Austin ---> Denver/Seattle/San Jose (Boulder, Cottonwood: apartment complex, to rent)

[WhatTheFox]

Hello!

My wife and I (with our 8 yr and 2 yr old) are looking to move out of Austin. We like Austin and are thankful for our 8+ years here but it's time to move on. Main reason is allergies. Our older kid has been suffering through allergies (environmental related ... oak, ragweed etc.) for years now and we can't bear to see him go through life that way. We are also worried about our younger one catching the same problem.

Some background ... I work in tech and wife works from home. We don't "hate" hot or "love" cold weather but given our pick we'd take cold weather anyday. We have lived in a big house for years now and even though the family says they'd be OK in a 3 BDR apt I find it hard to believe :-)

So based on that and some family in the city (or closeby) we have narrowed it down to Denver, Seattle and San Jose areas.

I would really appreciate some advise from residents on the pros and cons of these cities. Any advise (COL, weather etc.) is fine as you might point out something that I missed but my posting is targeted more towards allergies in these cities. Specifically, if you moved from a place where you had these allergy attacks and never had to encounter one after moving etc.

Thanks a bunch!

[MehAboutDenver]

I moved to Denver from Pittsburgh, PA. My allergies are HORRIFIC here. I think it's because it's so dry the dust just does me in. Aside from that, if you like cold weather I recommend Seattle. It is so hot here from May through September and a lot of places don't offer A/C. Cost of living here is not worth it IMO, but then I really enjoy rainy weather, cold, green stuff and the ocean. If you like getting out in the wilderness for hikes and such, get ready for it to be like a tourist attraction. You'll find it hard to go somewhere where you won't see hoards of people. Some of the nice things about Denver are the beer options, the dishes dry really quickly due to the dry air and the wildlife.

Finding a 3 BDRM apartment here would be ok if you're alright living in an apartment complex. If you like peace and quiet it won't be pleasant. It will also be expensive. Finding a duplex or house to rent under $2000 a month is hard and there's already other people there filling out checks once you show up for the open house. You'll have no problems finding work if you're a programmer and good at what you do. Plenty more opportunities in Seattle, though, and that's coming from my husband who is a programmer here.

[bluescreen73]

I grew up here but lived in Dallas-Fort Worth for over a decade, and I can tell you that my allergies are 90% better here than they ever were in Texas. Down there "allergy season" ran almost non-stop from February to October. I got sinus infections 3-4 times a year and was popping daily allergy pills to simply dull the symptoms.

Up here I still have occasional flareups because Cottonwood and sagebrush are two of my big triggers, but it's nothing like it was down there.

If your kiddo has severe allergies, I'd suggest getting him tested before making a move anywhere so that you don't end up replacing one trigger with another.

As far as the weather goes, take what Meh said with a grain of salt. Compared to Austin it is not hot here. Denver's all-time record high is 105, and Austin's is 112. The average high in Austin in August is 97. In Denver it's 87. Denver also has very low humidity so the rate of radiational cooling is extremely high. You'll be able to leave your windows open and your AC off (if you even have it) for all but a few days every summer.

She is right about being elbow-to-elbow with folks if you go outdoors during the summer. Colorado is exponentially more outdoorsy than almost anywhere in Texas.

The COL is higher here, but with Texas's ridiculous property tax rates the recent spike in house prices in TX is causing the gap to shrink considerably.

I can't vouch for San Jose or Seattle, but if your kiddo is allergic to molds, trees, and grasses it wouldn't surprise me if his allergies were worse in Seattle.

[xeric]

I'm sorry to hear about your kid's severe allergies. I was in that situation when I was I child. I lived in SE Pennsylvania and my allergies to pollen in the fall were horrific. Then we moved to southern Florida and since the plant life was so different, I found that I wasn't allergic to any of the pollen there. Then to Seattle, where I was similarly free of pollen-based allergies. But when I moved to Boulder, they came back apparently because the plant or plants that I was sensitive to in PA also occurred in Colorado. Fortunately, by then they weren't very severe and eventually they want away entirely. My point here is that my allergies were specific to certain types of pollen and so making a geographic change made a big difference while the length of the allergy season was an unimportant factor (south Florida has a 365 day growing season and Seattle's is longer than the places I had problems in).

But I don't know how similar Austin is to Denver in terms of common plants that cause allergies. Nor do I know if your child's allergies are as specific as mine were (which is weird in a way because I also had lots of other non-plant based allergies at the time). Have you had an allergist tell you which specific plant pollen(s) are the problem?

[WhatTheFox]

Thank you MehAboutDenver, bluescreen73 and xeric for sharing your experiences.

Yes, we did get him tested for allergies and he is allergic to Mold, Grass (Bermuda), Tree Pollens (Oak, Mt. Cedar, Pear, Mulberry) and Ragweed. Are any of these predominant in the Denver or Seattle area that you are aware off?

We visited Seattle a couple years ago (in June). His allergy problems were non-existent for that week. He also mentioned to his mom that he could breathe easily. Perhaps we should visit Seattle once again during Nov/Dec period or when it isn't summer time just to make sure that mold or tree pollens aren't an issue for him. We are also thinking of visiting Denver in the next month or so ...

[SkyDog77]

weather.com - US Ragweed Play with the different map options at the bottom.

Come visit. If visiting Seattle, he was good, I would definitely suggest doing the same for Denver.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by WhatTheFox

Thank you MehAboutDenver, bluescreen73 and xeric for sharing your experiences.

Yes, we did get him tested for allergies and he is allergic to Mold, Grass (Bermuda), Tree Pollens (Oak, Mt. Cedar, Pear, Mulberry) and Ragweed. Are any of these predominant in the Denver or Seattle area that you are aware off?

We visited Seattle a couple years ago (in June). His allergy problems were non-existent for that week. He also mentioned to his mom that he could breathe easily. Perhaps we should visit Seattle once again during Nov/Dec period or when it isn't summer time just to make sure that mold or tree pollens aren't an issue for him. We are also thinking of visiting Denver in the next month or so ...

Denver has more issues with ragweed than it used to, although ragweed season here will probably be shorter than it is in Texas.

Bermuda grass is not common here because the growing season is too short.

[BBurn]

My allergies are bad in Denver, but they're about half as bad as they were when I lived in Portland, and I'd assume Seattle would be similar.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by WhatTheFox

Yes, we did get him tested for allergies and he is allergic to Mold, Grass (Bermuda), Tree Pollens (Oak, Mt. Cedar, Pear, Mulberry) and Ragweed. Are any of these predominant in the Denver or Seattle area that you are aware off?

Mold - I assume it would be worse in Seattle due to the climate.
Bermuda grass - San Jose would have it, but not Denver, and probably not Seattle.
Oak - San Jose, not as much in Denver and Seattle (and deciduous in both places).
Cedar - If you're talking about the hill country cedar, that's actually a juniper and there are a fair amount of junipers in Colorado, not sure about San Jose and Seattle.
Pear and mulberry, are cultivated in Denver but you won't find them outside irrigated areas, not sure about San Jose and Seattle.
Ragweed is apparently in all three places now (based on the map Skydog linked to).

[Idlewile]

OP, I'll be right behind you, on my way out of central TX hell, due to allergies. Having lived in Denver/Boulder for 13 years, two different stints, the last before moving to Austin, and being extremely allergic to ALL the allergens on your son's list, (in addition to cedar and others) he'll do great in Denver.

He may have seasonal (spring/fall) sniffles when the trees bloom but it will be night and day in contrast to what you're accustomed to in Austin and nothing that Children's Zyretc or Allegra can't knock out whereas they make no difference here for my kids because the levels are so high.

Oak in CO and CA is not live oak (Austin), it's 'regular' oak. I am horribly allergic to oak here but not the traditional oak in CO.

Cedar is moot. While there are a few mountain juniper (no where NEAR what Cen TX has, of course), things FREEZE in CO for up to 6 months of the year hampering the pollination drastically and with hardly any trees to begin with (compared to central TX) and the fact that most of them aren't anywhere near the Front Range, it makes it mighty tough for pollination to occur. It was a non-issue for me and I have flu-like symptoms with Cedar here for 3 months straight -- cortisone shot doesn't even help.

This past January, during the the worst of Ceder Fever in Austin, we drove back to Denver for a week. I went from miserable (barely functioning physically [and emotionally] on Flonase, Zyrtec and Benadryl) to perfectly clear once in Denver. First time in a year and a half I went without allergy pills. Returned to the horror a week later and decided it's not worth it to stay in Austin.

Second to Cedar, Mold is my biggest issue; since it's almost always present in Austin and often only fluctuates between med-high, I operate 365 days a year here as if I have a cold (runny, sneezy, gross throat), while on Zytec every day. It's NOT an issue at all in CO.

Also, I was raised in San Jose and spent my early adult years in the Bay Area as well. No major allergy issues there either other than occasional hayfever that was fleeting and knocked out with OTC pill. You'll just need a lot more $ due to the COL in the BA, of course.

Good luck in your search.