Retirement along Hwy 49? (San Andreas, West Point: to live, smog, pine)

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by eureka1

All I know is that my sister lived in Sonora and the traffic was horrible.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Mr5150

The only part of the 49 corridor with these issues is found in the section between HWY 80 and 50. South of 50 and north of 80 things are rural, wild and the air is clean. I live south of 50. Check it out for yourself.

LOL , It doesn't work that way. Nevada City has bad air and it's north of Hwy80. Many towns south of HWY 50 on the 49 corridor fail with a F score. As said,"Check it out for yourself".
California - American Lung Association | State of the Air 2015
Yosemite Valley and Seqouia NP both have terrible air and they are south of Hwy 50.
These National Parks Got an "F" in Air Pollution | Mother Jones
Read this 1996 report to better understand Sierra Nevada air.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-43/VOL_II/VII_C48.PDF

[Hawk J]

Originally Posted by eureka1

All I know is that my sister lived in Sonora and the traffic was horrible.

It's quiet, peaceful, & much more beautiful up around Strawberry........We used to fish, camp around there along the Stanislaus, with our 1978 American Clipper C motorhome.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by sourdough

I knew the Hwy. 49 corridor 40 years ago and loved the Sierra foothills. Now it's over crowded, smoggy and has drought problems. You are jumping from the fire into the pan IMHO. Broaden you horizon.

Originally Posted by sourdough

LOL , It doesn't work that way. Nevada City has bad air and it's north of Hwy80. Many towns south of HWY 50 on the 49 corridor fail with a F score. As said,"Check it out for yourself".
California - American Lung Association | State of the Air 2015
Yosemite Valley and Seqouia NP both have terrible air and they are south of Hwy 50.
These National Parks Got an "F" in Air Pollution | Mother Jones
Read this 1996 report to better understand Sierra Nevada air.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-43/VOL_II/VII_C48.PDF

Having thought about things, I support your negative view of the Gold Country. I really don't want a ton of people moving to our area and destroying paradise.

Unlike Carpentaria, where I live is horrible (cough). Please don't move here. But at least I can see the air I breathe! And I don't mind the three hour, 10 mile, commute to work and I have learned how to get by with only bathing once a week.

So my county had five bad air days out of 365 and it got a C according to the Lung people

[sourdough]

Mr5150
I am glad to see you are happy where you are. Cheers

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Mr5150
I am glad to see you are happy where you are. Cheers

My job had to do with 5150 types. And where I live is a retirement destination.

[ForwardSpace]

Lol! Stoppit.

But seriously, you're all giving me a lot of good things to consider, which I greatly appreciate. We're not in a huge rush to move but we are starting the process of exploration, so thinking about air quality issues, how much acreage is reasonable, and traffic considerations is all important.

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by sourdough

LOL , It doesn't work that way. Nevada City has bad air and it's north of Hwy80. Many towns south of HWY 50 on the 49 corridor fail with a F score. As said,"Check it out for yourself".
California - American Lung Association | State of the Air 2015
Yosemite Valley and Seqouia NP both have terrible air and they are south of Hwy 50.
These National Parks Got an "F" in Air Pollution | Mother Jones
Read this 1996 report to better understand Sierra Nevada air.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-43/VOL_II/VII_C48.PDF

They don't have monitoring stations at every canyon or mountain side in a 1,500 square mile rural county. How on earth can they accurately gauge anything? For instance it shows Mariposa County having an "F" rating with 30 orange days in that particular year why adjacent Tuolumne County with a larger population and almost identical topography gets a "C" with only five days. Both border the San Joaquin Valley (Tuolumne NE of Modesto and Mariposa NE of Merced - 1/3 the size of Modesto). Both have identical topography and climate. It makes no sense and regardless, pollution doesn't respect arbitrary county lines - there are bound to be areas of Tuolumne that are worse than Mariposa (and visa versa). That grading system is stupid anyway. My county (Butte) gets an F having 13 orange days during that monitoring year. Tulare County gets the same F even though they have 233 orange days and 10 red days. Colusa and Glenn Counties gets an A never mind they're in the Sacramento Valley adjacent to Butte County with its F rating. Does the pollution suddenly stop at some invisible wall in a rice paddy west of Gridley?

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by BeauCharles

They don't have monitoring stations at every canyon or mountain side in a 1,500 square mile rural county. How on earth can they accurately gauge anything? For instance it shows Mariposa County having an "F" rating with 30 orange days in that particular year why adjacent Tuolumne County with a larger population and almost identical topography gets a "C" with only five days. Both border the San Joaquin Valley (Tuolumne NE of Modesto and Mariposa NE of Merced - 1/3 the size of Modesto). Both have identical topography and climate. It makes no sense and regardless, pollution doesn't respect arbitrary county lines - there are bound to be areas of Tuolumne that are worse than Mariposa (and visa versa). That grading system is stupid anyway. My county (Butte) gets an F having 13 orange days during that monitoring year. Tulare County gets the same F even though they have 233 orange days and 10 red days. Colusa and Glenn Counties gets an A never mind they're in the Sacramento Valley adjacent to Butte County with its F rating. Does the pollution suddenly stop at some invisible wall in a rice paddy west of Gridley?

Debate the merits of these reports with the powers that be, I just post them.
AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION, 55 W WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 1150, CHICAGO, IL 60601 T: 1-800-LUNGUSA | CONTACT
and you might get answers to your questions here. Folks there are paid to help you.
Air Resources Board - Homepage
good luck!

[justducky2]

Air quality has to do with wind patterns, often. The Sierra Nevada foothills off highways 50 and 80 often have poor air quality ratings because the smog is being blown in from the Bay Area and gets trapped up at the foothill level.

Also, people up here love to burn tree trimmings and trash, which contributes to poor air quality. A lot of people are low-income and use wood stoves to heat their homes, too.

Down in the Central Valley, there are a lot of dairies (cow poop in the air) and farming (tilling stirring up dust) and so air quality can be bad.