the eyes of Kahai) appears as a sea goddess in the Pele family. She is an older sister of Pele-honua-mea. She is the daughter of Ku-waha-ilo and Haumea, whose other children are Pele, the H ...

, Goddess of the Sea. Much of the land is part of the estate of

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

James Campbell. Kapolei's major developer is Kapolei Property Development, a subsidiary of James Campbell Company. Kapolei sits primarily upon former

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

and

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

fields.

Demographics

History

In 1955 the Kapolei master plan was drafted and revised 3 different times beginning in 1974. In 1977 the new General Provision Plan adopted the Oʻahu General Plan which dubbed Kapolei "second urban center" (SUC) on the island of

. In 1986 the ʻEwa Master Plan was revised to include the SUC and the initial residential construction in the Kapolei area began in the late 1980s with commercial developments springing up shortly thereafter. Nearly two decades later, in 2006 the Kapolei area had more than 800 companies, agencies, and organizations making up approximately 25,000 jobs. As of the 2010 census, the Kapolei CDP had a population of 15,186 people. The original development objectives for the City of Kapolei were to include: an employment center, a new center for offices and businesses, a center for government offices, a city of people walking, biking, or bussing, the latest energy-efficient technologies such as water conservation and recycling, and the most efficient connectivity for commuting on Oʻahu. In essence a "smart city". The design plan for development ensures that the 7 themes of Kapolei remain the same throughout its construction. These include 1. Hawaiian Garden City 2. Healthy Living 3. Complete Community Services 4. Pedestrian-friendly 5. Past/Present/Future design architecture 6. Sustainability 7. Technology. Kapolei is quickly becoming the second urban center of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi's most densely populated island. Much of Oʻahu's future population growth is projected for the Kapolei area, ʻEwa Plain, and southern slopes of the island's central valley, between Waipahu near

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

and Wahiawā near the island's center. The U.S.

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

for Kapolei is 96707. In 2002, ''Pacific Business News'' reported that 96707 had the second highest median income on the island of Oʻahu, at $62,303. ''Sperlings's Best Places'' reports Kapolei's 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

Other communities in the Kapolei area are the census-designated places of Makakilo and

Naval Air Station Barbers Point Naval Air Station Barbers Point , on O'ahu, also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport), is a former United States Navy airfield closed in 1999, and renamed Kalaeloa Airport. Parts of the former air stati ...

(now known as

Kalaeloa Kalaeloa () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 2,364 at the 2020 census. The community occupies the location of the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point, which was closed in 1999 a ...

), the industrial area known as Campbell Industrial Park with the state's second largest deepwater port, Barbers Point Harbor, and the resort and marina community of

Ko Olina Ko Olina Resort is a master-planned vacation and residential community on the leeward coast of Oahu, west of Honolulu. Ko Olina has of coastal frontage and includes three natural and four man-made lagoons with white-sand beaches. The master-p ...

, which includes the Disney Aulani Resort 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 State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

governments and some of Hawaiʻi's largest companies have significant workplaces in Kapolei, population growth has far out-paced local job creation. A majority of Kapolei adults work in

, congesting the main traffic artery,

Interstate H-1 Interstate H-1 (abbreviated H-1) is the longest and busiest Interstate Highway in the US state of Hawaii. The highway is located on the island of O‘ahu. Despite the number, this is an east–west highway; the 'H'-series (for Hawaii) numbering ...

. In December 2006, the Honolulu City Council approved the

Honolulu Rail Transit The Honolulu Rail Transit Project (also known as the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project) is a light metro system under construction in Honolulu County, Hawaii, U.S. The mostly elevated system features design elements from both heav ...

project, a fixed-guideway elevated rail system connecting Kapolei to

Downtown Honolulu Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the n ...

. In January 2007, Oʻahu residents saw an increase of 0.5 percent to the

general excise tax file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

to help cover the costs of construction of the system. The project broke ground in East Kapolei on February 22, 2011. Work on the foundations for the concrete pillars began shortly after in Waipahu; work to install the pillars started in East Kapolei in April 2012, and the first phase of the project is expected to start service to

Aloha Stadium Aloha Stadium is a closed multi-purpose stadium located in Halawa, Hawaii, a western suburb of Honolulu (though with a Honolulu address). It is the largest stadium in the state of Hawaii. , the stadium ceased fan-attended operations indefinit ...

in 2022.

Main roads

Kapolei is located at the southern end of the slopes of the Waiʻanae mountain near the neighborhood of Makakilo with

Fort Barrette Road Located in Kapolei, Hawaii, the island of Oahu. Ft. Barrette road was constructed as an access road for the Marine Corps air station Barbers Point, later to be converted to Naval Air Station Barbers Point. The first half of the road circles Pu'u ...

, located along and named for historically important Fort Barrette, connecting Makakilo to Kapolei. It is located on the ʻEwa Plain approximately from Honolulu. The

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 west of Kapolei, merging into Farrington Highway (State Route 93) to Kahe and then to 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 Oʻahu resort area of Ko Olina. To the south, Renton Road connects Kapolei to

and, further east, to ʻEwa Villages.

Economy

Ka Makana Ali‘i, a mall that opened in October 2016, has 1.4 million square feet of retail space and more than a hundred stores. Macy's Department Store is an anchor for the mall.

Climate

*Highest temperature recorded in August 2016 *Lowest temperature recorded in March 2005 *Average high temperature in July, *Average low temperature in July, *Average high temperature in December, *Average low temperature in December, *Average rainfall in July, *Average rainfall in December,

Government and infrastructure

Kapolei is officially governed by the government of Honolulu County. The county government covers the entire island of

, with the county seat being at Honolulu Hale in

. The governmental body includes the Mayor of Honolulu County, the Honolulu City and County Council, and state representatives. Kapolei Hale, built in 2001, serves as the

civic 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. Recently, the ...

and main municipal building of the City of Kapolei. The building contains an office for the Mayor, as well as offices of various city and county government agencies and is the headquarters for the City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation. However, the Permits Office for the Department of Parks and Recreation is located

downtown Honolulu Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the n ...

at the Frank F. Fasi Civic Center in the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building at 650 South King Street. Additionally, federal, several state, and county department offices have been relocated to the Kapolei area. In 2010 the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary Court relocated family court matters from cramped offices in downtown Honolulu to a newly constructed, technologically advanced building in Kapolei. The Honolulu Police Department operates the Kapolei Regional Police Station for district 8 at 1100 Kamokila Boulevard. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

(FBI) Honolulu field office is in Kapolei at 91-1300 Enterprise Street. Opened in 2013, it is the first federal agency to be headquartered in Kapolei. This Honolulu field office has jurisdiction over Hawaiʻi,

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, and

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internatio ...

with resident agencies in

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, whic ...

Kona Kona or KONA may refer to: People *Kona (surname) *Dilshad Nahar Kona, Bangladeshi singer also known as Kona Television * ''Kona'' (TV series), a Kenyan telenovela that premiered in 2013 Locations * Kona, Kentucky * Kona, North Carolina * Ko ...

, Guam, and Saipan. The previous site in downtown Honolulu was too small.

Education

The Hawaiʻi Department of Education operates public schools in Hawaiʻi, including Kapolei. Public elementary schools in the Kapolei CDP include Kapolei Elementary School and Hoʻokele Elementary School, with one public middle school, Kapolei Middle School, and one public 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. On July 24, 2000, Kapolei opened wi ...

. Island Pacific Academy (pre-K through 12) in Kapolei CDP, which opened as a private school in 2004, is an International Baccalaureate (IB) school offering IB classes to all grades. American Renaissance Academy (pre-K through 12) opened as a private school in 2007 in Kalaeloa, Naval Air Station Barbers Point. Barbers Point Elementary School is in Kalaeloa CDP (formerly Barbers Point Housing CDP) but has a Kapolei address. Makakilo Elementary School and Mauka Lani Elementary School are in Makakilo CDP but have Kapolei addresses. The University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu relocated to Kapolei and opened its new campus in August 2012 at 91-1001 Farrington Highway.

Hawaii Tokai International College Hawaii Tokai International College (HTIC) is an American two-year liberal arts college located in Kapolei, Hawaii. It was established in Honolulu on May 22, 1992, in the Mo‘ili‘ili community neighboring Waikiki. Initially called "Tokai Intern ...

relocated to Kapolei in April 2015.

Wayland Baptist University Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is a private Baptist university based in Plainview, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Wayland Baptist has 11 campuses in five Texas cities, six s ...

is also located in Kapolei.
Wayland Baptist University Website, retrieved on April 9, 2018. "599 Farrington Highway, Suite 300 Kapolei, HI 96707 "

References

External links

Kapolei Property Development
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Honolulu County, Hawaii