How much should air quality factor into moving to (San Diego)? (Los Angeles: allergies, living)

[s0nny80y]

I've lived in Florida for 18 years, 4 of which was in Ft Lauderdale, one year in Flagstaff, Arizona, and the last seven years near Akron Ohio (Canton).

I've made a list of various reasons to move to San Diego versus back to Ft Lauderdale, the latter which is all too familiar and the former with a list of many positive reasons to consider moving to San Diego instead.

BUT

I'm stuck with the question of how much air quality should be a concern when picking a new place to live (specifically San Diego). Is this irrational to consider when choosing a new place to live?

[NYSD1995]

Air quality here is a mixed bag. Because of the dry, dusty landscape and near-constant heat and sunshine there is a lot of very fine particulate matter in the air all the time. It coats everything. I am pretty sensitive to it so I have a sneezing fit pretty much every day. It's worst in the Aug / Sept timeframe or during Santa Ana wind conditions and generally better near the beach where the onshore flow keeps the air circulating. It is not a heavy smog area like Los Angeles, Phoenix, etc.

[tickyul]

Air quality in most cities is a mixed bag, very much localized.

I live in a city that has decent air quality. But my specific address is in a heavy industrial area...the air quality is probably worse that 90% of the other parts of the city.

[TravelingBard]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Air quality here is a mixed bag. Because of the dry, dusty landscape and near-constant heat and sunshine there is a lot of very fine particulate matter in the air all the time. It coats everything. I am pretty sensitive to it so I have a sneezing fit pretty much every day. It's worst in the Aug / Sept timeframe or during Santa Ana wind conditions and generally better near the beach where the onshore flow keeps the air circulating. It is not a heavy smog area like Los Angeles, Phoenix, etc.

What Sassberto said. I would add that it's also better than San Jose and Orange County. I have no allergies, so I just notice toxicity which makes my lungs and nose/mouth burn. When I have stayed near the airport, I have noticed the pollution from the plane exhaust, though it was mild and easily countered by running at the beach away from the airport, which I do almost daily.

[ltrrtl218]

I've never considered air quality to be bad in San Diego or have some sort of noticeable effect on my life.

[The Flying Dutchman]

It's definitely noticeable at times. I live downtown, and even within just centre city alone it varies not only depending on how close to the waterfront you are, but also how high you are living (vertically).

Needless to say, given my direct proximity to the 5, this summer I had to literally sweep the smog off my patio in a dustpan.

Still, I'm sure our air quality is head and shoulders above certain cities like *cough* L.A. *cough*. Unless you live by the ocean of course.

[Jenkay]

I remember in the 70s when the air quality was so bad that we'd have "smog days" where we literally weren't allowed to go out for recess. Since then it's improved 1,000%. I'm very athletic, and being outside and doing a ton of cardio-type activity has never lent itself to any sort of problems as an adult.

That said, our ozone levels here (as a city) are considered high, while particulate pollution tends to be very low. You can google "ai pollution cities" or something similar to get numbers, charts, and facts about the subject

[Unalakleet]

If you don't mind dust (I assume you don't, since you survived Flagstaff), it's pretty good. Not even close to LA's quality.

[Anchi-chan]

Air quality in SD isn't so bad. Only during dry seasons do the "Santa Ana" winds come by, and then it's just really dry, windy, and maybe dust in the air. The sky is pretty clear and is definitly liveable. At least it's not L.A. where the pollution makes the sky with an artificial orange tinge...southern SD near downtown and the border has pretty bad air though, while North County is clean.

[DougStark]

Most areas of San Diego county have good air quality. However, if you go inland, like Alpine, it gets worse. The air quality standards in CA are very stringent.