• 1) Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, Calif. (1)
  2) Fresno, Calif. (3)
  3) Bakersfield, Calif. (2)
  4) Visalia-Turlare-Porterville, Calif. (4)
  5) Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, Texas (5)
  6) Sacramento-Yolo, Calif. (10)
  7) Merced, Calif. (7)
  8) Atlanta, Ga (6)
  9) Knoxville, Tenn (8)
  10) Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, N.C./S.C. (9)

• 1) San Bernardino, Calif. (1)
  2) Fresno, Calif. (3)
  3) Kern, Calif. (2)
  4) Tulare, Calif. (5)
  5) Riverside, Calif. (4)
  6) Harris, Texas (6)
  7) Los Angeles, Calif. (8)
  8) El Dorado, Calif. (14)
  9) Merced, Calif. (9)
  10) Kings, Calif. (11)
  11) Fulton, Ga (7)
  12) Sevier, Tenn (10)
  13) Nevada, Calif. (28)
  14) Sacramento, Calif. (20)
  15) Ventura, Calif. (21)
  16) Rowan, N.C. (22)
  17) Placer, Calif. (31)
  18) Anne Arundel, Md (15)
  19) Mecklenburg, N.C. (12)
  20) Tarrant, Texas (37)

Source: American Lung Association
Looks like the Best Smog is located in California
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-01-2003, 09:46 AM:
 
How do they measure smog?
 

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 05-01-2003, 10:19 AM:
 

quote:

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How do they measure smog?

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Thought that you'd never ask:

http://www.epa.gov/ttn/emc/
 

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Posted by David Rigby (Member # 1301) on 05-01-2003, 10:25 AM:
 
I always thought they pushed out a baby, a canary and a senior citizen on a smoggy day and timed how long it took for an asthma attack to arrive.

David
 

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Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 05-01-2003, 04:07 PM:
 
Or you might say it's a different example of "California Love".
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-01-2003, 05:05 PM:
 
Mmm yes. I sure do enjoy breathing air that I can see, taste and cut!

Interesting to see how Houston ranks so high on the list (the ranking is certainly deserved). The sheer volume of traffic having to fit on such outdated roadways is a big part of the problem. Driving in Dallas-Fort Worth can be quite an adventure sometimes but I don't think I've seen traffic jams there as as bad as those in Houston. The DFW road system is simply better.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-01-2003, 05:37 PM:
 
Although its ranking may still make it "the worst", I thought I read somewhere that due to all the pollution controls etc. that Los Angeles air quality has actually improved significantly over the last couple of decades. I can remember when it was REALLY bad, and it seems like it's improved a lot to me...
 

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Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-02-2003, 07:38 AM:
 
Woo hoo! Fresno is #2!! Oh, yippie! Hey... wait a second!! That's a BAD thing!!

One of Fresno's major problems is the lack of adequate public transportation (the buses stop at 6 PM and don't have many routes, besides which most people think the bus is "dirty" and wouldn't ride it even if it went to their very doorstep.) and Fresno is "Little L.A." meaning the city is so spread out you have to drive here, there and everywhere. Of course, nobody carpools. Fresno is very much a "we've always done it this way" city, and I'm afraid people here won't participate in/support any air quality measures that involve the slightest lifestyle change until the air is completely unbreathable and we can't go outside without wearing those little paper masks...
 

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Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 05-03-2003, 01:21 AM:
 
I daresay, it's lovely to be able to look up at a fairly cloudless night sky, and really see the stars twinkling...


One more thing that I love about living in Maine - so much natural air quality control!
Over 90% of the state is natural wilderness.
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 05-03-2003, 02:47 AM:
 
Garcia, don't let those a******* cut the forests down. They are cutting our trees down in Washington State. Sometimes we are called the "Everstump State" by our own residents. Trees breath carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen.

Concrete cities like LA, San Francisco, Minneassholeless, and others in the same class suck.
 

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Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 05-03-2003, 09:04 AM:
 
The city of Asheville is up in the mountains surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains. We are having bad air days. Plus, the old 100+ year old trees on the higher mountains are dying due to acid rain from the TVA coal-fired power plants in east Tennessee.

Plus, our leaders are "thinning" the trees in the National Forests. I say Leave Them Alone!

Interstate 26 will soon be completed through some of the last unspoiled parts of Western North Carolina. This, and the fact that the state is going to widen this highway from 4 to 8 lanes through MY neighborhood is going to only make things worse with car pollution. The typical McDonalds, and gas stations are starting to be built along this road. They HAVE to make these places FLAT for their huge parking lots!

People here dont car-pool. Most cars have only the driver. I catch flap when I gripe about the over-building of the highway system here. The state-road people have already made their decisions about these roads. Damn the people that are affected!
 

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Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-04-2003, 06:00 AM:
 
A few years ago they cut a path through the middle of Fresno to build a new freeway. When people asked if that money could be better spent building a public transportation system, the reply was "The road has already been planned."

At least they have stopped allowing vehicle traffic through Yosemite National Park. I don't think it would hurt people to walk a little bit and actually SEE nature instead of just driving past it...
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-04-2003, 05:33 PM:
 
We certainly have our problems here in SLC too due to being between two major mountain ranges. Inversions here are sometimes seemingly endless during cold weather, but most of the time its really nice here. We also seem to collect alot of smoke fomr forest fires, both in and out of state. A couple of summers ago the both mountain ranges all but disappeared from view due to this problem. I'll still take this place over most any other though.....
Mark
 

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Posted by Daniel Fuentz (Member # 1684) on 05-04-2003, 09:17 PM:
 
Bruce, It's too bad they feel the need to build a road through your part of NC. I was in SC last year, and it was beautiful country. I commented to my friend there at how lovely it was going down the highway with trees and such -- much better than going down 99 here in California. The stretch through Fresno is especially picturesque, with several junkyards located along the freeway. When I get stuff settled I plan to move far, far away from this place!!
 

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Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 05-05-2003, 12:04 AM:
 
Daniel:

We are fighting the 8 lane roadway. This is only the beginning. They are going to REPLACE all of the interstate 40 and 26 interchange to boot! My home is less than 1 mile from the construction zone.

NC kinda-had to put the road where they did. Tennessee has finished a fantastic new road up to the NC state line. The NC side is still a twisting 3 lane affair.

The 8 lane idea is the bad part.
 

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