One of the reasons I like living in Hilo, Hawaii is that it is less crowded than the mainland. To keep it that way, I am going to attempt to convince you not to move here. So here are my top reasons why you shouldn’t move to Hilo.

Hilo is a dangerous place

According to Neighborhood Scout, Hilo is more dangerous than 88% of the other cities in the United States. I guess we almost make the 90th percentile in something. Too bad its for something bad.

Hilo is located on the side of an active volcano. I mean what could go wrong. Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984, but fortunately the lava flow stopped short of Hilo.

It’s tough to find a job in Hilo

This Yahoo article gives a little picture of how hard it can be to find a job in Hilo.

Heck I live in Hilo, but even I don’t have a job in Hilo. My company is located in California. I’m glad I can telecommute, because the 2,389 miles to California would be one hell of a long drive. Oh wait, there’s no bridge from Hawaii to California.

A good number of our keiki (children) leave Hilo for the mainland to get jobs, because there are not enough jobs here. So if people are leaving for jobs, coming here expecting to find a job quickly might not make sense.

Electricity is very expensive here in Hilo

Our electricity prices average $0.40 per kilowatt hour. We have the highest electricity rates in the nation according to Civil Beat.

You won’t be able to sleep in the morning because of the roosters

Lots of people have roosters here in Hilo, including us. They can get very loud in the morning, so forget being able to sleep in. And sometimes their internal clock goes off and they decide to start crowing in the middle of the night too.

You won’t be able to sleep at night in Hilo because of the coqui frogs

We have these evil little frogs called coqui frogs. They come out and night and make an exceptionally loud chirping noise that is sure to keep you awake at night.

How loud is a coqui frog? Well when you put a few hundred of them together they are about as load as a jet engine. Hope you have ear plugs.

Food is costs more here in Hilo

A lot of our food is shipped in from the mainland. As you might imagine, it costs a lot of money to ship perishable food, so food costs more here because of additional cost to ship it here.

Gasoline is very expensive in Hilo

I usually pay about $4.35 per gallon to fill my car up. I live in town, so I don’t do much driving, but if you have to drive a lot this can really add up. Public transportation aside from a few sparse bus routes is non-existent here so expect to drive a lot even if you live in town. And if you live outside of Hilo expect to drive a whole lot.

The air in Hilo is worse than Los Angeles

Okay, not all the time, but L.A. has smog, while Hilo has vog. Vog is produced by the Kilauea Volcano, which has been erupting for a very long time. When the trade winds stop, all of the vog from the volcano lingers over Hilo and harms Hilo’s air quality.

Hilo rains all the time

Hilo is the rainiest city in the U.S., so unless you are hydrophilic, Hilo might not be a fun place for you.

Please don’t move to Hilo

Please don’t move to Hilo. I want to keep it all to myself.

Okay, I might be exaggerating a little, but these are somethings you might want to consider before moving to Hilo, Hawaii.