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Salt Lake is a suburban neighborhood community of Honolulu, Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu. Salt Lake is also the name of the volcano on which the community sits. With an expansive view of downtown Honolulu and the sugarcane plantations of the central plains of O'ahu, Salt Lake was developed in the 1960s during the Hawai'i construction boom. It is a community of high-rise condominiums, mid-rise town-dwellings and houses snaking around the remnants of a freshwater lake. Though a freshwater body the lake was ironically called Salt Lake, from which the neighborhood community gets its name.
An ahupua'a in ancient Hawai'i was a parcel of royal land that stretched from the mountain to the sea. The Salt Lake ahupua'a was the property of the Estate of S.M. Damon, a private trust of lands owned by Samuel M. Damon. Before him, the lands belonged to the reigning House of Kalakaua which had in turn acquired them from the House of Kamehameha. Damon was involved with the Committee of Safety that succeeded in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and obtained the abdication of Queen Lili'uokalani. Damon later became one of the first trustees of the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate and served alongside philanthropist Charles Reed Bishop. The Estate of S.M. Damon sold the ahupua'a to commercial and residential developers in 1956. After statehood, the developers took part in an effort led by Governor of Hawai'i John A. Burns to establish Honolulu as one of the most modern of the cities in the United States with Salt Lake as one of its highlights.
A 2003 special feature of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin classified Salt Lake as affluent upper-middle class with equal distribution of Caucasians and second and third generations of Filipino Americans and Japanese Americans. Korean American families have also been making their presence known most recently. There are under 30,000 people living in Salt Lake. Based on surveys compiled by the University of Hawaii, residents are composed of mostly Honolulu professionals and military officers choosing to live off base. The neighborhood community is home to the families of officers from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard and Navy.
According to the 2000 report of the United States Census Bureau, Salt Lake ranked eighth of all the neighborhood communities in Hawai'i in terms of highest median annual household incomes. It ranked second in median home values reaching as high as USD $875,000. Waikīkī was ranked first.
Salt Lake is completely surrounded by military installations. Fort Shafter is the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific. Hickam Air Force Base is headquarters of the United States Pacific Air Forces. Pearl Harbor is headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet and home of the USS Arizona Memorial. United States Pacific Command is to the west of Salt Lake at Camp Smith. Tripler Army Medical Center is the principal military medical facility of Asia and the Pacific Rim.
Moanalua High School was opened in 1972 to meet the educational needs of the newly developed neighborhood community. Over the years it had gained a reputation for excellence and had been dubbed by the Honolulu Advertiser as the Private School of Public Schools, a moniker that became widely used by Hawai'i residents in reference to the school. The distinction acknowledged the qualities it shared with prestigious institutions like 'Iolani School and Punahou School. Also serving the neighborhood community are Aliamanu Elementary School and Aliamanu Middle School, formerly known as Aliamanu Intermediate School until 1997. Salt Lake Elementary School hugs the slopes of the Aliamanu volcano. There are two schools serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, Holy Family Catholic Academy and the Saint Philomena Early Learning Center at Saint Philomena Church.
The civic center of the Salt Lake neighborhood community is Salt Lake Shopping Center, bound by Ala Ilima Street, Ala Lilikoi Street and Salt Lake Boulevard. A minor community mall, its anchor tenants are a Safeway grocery store, a Longs Drugs store and the only McDonald's in the region. Some of the most popular Hawai'i eateries are at Salt Lake Shopping Center including Soon's, an acclaimed Korean barbecue place and Loong Hwa, a Chinese restaurant. In the 1980s, Mayor of Honolulu Frank Fasi established a mobile satellite city hall at Salt Lake Shopping Center to provide city services for residents without having to travel long distances to do so. Salt Lake Shopping Center at one time was home to the Salt Lake Moanalua Public Library until it moved to its own state-of-the-art facilities on the campus of Aliamanu Elementary and Middle Schools.
Salt Lake is considered a green neighborhood community, endowed with large stretches of park lands. The largest of the parks is Salt Lake District Park renovated as recently as 2003. It is so large that the park was divided into two regions, mauka and makai. The park is home to various hiking trails that snake around the slopes of Aliamanu and Salt Lake volcanoes and features the remnants of the actual freshwater lake that once dominated the region. Salt Lake District Park has playing fields, basketball and tennis courts. There are multipurpose buildings and a gymnasium operated by the City & County of Honolulu. A 50-meter swimming pool is the newest addition.
Smaller parks dot the Salt Lake landscape, green oases in the midst of high-rise condominiums. Salt Lake Municipal Park and its parking lot is the site of the People's Market each Saturday morning. Established by Mayor of Honolulu Frank Fasi, the People's Market allows Salt Lake residents to purchase fresh produce and fish from independent local growers. Hoa Aloha Park on Ala Ilima Street is the site of weekend soccer games and is a late afternoon hang-out for students coming out of school.
Salt Lake's growth was mainly attributed to the ease with which residents could travel to and from downtown Honolulu and Waikīkī where a great number of residents worked. Salt Lake's main street is Salt Lake Boulevard, running the length of Moanalua High School to the Aloha Stadium. Its major arteries are Ala Ilima Street, Ala Lilikoi Street and Ala Napunani Street. Most of Salt Lake's residential streets are named after native flora and fauna. The ilima is the official flower of the City & County of Honolulu. Highways and freeways leading into Salt Lake include the Queen Lili'uokalani Freeway, Moanalua Freeway and Nimitz Highway. Major renovation of Puuloa Road, which divides Salt Lake from Mapunapuna and Moanalua neighborhood communities, is underway.
Salt Lake is home to the Honolulu International Airport, the principal gateway to Hawai'i by air. The area surrounding the airport is often referred to as the airport district, a commercial and retail region just south of Salt Lake Boulevard along the Nimitz Highway viaduct. Also located there are several office buildings, the main office of the United States Postal Service in the state and Ke'ehi Lagoon and park.
Salt Lake is home to various annual events open to all Hawai'i residents:
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