Knoxville Tn. Residents Health Problems (Savannah: rent, home, allergies)

[knoxtn4me]

Hello there,
Looking for some native Knoxville residents to help us out.
My wife and I along with our six year old have been looking forward for years to move to Knoxville. We are looking to move this summer and were very excited until we discovered that Knoxville has the worst air quaility in the USA. Combination of being in a valley with TVA, near by nuclear plants & major highways have many people with respitory issues.
We still want to move there but are afraid of a shorten life expectency and lots of doctors visits with breathing difficulties.
Does anyone know of any family or friends with health related breathing issues ?
Thank you !

[md21722]

I don't think you'll have any more problems than where you live now. I don't know anyone who has respiratory problems. Nuclear plants do not generate much in the way of emissions. Most TVA plants are fossil (coal). In fact, the TVA is the largest single consumer of coal in the U.S. Their main emissions are sulfur dioxide and NOx, but they are cleaner than years ago. Allergies from all the pollen is often said to be an issue, but I don't even know people who have that problem.

[scarletneon]

I am pretty sure my seasonal allergies developed, nay, matured to a terrible level by spending 5 years in Knoxville.

[Barking Spider]

I just did a quick look at American Lung Association web site and could not find Knoxville in the top 25 for cities with bad air quality.
I know we get a bad rap for air quality, but honestly...I had more problems in Los Angeles.
People with allergies do have a harder time in Knoxville, but we are in the humid south, with a huge amount of green around. People with allergies typically don't do well in hot, humid areas (the SOUTH) anyway.

I did a quick comparison with Los Angeles (where I'm from) LA got an F and Knoxville got a C.
Compare Your Air: State of the Air 2012 - American Lung Association

However, if you think its going to be a problem, or its a big concern for you, then check Knoxville off your list and start looking elsewhere. When we were thinking of moving to Knoxville, we visited in July and spent a week here to see how the heat and humidity would affect us. I suggest you do the same, except maybe pick a time in spring when things are blooming.

Some people just can't take it and have to move to drier areas. Its not for everyone, and only you can determine how the air will affect YOU.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Barking Spider

I just did a quick look at American Lung Association web site and could not find Knoxville in the top 25 for cities with bad air quality.
I know we get a bad rap for air quality, but honestly...I had more problems in Los Angeles.
People with allergies do have a harder time in Knoxville, but we are in the humid south, with a huge amount of green around. People with allergies typically don't do well in hot, humid areas (the SOUTH) anyway.

I did a quick comparison with Los Angeles (where I'm from) LA got an F and Knoxville got a C.
Compare Your Air: State of the Air 2012 - American Lung Association

However, if you think its going to be a problem, or its a big concern for you, then check Knoxville off your list and start looking elsewhere. When we were thinking of moving to Knoxville, we visited in July and spent a week here to see how the heat and humidity would affect us. I suggest you do the same, except maybe pick a time in spring when things are blooming.

Some people just can't take it and have to move to drier areas. Its not for everyone, and only you can determine how the air will affect YOU.

This is dead on. We are very well-known for our allergy problems.

Granted, sitting in a bit of a valley - although it's a very large one - with a couple of major highways running through, it can get hazy in the summer until we get a good rain. That's when we will get an air quality alert. But it's not LA by any means. And nearby nuclear plants? The closest is Watts Bar and that's at least 65 miles away. Further, nuclear power plants are known to not cause much air pollution, it's one of the cleaner power plants.

But it's the allergy problems that bother some. It hasn't bothered me. I had far, far more issues when I lived in Florida. When you live in the South with beautiful flora blooming a good portion of the year (that's why Florida is so much worse!), and it is hot and humid, you are going to see allergies sometimes exacerbated.

As barking spider said, you'll have to visit and determine if this area is for you.

Here's the lists, by the way. Knoxville isn't number one on any of them.

http://www.stateoftheair.org/2011/ci...ed-cities.html

But to answer your question, no, I don't know anyone with breathing problems that lives here.

[RichRollin]

I no longer practice, however, I'm a licensed Respiratory Therapist in Tennessee who lives in Knoxville. Knoxville does have bad air and is ranked as high as 3rd nationally for the worst asthma cities. Ironically, 3 Tennessee cities are ranked top ten. Asthmatics tend to have horrible allergies, which in turn is what generally causes their attacks. And being that I worked in the ER, I saw a direct correlation with certain seasons and asthma attacks. So I tend to think the air is pretty bad here. Now you might not have asthma, but if you have allergies you will have a bit of trouble with them here. Not trying to scare you away, but the air quality isn't the best here. Personally, I don't have problems. But I know tons of folks that do. TIFWIW.
10 Worst Asthma Cities in the U. S. Slideshow

ASTHMACAPITALS.COM

On top of that, various outlets have Knoxville as the NUMBER 1 city in the nation for allergies. It has the worst pollen count.

Slideshow: 10 Worst Cities for Spring Allergies

The Worst Cities for Allergies in 2012 | Healthy Living - Yahoo! Shine

Worst US Cities for Allergies Revealed : Discovery News

[knoxtn4me]

Thanks for your responses. We have lived in Florida and Savannah Ga. for 20 years so we are used to the humidity. My wife has had allergies her whole life but in the last few years they are usually mild & seasonal. Guess were're just a little cautious and don't want any serious ER visits. Guess the bottom line is rent a place 1st. If you can hack it and not have to take major shots and meds to live, you settle in.

[MrsMopar]

Originally Posted by knoxtn4me

Thanks for your responses. We have lived in Florida and Savannah Ga. for 20 years so we are used to the humidity. My wife has had allergies her whole life but in the last few years they are usually mild & seasonal. Guess were're just a little cautious and don't want any serious ER visits. Guess the bottom line is rent a place 1st. If you can hack it and not have to take major shots and meds to live, you settle in.

Not to scare you away but I never had allergy issues until I moved here. I lived in 'sinus valley' in Ohio as well, but I was fortunate to never have had much trouble.

We've been here four years and I was doing ok until this past week. Our home is next to a huge field of grass. Last week I started having sneezing attacks. Yesterday my eyes were watering and my throat was scratchy. Needless to say, the grass count is high and apparently it is affecting me. I'm taking over the counter med's and they are helping. But it is brutal, since I'm almost 50 and never had issues ever.

The woman who runs our childrens ministry at our Church has lived here 10 years and is now moving in August of this year. She is in her mid-30's but she can no longer endure the allergy issues she has dealt with.

It's a good idea to try renting as you stated. While allergies affect everyone differently, this area is apparently one that seems to really hit some people hard with allergy problems.

[tntim]

Originally Posted by RichRollin

I no longer practice, however, I'm a licensed Respiratory Therapist in Tennessee who lives in Knoxville. Knoxville does have bad air and is ranked as high as 3rd nationally for the worst asthma cities. Ironically, 3 Tennessee cities are ranked top ten. Asthmatics tend to have horrible allergies, which in turn is what generally causes their attacks. And being that I worked in the ER, I saw a direct correlation with certain seasons and asthma attacks. So I tend to think the air is pretty bad here. Now you might not have asthma, but if you have allergies you will have a bit of trouble with them here. Not trying to scare you away, but the air quality isn't the best here. Personally, I don't have problems. But I know tons of folks that do. TIFWIW.
10 Worst Asthma Cities in the U. S. Slideshow

ASTHMACAPITALS.COM

On top of that, various outlets have Knoxville as the NUMBER 1 city in the nation for allergies. It has the worst pollen count.

Slideshow: 10 Worst Cities for Spring Allergies

The Worst Cities for Allergies in 2012 | Healthy Living - Yahoo! Shine

Worst US Cities for Allergies Revealed : Discovery News

I don’t think that it is fair to say that Knoxville has bad air. As the link to the American Lung Association points out, we can stand to do better, but we are not the worst in terms of man-made pollution. Because of the abundance of foliage in this area, our issues are related to the high pollen counts. This is why we are at the top of the allergies list.

[RichRollin]

Originally Posted by tntim

I don’t think that it is fair to say that Knoxville has bad air. As the link to the American Lung Association points out, we can stand to do better, but we are not the worst in terms of man-made pollution. Because of the abundance of foliage in this area, our issues are related to the high pollen counts. This is why we are at the top of the allergies list.

I never said we had polluted air. Not having pollution still doesn't mean you have good air qualities either. Multiple sources label us as the allergy capital of the country, along with a top asthma city. That's not a good thing. With that being said, I don't know what you are getting at. The high pollen counts cause problems for folks and that's not something to take lightly. I know people who had zero issues before moving here. Now they have problems. I've treated NUMEROUS asthmatics who would go long periods of time between exacerbations. Then after moving here they made 3-4 trips to the ER annually, some more. I'm not speculating, this is real life stuff I've dealt with. I also happened to post 5 links to back my claims. As for pollution, we were not ranked high. I think 9 out of the top ten were places in Cali. However, I do think they downplay the air pollution here. I would also venture to say we have more air pollution than most towns this size.