Air quality on the North Shore (Chicago, Highland Park: move to, smog, suburbs)

[chicagobound?]

My family is planning a move to the North Shore and I was shocked to learn that the air quality in the area is rated a 1 out of 100 (100 being best). Why is this? When I think of poor air quality, I think of the smog in LA--not Winnetka or Glencoe! Does anyone know why (if??) the air quality along the North Shore is really that bad? Does the air even look bad?

[Avengerfire]

Your source is ?

[hsw]

Source prob erroneously listed air quality for Gary, IN or one of LA's inland valleys....

Would guess NS air quality, like that of most upscale suburban areas near water/winds/trees and away from any industry, is rather good

Suspect upscale parts of LA's Westside near the coast have notably better air quality than many of Chic's inland/downscale suburbs...

[Avengerfire]

Hmmm...

[At1WithNature]

any air quality in the chicago area is going to be very poor (the same goes for bodies of water like Lake Michigan). This is because chicago is a monster city with millions upon million of people. So when they compare a region with 10 million + people to say montana or mississippi, it's going to rate VERY LOW on many things such as air and water quality.

[APPLEI]

i was at The Ravina Festival in Highland Park and the air quality seem quite good.

[aragx6]

There's just no way that's true. It may not be in the top tier, but there's no way in hell it's a 1. Again, I'd like to see your source for this.

Basically the rankings work like this: 100 is a percent - it means that 100% of the time the Air Quality Index is at "good" -- a 1 would therefore mean that the air quality ranking is only good 1% of the time.

Actually, it appears that they do it on a metro area basis, not suburb by suburb and it's listed at Money mags Web site at 45.5%

[pesco]

IIRC, Some of Sperling's data is not specific to each town and instead reflects the entire Chicago metropolitan area. For example, it shows Glencoe with a Jewish population of 4.3%. I don't have the hard data, but Glencoe has a much larger Jewish population than that. You really can't trust their data.

[aragx6]

I would trust the Money Mag's 45.5 over Sperling. Like I said, it's just untrue that only 1% of the days have good air quality.

That being said, I heard this today: Chicago-area counties among 14 in state not meeting air-quality standards, EPA says -- chicagotribune.com

So there is a problem, just not quite what that erroneous 1 on Sperling's site would indicate.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by pesco

IIRC, Some of Sperling's data is not specific to each town and instead reflects the entire Chicago metropolitan area. For example, it shows Glencoe with a Jewish population of 4.3%. I don't have the hard data, but Glencoe has a much larger Jewish population than that. You really can't trust their data.

You inspired me to check what they said about Highland Park. They say the jewish population there is 3.88%. Wow, real accurate data.

And 70% of Kenilworth's registered voters are democrats. Something to keep in mind the next time someone wants a liberal suburb.