Smog? (San Diego, Riverside, Bakersfield: live in, air pollution, association)

[TERRIE]

Can anyone tell me if there is any smog in SD? I'm guessing there's none, since I haven't read anyone talking about it. We live in the inland empire right now(smog, smog, smog) and are thinking of relocating to SD...

[wesside]

You're guessing right.
No smog down here. I've only lived here for about 17 months now and I'm guessing alot of it has to do with the ocean, and the climate which keeps this area green year round.
But Im probably guessing wrong as to the reasons.

[kettlepot]

What keeps this area green all year long is irrigation. Keep that Colorado river water flowing! It may be nasty to drink but it does keep the lawn green.

As for smog, you are correct that the marine airflows keep the smog from piling up in quite the same way as it does in the LA basin and Inland Empire. Still there is smog, just not as bad. Also, it has been reported that about 1/3 of our smog is blown down the coast from LA/OC.

[sav858]

I've never heard of a smog alert/warning/advisory or anything like that being issued down here. I know the city of Alpine has some pretty bad air quality b/c most of the air pollution gets blown that way and stacked up against the mountains. But El Cajon and other inland locations seem to enjoy pretty good air quality and the coast is always good. I've seen SD rank pretty low on air quality rankings, nothing like the IE or LA, but I was surprised that it did so poorly b/c I have never heard of problems here. The only times air quality has been an issue that I was aware of was during the fires of 2003 and 2007. Sometimes smaller fires can reduce air quality. But as as for day to day, air quality seems fine to me.

[TERRIE]

Thanks for the replies. This is great news. Were definitly not used to the smog here in the IE as we previously lived in HI. This will help in our decision as to OC or SD as well!

[Nick682]

American Lung Association
Rankings - American Lung Association site (http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=50752 - broken link)

Air quality is pretty good during the winter months and in the spring, but it gets unhealthy in many places in the summer. This report lists SD county, Carlsbad and San Marcos as 16th in the nation for counties. Not very good if you ask me. Escondido gets bad in the summer, San Marcos isn't that great either.

There are other graphs that show it by months and how it peaks in the summer they are on the EPA site.

If your on the coast it will always be better but compared to the IE it's way better here. That doesn't say much though because the IE, Riverside, Bakersfield areas are literally the worst in the nation.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by Nick682

[u]This report lists SD county, Carlsbad and San Marcos as 16th in the nation for counties. Not very good if you ask me.

Considering San Diego is the 8th largest city in the country and ranks 17th among metropolitan areas, I don't think we are out of whack on that list.

[Nick682]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

Considering San Diego is the 8th largest city in the country and ranks 17th among metropolitan areas, I don't think we are out of whack on that list.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Data is data, some will think it's okay, others will think it's bad.

If your from Hong Kong or industrial China you might think it's great.

[pizzicato66]

It's hard to escape smog in any major metro these days. We've started having them periodically in Minneapolis (even mid-winter). Gotta love those inversions...