Denver Area Air Quality & Allergies... (Colorado Springs, New Castle: construction, to live in, zip code)

[ColoWeb]

As others said, it is not the "green" air quality we used to have. More people moving in, cars, etc. increased the acceptable limits.

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by NE Live

Wow are there any cities left in the US with good jobs, that are also not polluted so terribly. It is tough to try and find one.

i suppose so. personally, it's clear to me that poorly executed growth, poorly executed sprawl, "more jobs", and more people can and do result in these kinds of things.

[denverian]

I've noticed on recent "brown cloud" days that it seems to sit mostly over Commerce City and more to the north. For instance, I leave work and from I-25 in Thornton, downtown looks all murky and brown. If I open my window, I can smell it driving down I-270. Then when I get to Stapleton, looking west, downtown looks clean, but looking NW, it's all brown. And I don't smell it at home either. I think there are definitely cleaner areas areas around the metro area. And I haven't seen any days as gross as when I lived here in the early '90s. I remember once in the winter I went outside and everything looked weird. It was sunny, but like I had on sunglasses when I didn't. Then when I got out to Lakewood, I looked back at downtown and only the tops of the highest buildings popped out of a dark, brown cloud. Pretty disgusting. The air here has definitely become cleaner over the years.

[rebagirl]

I don't know how accurate this site is, but Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed gives air quality scores. On a scale of 1-100 (with 100 being the best), Denver is 21, Seattle is 4, and Los Angeles is 1 (choke) Home - American Lung Association site will also give air quality info, although it is sometimes difficult to understand--very technical.

[NE Live]

Originally Posted by denverian

I've noticed on recent "brown cloud" days that it seems to sit mostly over Commerce City and more to the north. For instance, I leave work and from I-25 in Thornton, downtown looks all murky and brown. If I open my window, I can smell it driving down I-270. Then when I get to Stapleton, looking west, downtown looks clean, but looking NW, it's all brown. And I don't smell it at home either. I think there are definitely cleaner areas areas around the metro area. And I haven't seen any days as gross as when I lived here in the early '90s. I remember once in the winter I went outside and everything looked weird. It was sunny, but like I had on sunglasses when I didn't. Then when I got out to Lakewood, I looked back at downtown and only the tops of the highest buildings popped out of a dark, brown cloud. Pretty disgusting. The air here has definitely become cleaner over the years.

denverian what suburb area do you live in and which would you suggest in the areas you are describing as not having the brown cloud hanging over them? Thanks!

[rkb0305]

I live in the Littleton/Highlands Ranch area. I can clearly see the brown cloud from this area, but I'm not in it. I don't have facts to back this up, its just what I've observed. I know there is someplace online to find specific data collection locations and find out specific air pollution numbers for the suburbs. I don't know where, but maybe try the Denver/Colorado air pollution regulatory agency web site. I don't even know the name of the agency, and I'm too tired to look it up right now.

[rebagirl]

Originally Posted by rkb0305

I live in the Littleton/Highlands Ranch area. I can clearly see the brown cloud from this area, but I'm not in it. I don't have facts to back this up, its just what I've observed. I know there is someplace online to find specific data collection locations and find out specific air pollution numbers for the suburbs. I don't know where, but maybe try the Denver/Colorado air pollution regulatory agency web site. I don't even know the name of the agency, and I'm too tired to look it up right now.

Just curious--How does one know that he/she is not in a brown cloud? From my experience (albeit Southern California--smog capital of the world), the brown cloud always appears to be in Los Angeles--west of where I live. Yet I know that I am actually in the brown cloud as well, even though the sky may actually look blue and/or the mountains aren't hazy looking. What we see from a distance always looks worse than what we're actually in ourselves.

[rkb0305]

I don't know for sure. I wish I had a picture of how it looked yesterday so you could compare it to what you see in LA. airnow.gov has maps that show current AQI's. when I looked this morning, Denver was yellow, moderate and the closest monitoring station to me in north Douglas County was green, good.

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by rebagirl

What we see from a distance always looks worse than what we're actually in ourselves.

there's something profound in this

i'm not sure what it is

[Air]

United States Air Quality Map

I guess it works better as a link.

This map and website gives you some perception of air quality across the US in a visual format. There is shockingly little good air quality anywhere in the US.