Denver air quality vs Houston, PHX or LA?

[spacadet]

I lived near Baytown, TX (suburb of Houston where all the refineries are) in the late 90's and while I didn't notice that the air was particularly BROWN, it did frequently smell like a crude oil spill in the mornings. I smelled the same thing living in Slidell, LA after the BP oil spill in the Gulf. I acquired allergies for the first time after I moved to Texas, and they only got worse in Louisiana.
Denver doesn't seem very bad, to me. I sometimes see some brown air, but I've never smelled anything bad and have never had breathing problems. Still have a bit of allergies but not as bad.

[ledjar]

I can't Comment on Houston but I've been to Phoenix and lived in downtown LA.

Honestly Denver has the cleanest air of any large city I've ever been to, LA Has the worst. If denver was 10 and LA a 1. Phoenix would be around 7, Paris around 4.5.

[pitriz]

Simple, when you get there drive to the top of look out mountain in Golden. It is real simple to get there. Gaze over all of Denver and judge for yourself.

[insahmniak]

Originally Posted by pitriz

Simple, when you get there drive to the top of look out mountain in Golden. It is real simple to get there. Gaze over all of Denver and judge for yourself.

Nope. Judging air quality is like judging water quality. Yes - murky probably isn't a very good sign. But just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's good for you. Those cool, crystal clear streams running in the mountains can get you sicker than a dog.

Go to Airnow.gov for data. For people with air quality concerns it's a good place to look around.

[mikeincg]

Ugg I after looking at the data from Airnow-Houston air is always unhealthy

[Cat-In-Cali]

Originally Posted by rebagirl

Ive mentioned this site before on other threads. Go to the American Lung Association's website for reports on Best/Worst air quality. There will also be a small box in which you can type in any zip code and receive an instant report on that particular county. Based on this site's most current report, Colorado (Denver) received 4 ozone days and 8 particle pollution days per year. Phoenix received 25 ozone days and 7 particle pollution days. Houston received 113 ozone days and 5 particle pollution days. And now, are you ready for L.A. County??? Drum roll, please.... 209 ozone days and 142 particle pollution days. This is one of the main reasons I hope to leave California. It definitely affects our health. People here, along with their children, walk around with their inhalers as if it's just a normal part of life. How sad.

WOOOOOOOW! Im very surprised by the dramatic differences with LA and Denver. That's just astonishing to me. I did not know it was so bad. We were originally thinking LA before finding out about National Jewish for my son. He is not triggered so much by smog/pollution as he is environmental growing allergens like grasses and trees, but that is a significant difference that I am sure affects people over time. No wonder the inhalers are such a normal part of life. Denver's high ozone days and particle pollution days pale in comparison to the others. Working in the field I do, I knew SoCal was a much better option than LA air quality wise, but because of the commute from Orange County daily (Id be in tears in that traffic) I wouldve had to settle in LA area for work, I am confident landing in Colorado by National Jewish is the right decision for my son respiratory wise right now. Thanks for those numbers!!!! May I ask, where you plan to go to get away? I read Southern California in that area of Orange County was in the top 5 places along with Colorado Springs for air quality and breathing. I love that area, besides the cost and awful commute to L.A.

[Cat-In-Cali]

Originally Posted by mikeincg

No-I wished I did I got that photo from the net-I was looking for some pictures of the Houston Ship Channel and I saw this photo. My brother who like me is a native Arizonian and when I gave him a tour of the greater Houston area a couple weeks ago called it the "pollution tour" Houston is a gritty hard city, there are extremely nice areas of Houston but for the most part it is a big polluted mess with traffic that rivals LA.

Houston is all about big industry and making a living there a whole lot of jobs available here. The economy here is in full swing.

I so feel for your wife. That photo alone makes me feel all wheezy inside. Goodness gracious.

[Cat-In-Cali]

Originally Posted by JadesandRoses

Air quality really isn't much of a problem in Colorado however Denver's altitude is pretty HIGH so what you should be leery about is your heart and lungs. The higher the altitude the harder your body has to work. Many people who are not from Denver complain about not being able to breathe properly; hopefully you don't have asthma. However after you are there long enough your body may adjust.

I wondered if they put National Jewish in Denver because of the altitude in Colorado. Olympians train in CO Ive been told multiple times there to improve their lung capacity and endurance. My son has severe asthma and we are going in order for him to improve there-must be a reason the #1 respiratory hospital decided to land at such a high altitude... Maybe youre right, the whole point may be your body adjusts and capacity improves overall overtime.

[Cat-In-Cali]

Originally Posted by COflower

I have to state the comparison of the three are like comparing the colors of our nation's flag. Red, white and blue...

What I am trying to say is that Denver air quality exists for a few reasons that most other metropolitan areas can't compare with, inversion.

I have posted about this before in a Grand Junction post. Inversion.

Inversion exists mostly in the winter, although in Denver in recent years the summers are becoming a bit more concerning with the "brown cloud" but again, the valley phenomenom still takes place here.

LA can't be compared because of the sheer size of LA and the fact they don't have a lot of weather fronts that affect them like they do here.

As for Phoenix, it is desert area so I don't know the specifics behind it.

Okay on to Denver and the rest of the Colorado Front Range.

Denver is not immune to 100° in the summertime but they are in a valley (the Platte valley) so in the summer, when it's gets hot, it just kind of lingers there like moisture in a swamp does in the mornings. In the winter though, the entire Front Range has inversions of temps. What happens is that when the cold air comes in, it often gets trapped by warmer air above the surface. Any pollutants are hampered by that inversion (check out places like Missoula, MT they frequently have even worse air pollution than Denver because of inversion) and remain for days.

We have the same problem in Colorado Springs in the wintertime that Denver and Missoula have because of inversion. We don't, however, seem to have the same brown cloud that Denver gets during the summer months. I don't know exactly why but it's cleaner here.

When I lived in Denver, I really didn't notice the "brown cloud" as much. Now when I go up there and we crest the area that is the Lincoln exit on the south end of the metro area on a winter's day (yay for going to Bronco's games) it's very visible. That's not to say I haven't noticed it here in C Springs too but that's in the wintertime as I am driving from my higher perch in Briargate towards the south and southwest part of town.

Not sure if that made any sense but hopefully it made a bit of sense. Generally colder climates will see more of the "brown" cloud because of inversion and in the case of Denver, being in a valley of sorts.

CO Springs is ranked one of the top 5 best cities to live in for air quality. So when this brown cloud comes about, is there an increase in respiratory dysfunction in individuals? Im surprised people have such a hard time, but it makes sense looking at the numbers-it's not necessarily pollutants when you compare it to other cities, it seems to be moreso altitude. A friend of mine visited CO Springs and had a very hard time breathing over her vacation. So the question is...how to people maximize their ability to adjust to the thin air and high altitude?