Suppose you had the ability to pick up and move to any populated area* in the U.S. Where would you go if your number one requirement is to be able to take in a big gulp of fresh, clean, crisp air? All things such as political demographic, crime, nightlife, etc. would be secondary.
*I say “populated area” because obviously living out in the tundra of northern Alaska or in the middle of the redwood forests of the Pacific Northwest wouldn’t be feasible. You’d still need a place to work, school for your children, a social life, etc. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a major metropolitan area, but it should have some reasonable form of civilization.
I used to live in Idaho and went once to Coeur d’Alene. Nice clean fresh air up there. It’s only 30 miles from Spokane, Washington. I remember hearing a while ago that they were in the top 10 cleanest US cities as regards air pollution.
Just a WAG, but I’d pick some place like Naples, FL.
It’s right on the Gulf coast, far from any major cities, and probably gets a pretty constant breeze on-shore.
Most places in America would do, except:
– Anywhere in the South (or Florida :)), not enough deciduous smells and too muggy.
– Anywhere above 7000 feet, the air might smell fresh but it’s not satisfying to take a big gulp of it when it’s so thin
– Most places in the Southwest because of the aridity (i.e. this rules out most of the Southwest because the rest of it is pretty high :))
– The downtown of any metropolis (i.e. with several blocks of many-storied buildings.)
I was recently in Weaverville, NC and there air there was pretty nice. While it is a small town with not much to do, Asheville is a pretty large city and it’s a reasonable distance away.
That’s right. The place with all the vampires, evil spirits reanimating dead bodies, rabid dogs trapping you in your car, otherworld demons hiding under the sidewalk in storm drains and ripping apart children, military experiments that cause small towns to be envelopped in monster-populated fogs, etc… I’m packing up the U-haul and on my way! :dubious:
No no, not New England. The northeast has the highest prevalence of asthma in the US, with 81% more asthma hospitializations than the national average, theorized to be partially caused by pollution from mid-western factories (the EPAthinks it’s a real concern).
My favorite air is in Grand Marais, MN. Fresh, clear, and almost always cool. The air is also good in southern MN where I am unless it’s manuring time or you are situated downwind of a hog farm.
West coast, right on the water, north of where the water turns cold (somewhere north of Santa Barbara. Almost all the air comes off the ocean, largest in the world.
We bought our piece of Heaven out in the middle of nowhere in NE Arizona. According to the Petrified Forest info, this is the cleanest air in the Continental US.
The metropolises (?) are rather distant. However, as far as our needs go, we’re insanely happy with it. Hubster is an amateur astronomer, and the night skies are unbelievable.
If we HAD to have cities nearby, I’d probably head further East on I-40 to Gallup or Albuquerque.
