Air Quality in Santa Barbara ? (San Diego, Carpinteria: living, stats, moving)

[westlady]

Hi all,

can anyone please tell me the air quality in Santa Barbara- and particularly regarding beach fire smoke?

Hubby and I tried San Diego, but we are moving away. The air there
is quite smoggy, and polluted.

but whats worse, every night they allow beach fires everywhere. Well
the smoke hangs around all night long. Even La jolla was bad and smoky!

what would you say about Santa Barbara? Do they allow those beach fires there
that we hate?

thanks

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Beach fire smoke is a non issue in SB. SB is at the edge of the South Coast Air Quality Management District and has far better air quality than anywhere to the southeast of it.

[tazz]

I live in Santa Barbara. See fog in the summer called June gloom every morning. Never see smog. Even when flying in and out several times a year. Air Quality alerts are unheard of here.

[mahalaJane]

Hi, regarding smoke in Santa Barbara----I've lived in Santa Barbara for 30 years and I don't know what the people who have replied to you are talking about. No smog in SB!? SB gets "D" and "F" grades now and then by lung association and other stats. In my own experience, living on the mesa near the beach, people do burn on the beaches, but worse, there is a lot of fireplace burning, and tons of cars--the area is getting increasingly crowded by residents and also thousands of people commute from north and south each day--and there is the tanker traffic--unregulated diesel fuel from the ships that come in close to the coast in the SB area. What you have to understand about Santa Barbara is that all this pollution is "held in" more than other places due to the fact SB is a very small area--a "bowl shape" really, between the ocean and high mountains all along SB, carpinteria and goleta. THis holds all the aforementioned pollution as it doesn't get over the mountains--and also the humidity and sometimes inversion holds pollution in. I used to be so in love with SB. Now I am desperately trying to find a place to move so I can breathe clean air! I visit some friends in L.A. (santa monica) who have better air than here!

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by mahalaJane

Hi, regarding smoke in Santa Barbara----I've lived in Santa Barbara for 30 years and I don't know what the people who have replied to you are talking about. No smog in SB!? SB gets "D" and "F" grades now and then by lung association and other stats. In my own experience, living on the mesa near the beach, people do burn on the beaches, but worse, there is a lot of fireplace burning, and tons of cars--the area is getting increasingly crowded by residents and also thousands of people commute from north and south each day--and there is the tanker traffic--unregulated diesel fuel from the ships that come in close to the coast in the SB area. What you have to understand about Santa Barbara is that all this pollution is "held in" more than other places due to the fact SB is a very small area--a "bowl shape" really, between the ocean and high mountains all along SB, carpinteria and goleta. THis holds all the aforementioned pollution as it doesn't get over the mountains--and also the humidity and sometimes inversion holds pollution in. I used to be so in love with SB. Now I am desperately trying to find a place to move so I can breathe clean air! I visit some friends in L.A. (santa monica) who have better air than here!

True. Santa Barbara is in the lee of the prevailing winds from Point Conception, so the air tends to stay stuck. Summers can be uncomfortably muggy for the same reason, no air circulation. Carpinteria and the coastal regions of Ventura County are out of the "protected" coastal cove of Santa Barbara, so these areas normally do get the prevailing onshore winds, which keeps the air fresh.