Considering moving to Edmonds from California...educate me?

[lookinforhorseparadise]

MOLD.....My nemesis. Seriously this is a bad area for mold because most dwellings typically have no a/c (a/c would lower humidity indoors and people leave windows open. Having closed windows keeps out airborne mold spores) so a clean a/c unit in combo with air purifier is better as far as combating allergens like mold from coming from outdoors. Of course avoid a/c units that are poorly maintained, dirty ductwork, soggy insulation in walls/ceilings from old leaks...etc etc. You know the drill...it is all here and I have seen buildings with super shabby carpets. Worse carpets I have seen anywhere....older than me and filthy. I also noticed that many older apts here have NO fan so bathrooms are a mold factory. Anyway be careful once you have toxic mold exposure any new exposure may trigger immune reactions and even dead mold spores can trigger allergies. If you see tons of mold on the outside of a building's walls, be suspicious. I love old buildings but with my mold exposure history and allergies I am thinking a newer building with "green materials"/construction might be safer. On Craigslist there are a lot of basement mother in law type apartments for rent in Seattle. Be very careful as these can harbor mold. If you were buying you could pay for all kinds of mold tests but I don't know what the answer is for renters?

My maintenance company is the worst. I saw them patch up a huge leak which burst my bathroom ceiling and they did not clean out the wet insulation or wood. It happened again in my kitchen ceiling....Twice....I guarantee there is a colony of mold up there. Their other standard trick is to just paint over it! Mold can actually feed on paint.

Sorry for the bad news but maybe someone will have a better way to detect it. A lot of folks, even medical personnel, will give you the stink eye if you bring up mold related health concerns. It is often downplayed but some species of mold are carcinogenic and are believed to cause immune system disorders like lupus. There is a really good specialist I see here.....old fashioned Dr (allergist and immunologist) he is twice my age and sharp as can be, also has a ND who works there I believe she is a Bastyr University grad. Anyway, they are great.

[CrazyDonkey]

Is the clinic where you'll be receiving care in Edmonds? In general, you'll want a single-seat transit ride to your appointments. See which transit routes serve the clinic address and then choose a place to live that is on one of those routes - on the Trip Planners mentioned earlier, you can input an address you're interested in and the clinic's address, and they will tell you what bus(es) you need to take to make the trip and how long it should take.

Realize that what might take 15 minutes driving might take an hour or more on the bus, especially if you have to transfer.