How are your allergies in Boulder? (real estate, how much, new home)

[VioLynn33]

My sweet, 6-year old son has horrible, horrible environmental allergies. We live in the Chicago area and he is very affected by molds, dust, grass and trees. His allergist thinks he may be helped by living in a drier climate.

Of course we understand that allergens are absolutely *everywhere* and that, over time, you can develop new allergies after being exposed to new allergens.

All that being said, is there anyone who has experienced a lessening of their seasonal, environmental allergies after moving to Colorado's dry climate?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences!

[jkcoop]

My husband never had them...until we moved here.

[Neditate]

Mold is usually not much of a problem here. But dust, trees and grasses... yep.
I never had seasonal allergies until I moved to Boulder. When I moved 3,000 feet higher - no problems!

[djanis99]

I have really bad allergies and recently moved from Chicago (since 18 months). There is almost no mold (unless your new home has an swamp cooler), there are pets everywhere (we had a hard time finding a house that didn't have animals in it previously), environmentally there are grasses and weeds that give me some problems in the fall (similar to California). In Chicago we had a cold winter that killed everything - not so in Boulder it has been in the 60's more days than I can count.

I have a really good allergist Dr. Gelman on Broadway in Boulder. I am sure that he or one of his aides would speak with you about your situation. Maybe you could get skin testing for the common allergens in Boulder while still living in Chicago - although most people don't develop allergies to the local stuff for a few years.

I love the area and I am not moving back to Chicago ever - the weather here is unbelievable. I also have asthma so it is nice to be somewhere that exercise is normal and there are plenty of activities to do.

Please e-mail me to discuss further if you wish.... Moderator cut: please do not post real estate websites here

[VioLynn33]

Thanks for the info, everyone! Djanis99, I'm not sure I understand: are you allergies worse or better than they were in Chicago? Just want to make sure I am undersatdning you properly! Tell me more about how much better the weather is! It's 64 degrees here today and folks are practically crying tears of joy after such a long, cold winter.

[djanis99]

Well it is really hard to tell... right when we moved here my allergies were horrible - I think a cat lived in the house that we are living in. After washing the walls, floors, etc.. my allergies have been pretty good. Some people have pretty bad allergies here but they are different allergens than in Chicago I have not been affected. So I would say that there was an improvement.

I would not move here for the reason of allergies. I have had allergies since I was a year and a half and everywhere I move I develop allergies (Ohio and California). That being said, I do not think that your sons allergies would be any worse here than in Chicago.

The economy is much better here than in Chicago, the taxes are much lower (a $300k house is only about $1800 a year in prop taxes), and we get over 300 days of sun a year vs. 150 in Chicago.

[tek_stp]

my allergies totally suck in boulder. dry air and rag weed.

[DressageRider]

My seasonal allergies got worse moving from the northeast to Boulder, as did my husband's.

[lalahartma]

When people are allergic to dust, they are actually allergic to dust mites and dust mite poo!
To thrive, dust mites need very warm temperatures (75-80 degrees F) and high humidity levels -- 70-80 percent relative humidity.

[beetpapp]

Definitely had some major seasonal allergies here (ragweed in particular). I've had allergies since age 10, but they got worse when I moved to CO. I also discovered that I have hay induced asthma (after working with horses and lifting hay here). We get a ton of wind in general, but particularly just after spring. So all the pollen gets spread around, so much so it looks like snow! (at least in rural east boulder where I live)

Having that said, I'm my 5th year in, and the last 2 summers I've hardly been on any meds. It seems my body has adjusted. I still get occasional bouts of allergies, but nothing like the first couple summer & fall seasons. It's worth it to live in such a gorgeous part of the country