Help choosing a CA location with good air quality and mild climate (for someone with respiratory disorder) (San Diego: apartment, renting)

[KMG00]

I need some suggestions regarding California climate and air quality. My husband has a serious respiratory disorder and we've discovered that he does best in climates where it's usually between 50-85 degrees F with moderate humidity that's neither dry nor excessively humid.

We currently live in the San Francisco Bay area, where it's almost the right climate. It gets a little too cold for him at times, though, so we're trying to figure out another place. What we're struggling with is that Southern California has the right climate, but the smog issues make it a bad place to be for someone with delicate lungs.

Can anyone suggest a place to start investigating? I'm not sure how far south we can go without running into smog issues. I don't have a problem with inland cities, but I'm told it gets much hotter there and drier there. We're going to start with investigating the Central Coast, but I welcome suggestions from people who know California better than I do.

We're also open to looking outside California--I just haven't found anywhere that fits the climate he needs. Well, except Hawaii! He doesn't want to live on an island, though (damn!)

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

San Luis Obispo

[Snort]

Santa Barbara is south-facing, but occasionally gets L.A. smog drifting westward. Not too often, but noticeable when it happens.

[jeffredo]

The Bay Area has a wide range of micro-climates. Can't you find one that works? I can think of areas in the South Bay, Contra Costa County and Napa/Sonoma that pretty well fit your climate requirements. If not that try San Diego North County. Its not excessively smoggy (no more so than inland parts of the Bay Area).

[Hemlock140]

Living in the bay area 40 years I would not recommend any part of it because of the smog, when we moved to Seattle area we discovered that a lot of "allergy" problems went away with the cleaner air. Also, Contra Costa gets a lot hotter in summer than SF. I'd look at the Monterey/Carmel area, if that's too expensive then Watsonville.

[tstieber]

Where do you live now? I agree that the Bay Area has tons of microclimates, so you should be able to find a warmer spot that the one you're in now. In California, the rule of thumb is that it gets wetter and cooler the farther (1) north, (2) west, and (3) higher in elevation you go. So the northernmost coastal mountains are the coolest and wettest, and the southeastern low deserts and the hottest and driest. Everywhere else is a local variation on those criteria. San Jose, for example, is drier than L.A., but the Russian River gets more rain than Seattle. Livermore can be searing hot, while Pacifica is cold and foggy. You'll find similar patterns in SoCal -- cooler and cloudier at the beach (I fing it surprisingly so; currently, I'm sitting in San Diego on a chilly rainy day in late May), and hotter and smoggier inland. Just do a little research. Redwood City claims to have the best climate in the country by government statistic, and San Jose has 300 days of sunshine per year. You could surely find a city or part of the Bay Area that's a little warmer than your current area without uprooting your jobs. If you want a serious climate improvement, not a minor one, then I'd say move to Honolulu, not within the state!

[FVWinters]

Originally Posted by Snort

Santa Barbara is south-facing, but occasionally gets L.A. smog drifting westward. Not too often, but noticeable when it happens.

Move around Conception Point and past Arguello and north of it a few miles and you come to Pismo Beach. Might do - if you can afford it.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by KMG00

I need some suggestions regarding California climate and air quality. My husband has a serious respiratory disorder and we've discovered that he does best in climates where it's usually between 50-85 degrees F with moderate humidity that's neither dry nor excessively humid.

We currently live in the San Francisco Bay area, where it's almost the right climate. It gets a little too cold for him at times, though, so we're trying to figure out another place. What we're struggling with is that Southern California has the right climate, but the smog issues make it a bad place to be for someone with delicate lungs.

Can anyone suggest a place to start investigating? I'm not sure how far south we can go without running into smog issues. I don't have a problem with inland cities, but I'm told it gets much hotter there and drier there. We're going to start with investigating the Central Coast, but I welcome suggestions from people who know California better than I do.

We're also open to looking outside California--I just haven't found anywhere that fits the climate he needs. Well, except Hawaii! He doesn't want to live on an island, though (damn!)

Are jobs a concern?
What is your budget and what type of housing are you looking for?
Other factors such as kids?

[KMG00]

Thank you for these ideas, and for the specifics about smog in areas like Santa Barbara, Redwood City, Monterrey, Pismo Beach and San Diego North. I will check these places out with the American Lung Association's ratings.

I'm sure it sounds a odd to be living in such a dense metropolitan area, but his particular disorder responds extremely well to this temperature range. Before, we lived at 6000 feet elevation in Colorado and the cold, dry winters nearly incapacitated him every winter. He's improved 50% just by moving to the Bay Area. 50 degrees F is definitely when problems start returning, and 85 is about the cut-off for heat. We're still figuring out humidity levels (but we know enough to say that arid and semi-arid places are bad). So it's kind of hard to find somewhere that's in that consistently mild temperature range without running into the air quality issues of Southern California. Though interesting to know about North San Diego--I didn't realize it had good air quality.

Tstieber, thanks for the details. This is good information to have. He knows we might have to move to a place like Hawaii in the long run if he really wants to live comfortably, but it's a hard decision to make so I'm not pressuring him. (I'm not being facetious--natural beauty is wonderful but he wants to be near his family and friends). I'm trying to help by finding the very best climate/air quality for him in California, and giving that a shot first.

Charles, while we would certainly prefer a place where we could buy a moderately priced home in an area with lots of available jobs, living in the right climate is most important. My job is portable and we don't have kids, so that makes things a lot easier. I'm not sure what to tell you for a budget range--for housing, you mean? We have no problems renting a small apartment at San Francisco prices (I can give you more specific info via private message if you like) and we'll be renting for the next few years, rather than buying. Like I said, though, the climate is most important.

Thanks, everyone, this info is really helpful as I do research for our long-term plan.

[Vlajos]

good luck