Riverside/smog (Los Angeles, Pasadena, Corona: sales, home, school district)

[hhirsch]

If one works in Riverside, is there anywhere you can live within a 30 minute commute where the smog is less bad?

Thanks.

[lookingfortheperfectplace]

Maybe less smog south of riverside but not out of it. North Elsinore or Murrieta. Maybe Corona. East, you still have bad smog, west the same, north, you would have to go to higher elevation like the desert, wrightwood, or Big Bear but a longer commute.

[recycled]

Riverside is in a large inland valley open towards the west and LA, but nearly surrounded to the north and east by up to 11,000' mountains . The prevailing winds, typically from the west, push the smog up against these mountains. Temperature inversions can hold the smog below the mountains for long periods of time, especially in summer. Riverside + inland empire has the worst air pollution in the US and there is no nearby escape. From the air you can see the smog follow the freeways east to Hemet, Palm Springs + Cochella Valley all the way to the Colorado river. It even follows I-15 up to Victorville and the high desert. I can't think of anyplace within 30 minute drive from Riverside that would have somewhat clean air on a regular basis. You might have trouble getting 10 miles away from Riverside within 30 minutes during typical commute traffic - congestion is of epic proportions beginning at 5:30 am.

[LoneSurfer]

Actually, Big Bear isn't a good choice as the photochemical smog..that which you can see, blows through there at about 2 to 3 PM every day for an hour or so.

The real culprit is the nitrous oxide, which lies firmly on the ground and is much like mercury in a bowl. It will neither blow away nor vaporize too well by itself. It stays close to the ground and reduces the oxygen content of the ground air to astonishingly low levels at times. These are the days when people with reduced lung capacity are very much at risk.

Strange though, is the note that people who smoke don't seem to notice the effects of nitrous oxide much...probably because they are used to the bad taste in their mouth and the stinging of their eyes and lungs anyway. They DO however gather greater lung damage smoking and living in such an environment than they would by living in cleaner air and then smoking.

The "toilet bowl effect" is most evident in the San Jacinto/Hemet/Lakeview/Homeland/Romoland/Perris/Menifee area all the way down to Rainbow/Temecula/Murrietta/Quail Valley/Winchester etc., where the surrounding mountains keep the heavy nitrous oxide in a captured state that is pushed there by the prevailing winds from the West. These breezes carry the pollutants from Riverside and even Los Angeles to be caught and held in by the rim of mountains.

Rain does not seem to diminish the effect much, and since rain is not frequent, whatever effect it might have is minimal anyway. However, Santanna winds (Devil Winds) which are somewhat seasonal, can remove most of this pollutant for a short time until it re-builds and smothers the area again after the wind has died.

The smog you can see...is usually particulate dirt that your lungs can readily expel as the size of that "dirt" is large enough that the cilia in a healthy persons lungs and trachea can eject the larger particles.

Nitrous oxide however, when it comes in contact with mucous membranes creates nitric acid that burns and stings the eyes, lips, throat and nasal passageways. So, besides a diminished oxygen content, causing weakness and oxygen starvation somewhat in elderly and very young persons, nitrous oxide damages healthy tissues in all people.

Respiratory emergencies are very common in area hospitals during days or weeks of heavier than normal (normal?) nitrous oxide percentages, with emergency personnel on more numerous calls for "citizen down with trouble breathing".

Those heavier days are usually Friday and Saturday, as the generated smog is still traveling to the areas from the week's commuters. Mondays are usually the best air quality days from the lessened commuter traffic on Saturday and Sunday. It takes a short time for the smog to travel to the area, usually it is about 24 hours behind the actual generation of the smog until it arrives.

No..to get out of the nasty air and give your children and yourself a chance to a full life and one without limited lung capacity, you'd have to go a lot farther that pretty much anywhere in SoCal.

[jeffncandace]

I lived in the Temecula/Murrieta area for several years until last year. I also lived in Redlands briefly some years ago. I would recommend T/M as your best bet. If it weren't for traffic, Murrieta especially would be approx 30 away. And although smog is an issue pretty much everywhere in So Cal, I can say from experience and from reports I have read that smog in Temecula/Murrieta is MUCH better than any areas north of there, which includes San Jacinto/Hemet/Lakeview/Homeland/Romoland/Perris/Menifee as well as Riverside and that area. On most days we would have visibly clear air but could literally see the air to our north.
If you are going to live in I.E, I would highly recommend T/M, not just for air, but because in general it is one of the nicer parts of the Inland Empire.
Good luck!

[da jammer]

First off Riverside is a pretty good sized city so when you say 30 minutes it really depends on where you are at and where you are headed. That said with the commute times in this area it could take you 30 minutes just to get out of MoVal and into Riverside. Zero traffic and moving at 70mph or so your best bet for a minimum of smog and 30+ minute drive would be out in the Palm Springs area but I think that may be an unrealistic scenario for you. This is gonna be a tough one for you I'm afraid.

[valenciacf]

I am moving this summer with my wife and two kids. My sales job will be in LA but since I can organise my own schedule of visits I assume I can avoid bad traffic. Am I being too optimistic? I hope I can go to downtown LA in the morning in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Another reason for chosing the area is because my son is ashtmatic and I heard the quality of air is pretty good. I also heard that if you go up to Lake Elsinore the air quality is worse and it gets incredibly hot. We would like to be closer to LA but OC is too expensive and places like Corona and Chino are too polluted. Of course the housing cost is a plus there and the school district seems to be good.
Thks for the advise!

[hockyis1]

Originally Posted by valenciacf

I am moving this summer with my wife and two kids. My sales job will be in LA but since I can organise my own schedule of visits I assume I can avoid bad traffic. Am I being too optimistic? I hope I can go to downtown LA in the morning in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Another reason for chosing the area is because my son is ashtmatic and I heard the quality of air is pretty good. I also heard that if you go up to Lake Elsinore the air quality is worse and it gets incredibly hot. We would like to be closer to LA but OC is too expensive and places like Corona and Chino are too polluted. Of course the housing cost is a plus there and the school district seems to be good.
Thks for the advise!

You're going to go from Temecula to Downtown LA in 1hr and 20 min?? Unless you're traveling at a VERY odd hour (like prior to 5:30am or coming home after 7pm), there is no way you can make that time to downtown.

You'll be battling two of the worst freeways in southern california...in the morning, the I-15 going north, and the 91 going west are horrendous! And it's the same thing in the afternoon - all the traffic flows out of downtown into orange county/riverside county. You're talking an AVERAGE 2.5 to 3 hour commute (each way)...

[Paula Lynn]

Originally Posted by hockyis1

You're going to go from Temecula to Downtown LA in 1hr and 20 min?? Unless you're traveling at a VERY odd hour (like prior to 5:30am or coming home after 7pm), there is no way you can make that time to downtown.

You'll be battling two of the worst freeways in southern california...in the morning, the I-15 going north, and the 91 going west are horrendous! And it's the same thing in the afternoon - all the traffic flows out of downtown into orange county/riverside county. You're talking an AVERAGE 2.5 to 3 hour commute...

You're right on (unfortunately).

[valenciacf]

This is not very good news....but thanks for the info.
Anyone knows of an area in LA with clean air besides the beaches? How is th e air quality around Burbank, Pasadena areas? Thks for all the help.