Healiest places to live? (allergy, cold, ears, break)

[augiedogie]

We are contemplating moving after retirement in a few years. My wife has serious allergy problems, so our biggest concern is a healthy climate. So I'd like to find out what the folks on this forum think is the healiest place to live in the USA.

I've been all over the map on this topic. The more I read the more I find the answer isn't as easy as you might think. I've studied the allergy topic separately, but its confusing. Some surveys only look at pollen, some include other factors. For example, California is rated good in this area, but then you have to consider the stress of living in areas like southern California, dealing with the huge population and the polution. I used to think that north would be better, but then I found out that rapid and frequent temperature and air pressure changes are hard on your body also, and are frequently triggers for asthma outbreaks. Deserts are often promoted as good for allergies, but we've found out by personal experience that high winds and dust storms actually make for a very unhealthy living environment. Cold weather isn't so good because you then tend to be inside for much of the year, and as you probably know, indoor air is much dirtier than outdoor air. So, lots of factors to consider. So what's your experience? What's the healthiest environment to live in?