NE Ohio Air Quality Question (Columbus, Cleveland: 2014, house, neighborhood)

[Rebek56]

Living in the Mid-Ohio Valley, we are accustomed to lousy air, but as time goes on, I seem to be developing greater sensitivity to air quality. This unfortunate development is causing complications as we consider retirement destinations. We have fallen in love with many things about Cleveland Heights, but I suspect that it has issues with particulate matter because of its location. We have not had the opportunity to go back and walk around in the winter (when my breathing is worse) to see how I do.

Does anyone know if some of the smaller outlying towns, further from the expressways and heavy industry, have better air quality? They don't have their own monitors, so there are no good data. I was quite taken with Oberlin when I was there for a week last summer.

Or are the western suburbs of Cleveland better in terms of air quality? My spouse lived in West Toledo when he taught at UT, and we found that I breathed more easily there than in the MOV, probably because we were upwind of most industry and the wind blew the crud to the east.

[Townes Van Zandt]

I don't have any concrete facts to back this up but I remember reading somewhere that Lake county has one of the worst air quality ratings in the nation. But living there you'd never guess it. It's more likely that certain isolated areas have really high concentrations of pollution. So basically, don't live next to some giant industrial plant.

And I remember hearing about states to the east (Jersey specifically) blaming their sorry air quality on inland industrial cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh. I never cared enough to find out if there was anything to that or if it was just an easy scapegoat. So who the hell knows.

Maybe this would be helpful: American Lung Association Air Quality Rankings The Cleveland/Akron/Elyria metro comes in at #20 in the worst in the US.

[Tominftl]

Just remember which political party wants to eliminate the EPA when you vote from now on!(Rebublicans)

[Rebek56]

Thanks to both of you. We have been looking through the air quality rankings for the last couple of years as we contemplate a future move. What we noticed about Lucas County, though, is that different parts of the county had very different air quality, so we wondered if this were true of NE Ohio, which is a transportation hub and may have more vehicle-related pollution than the NW part of the state.

(BTW, I am the faculty advisor for our student environmental group, so my vote is always "green.")

[WRnative]

Lake County's poor air quality was partially due to coal-fired power plants downtown and in Eastlake, both now closed.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/in..._eastlake.html

http://www.news-herald.com/general-n...nerating-units

However, prevailing winds generally are from the west and northwest, especially in winter. So all of the pollution generated by the metropolis should be less on the west side, including Oberlin, than east of Cleveland, such as Lake County.

Rebek, could you provide a link to the air quality database, etc., that you are using? TIA!

[Rebek56]

This is the basic Lung Association site: State of the Air 2014 - American Lung Association
I remember another, more detailed site that we ran across in the past, but I am not locating it right now.

[dr_j_planning_shaker]

OP, I suggest you communicate with Gary Engler. He is the State of Ohio contact for Air Quality Monitoring as recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA):

Mr. Gary Engler
Ohio EPA - Division of Air Pollution Control
50 W. Town Street, Suite 700
PO Box 1049
Columbus, OH 43216-1049
(614) 644-3623
gary.engler@epa.state.oh.us

Hope your research is productive so that you can make an informed relocation decision!

[Rebek56]

Thanks for the contact info! I had not thought of checking with a state official.

[Mangokiwi]

Originally Posted by Tominftl

Just remember which political party wants to eliminate the EPA when you vote from now on!(Rebublicans)

You know, you could also visit a place and experience for yourself how fresh the air is, without relying on the government to tell you what your own nose can

Cleveland heights does not have bad air quality, it's not downwind of any factories and it is far from any major freeways. There are parts of it that are very green, and if you choose carefully, you can live in a lot or house with many plants and trees that can aid you in having fresher air. Having indoor plants is a great idea as well

I think you will really enjoy Forrest City, USA

[Rebek56]

Actually, areas that seem very "green" can have air quality issues. I have learned that over the years here in the MOV. The smallest particulate matter is the worst. (And we have walked around CH, just not yet in the winter. That's how we knew we liked the area. Anyplace where a neighborhood diner serves eggs Benedict with artichokes has a lot going for it.)