Rancho Cucamonga Air Quality (Los Angeles, Long Beach: relocating, smog, wages)

[craigco]

I am considering relocating to Rancho Cucamonga for a career opportunity.

I am semi-concerned about the air quality...Should I be? Anyone have problems with the air there? I currently do not have any respiratory ailments...But heard it is harder to breathe there...Hogwash?

Thanks,
Craig


Metropolitan Areas Most Polluted by Short-term Particle Pollution (24-Hour PM2.5)

2007 Rank1

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

1

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA

2

Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA

3

Fresno-Madera, CA

4

Bakersfield, CA

5

Logan, UT-ID

Metropolitan Areas Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution (Annual PM2.5)
2007 Rank1

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

1

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA

2

Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA

3

Bakersfield, CA

4

Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL

4

Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI

25 Most Ozone-Polluted Cities
2007 Rank1

Metropolitan Statistical Areas

1

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA

2

Bakersfield, CA

3

Visalia-Porterville, CA

4

Fresno-Madera, CA

5

Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX

Thanks,
Craig

[craigco]

I am starting to worry that everyone in the Rancho area has died due to the poor air quality , and thus are unable to reply to my post.

In many pictures there appears to be a smog problem plauging the Inland Empire. LA / San Berco Cty rank first on the air quality list, in areas that you don't want to rank first in.

I am a relatively healthy, relatively young (40), relatively fit male with a family about the same...Should I be concerned?

Anyone there in my same sitaution struggle with the air quality?

Thanks!
Craig

[EscapeCalifornia]

As long as you don't smoke, don't have asthma, and don't breathe too much, you'll be find.

[craigco]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

As long as you don't smoke, don't have asthma, and don't breathe too much, you'll be find.

HAHAHAHA! Thanks for the tip! I will work on cutting back on my breathing.

[Brooke3791]

Although the air quality could be better-it's not too bad. Because Rancho sits a little higher then most of the surrounding cities, there are days you can see the smog in the air below.

We do have our smoggy days-mainly in the summer when it's really hot. We get a nice breeze most of the time which seems to help. I run several days a week and haven't had any problems. I don't think you or your family will have any issues.

[aamazing75]

The air quality is bad due to all of the pollution from the large trucking industry in neighboring Fontana. I lived in Rancho for a long time and worked at 3 trucking companies in Fontana. Yes, the air is bad. It is so bad that you can see the brown haze looking down from the Cajon Pass (15 frwy) down into the Inland Empire. It is disgusting & that is why we are moving to beautiful & green Tennessee (well one of many reasons to flee Cali!)

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by aamazing75

It is disgusting & that is why we are moving to beautiful & green Tennessee (well one of many reasons to flee Cali!)

Funny how when people move to another state ... they make it sound like utopia.

Rancho definitely has an air quality problem but, let's not romanticize Tennessee either ...

Beautiful and green? Tennessee can actually have some pretty tough winters ... not much green during the winter time.

And if you don't want to make any money ... Tennessee is great for that too.

Some of the most stagnant wages in the nation. Cheap is cheap for a reason.

Air quality issues aside, Rancho is actually one of the nicer cities in the Inland Empire, IMO.

[LASam]

Originally Posted by sheri257

Funny how when people move to another state ... they make it sound like utopia.

Rancho definitely has an air quality problem but, let's not romanticize Tennessee either ...

Beautiful and green? Tennessee can actually have some pretty tough winters ... not much green during the winter time.

And if you don't want to make any money ... Tennessee is great for that too.

Some of the most stagnant wages in the nation. Cheap is cheap for a reason.

Air quality issues aside, Rancho is actually one of the nicer cities in the Inland Empire, IMO.

Sheri, I love your posts.

[natronacounty]

I remember while going to graduate school in Pomona how when I'd go outside during a class break the sky tended to have a very worrisome brown discoloration, and how when I'd fly into the airport in Ontario it would look like we were descending through an intensely dense ochre-colored blanket. It kind of made me wish I had a gas mask to put on before I started inhaling the ambient air. And ditto what aamazing75 said about visibility when entering from Cajon Pass; I can relate to that observation. I think the air conditions might have been even worse when I lived over in Colton. Maybe conditions have improved since 2001, but I know I always regarded the air quality down there with a guarded sense of ease, as if I was reducing my life expectancy by being there and breathing. If it's any consolation though, I hear the air quality is even worse in Arvin, California.

[zenjenn]

The area gets some natural haze, so not everything you see is pure smog. Even the Native Americans originally called the San Gabriel Valley "the Valley of Haze". Back 20 years ago the smog was bad, bad, BAD! I grew up in Orange County but have memories of visiting San Dimas in the summer and my eyes just WATERING from the terrible smog, and if you looked north you could see a blanket of yuck. We had some apprehensions about moving to the area because of the smog my husband and I knew the area had when we were kids, and he has asthma. But, California air quality regulations have really made a difference, as well as some shifts in local industry producing less pollution.

Yes, there is some smog, but it really isn't that bad anymore. You're not going to be breathing deeply and remarking on the fresh air, and I having allergies I prefer my aerobic activity to be indoors on many otherwise nice days, but it's livable. Living in the Inland Empire now for 3 yrs I don't think my husband has had to use his inhaler more than a few times.