Kāneʻohe is a town an census-designated place (CDP) included in the City & County of Honolulu and located in Hawaiʻi state District of Koʻolaupoko on the Island of Oʻahu. In the Hawaiian language, kāne ʻohe means "bamboo man". According to an ancient Hawaiian story a local woman compared her husband's cruelty to the sharp edge of cutting bamboo; thus the place was named Kāneʻohe or "Bamboo man". As of the year 2000, the CDP had a total population of 34,970. Kāneʻohe is the largest of several communities along Kāneʻohe Bay and one of the two largest residential communities on the windward side of Oʻahu (the other is Kailua). The commercial center of the town is spread mostly along Kamehameha Highway.