For the first time, my wife and I drove past the Ko Olina off-ramp the other day and decided to explore what actually lies past Aulani and see what Waianae looks like. Well, that was a bad idea! First, there’s an actual dump in the form of a huge waste treatment facility, quite close to the resort, then miles and miles and miles of economic depression. That’s certainly not tourist Hawaii, but for us it wasn’t too nice either.
Don't quite understand why you’d call elements of tourist Hawaii a dump, though. Ko Olina certainly isn’t. And neither is Waikiki. They are certainly pricey and high density (Waikiki), but still pretty nice. And frankly I think Honolulu in its entirety would get higher rankings than many US cities.