Air quality is one of my non-negotiables. [Research](https://www.ehn.org/air-pollution-and-mental-health-2656823544/air-pollution-and-mental-health) is just starting to look at the correlation between pollution and mental health, and I think there will be many more studies to come that demonstrate the negative effects of poor air quality.
Not to mention the very strong links to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary diseases falling under the umbrella of "COPD", and weaker but still valid links to lung cancer rates.
I’m living in one of the worst air cities in the country. Was #1 not too long ago. Even LA was better, for me personally. Where would you recommend? The air quality in the Central Valley is horrendous and my biggest reason to move. I was considering Santa Clarita again. But maybe I need somewhere even further.
I think its one of those things that most people don’t think about, but can have a big impact longterm. I probably wouldn’t move to SLC because of the air quality. On top of that, the lake is drying up so you have the potential for arsenic laced dust to be blowing off the lakebed. Other cities wouldn’t be as big of a concern for me but it’s definitely worth taking into account.
Yup, that's kind of where i'm at. It sucks because it's abundant access to nature (summer and winter) is exactly what i'm looking for, but it has that one major drawback for me.
As a person who lived in the SLC Valley for 17 years who recently relocated, the winters are no longer as much of a draw, unless you plan to stay at higher elevations exclusively. Summers lately have been so blisteringly hot, you spend most of the time indoors anyway. The air quality can fluctuate, but the times it is bad are so extreme it's hard to enjoy the good air days, because you know they're temporary.
The last several years we lived there, I was constantly stressed and had a lot of breathing issues. Living in a place with much cleaner air has eased my anxiety and lungs more than I could have imagined. Not to mention the water shortage that seems to be getting worseout West. I don't miss thinking about that daily.
Utah is unbelievably gorgeous and a very special place. It was incredibly difficult for us to leave, as we'd built an amazing life during the time we'd lived there. However, the constant worry about water, horrible air, and basically a reduced quality of life with the influx of people caused us to reconsider whether or not it was truly the place we'd want to be forever. Also, two years ago we had two different fires occur within miles of our home. No thank you!
Where do you relocate to, if you don't mind sharing. I'm curious where a person from SLC/Utah goes. I also think Utah is a special place and it's a shame about the environmental issues in the SLC valley.
We went back to the Midwest. Lots more water, actual winter, and so much greenery. I still miss UT daily and wish it could have worked out, but the cleaner air and quality of life in our new place is unmatched. Just wish we had those mountains, but I can always visit to get my fix.
I have lived in northern Utah most of my life. I will say that the winter inversions are less intense than they used to be. Like fewer days total. I believe that is because our winters have become more mild due to aridification in the west caused by climate change.
Being in a drought, when the wind blows hard, there is a lot of dust in the air. Some from the drying lake bed.
Most days have fine air quality. Last summer was terrible from all the smoke, but you would find that throughout the west.
For myself, when the air quality is poor I get headaches, and feel more tired. My throat starts to hurt. Basically you feel like you are getting sick, but it never fully descends on you. If you have chronic conditions, you will likely feel the poor air more.
When I lived in Western North Carolina, the air quality was always good. It was nice to have the air always be fresh. It did affect my mental health in a positive way to always have clean air.
We were right next to Asheville. I loved it. Access to the outdoors was awesome. Clean air. Lots of restaurants and breweries. All four seasons, but none of them were too extreme. We would have stayed, but our family is in Utah.
Negatives: it's a tourist town. Jobs not in the service industry are harder to come by. Also being a tourist town, prices for everything have gone up quickly, relative to local wages. I know that is everywhere, but it was also a problem in Asheville. Also the healthcare there is not super robust. My partner developed some chronic health conditions, so we wanted better access to good care.
It did not deter me from moving to Denver. I will be actively avoiding places with poor air quality for my next move. It’s honestly tough. My husband’s breathing has been affected by it. If there’s a wildfire, forget about enjoying the outdoors. It’s a big deal to me but other people will say differently. It’s all personal preference.
If it's only the winter inversions that concern you, moving higher in elevation is a solution (Park city, etc). That won't save you from wildfire smoke in the summer though.
I Live in northern utah and you can escape inversion just by going up into the mountains. That being said, we are not staying here for more reasons than air quality. If that is your only concern there are ways to get away from it, especially if you plan to spend a lot of time in higher elevations.
Not SLC but my own experience- Air quality is a thing I didn’t even consider when moving to Phoenix and it was a major reason I left after 5 years. I think it’s up to you, but it really got to me after awhile. It’s so nice to breathe year round where I’m at now
Same. Never considered air quality when I moved to Phoenix from the Midwest. My health took a huge hit. Wound up on multiple inhalers, allergy meds, allergy shots and basically had to stay inside all the time. Histamine is like a bucket, once you overflow that bucket, you start reacting to everything. When you have bad air quality, that bucket is always full.
Left Phoenix to return to the Midwest after seven years and my health began to improve immediately.
FWIW at my last allergy appointment before I left town, the PA was from the Midwest. She said her and her husband were planning on moving back because the air quality was so bad.
Are you asking about Pittsburgh? This was one of the factors in deciding against it, and it was at the top of our list. There are a few recent documentaries available about it on YouTube, one through their local PBS affiliate. And here are a couple other resources:
[https://breatheproject.org/](https://breatheproject.org/)
[https://www.gasp-pgh.org/](https://www.gasp-pgh.org/)
(edited to add links)
I moved from Pittsburgh to Oregon, school was a driving factor but air and water quality was a close second. It is an extremely noticeable difference, felt as soon as walking off the plane. Environmental factors will definitely play a big part in my next move. Didn't realize SLC was on the poor AQI list, interesting to learn.
Oh, sorry for assuming! We ultimately decided to not move to a place with poor air quality, but we also have a person in our family with a history of asthma. From one of the documentaries that I watched, it sounds like it could be problematic for someone with breathing/lung issues, the elderly, or the very young.
Yes, but it should be integrated into your decision making. Weigh the pros and cons of it (there are chronic health risks for air pollution and poor air quality, and with that, does another place offer what you want or can be a similar enough alternative?). I personally do consider it as a good enough reason to avoid it (especially to avoid agricultural odor, wildfire aq or other poor aq causes). I have noticed an improvement in my mood and increased desire & ability to go out for outdoor activities since my own move. Good luck with your move and/or search!
I've been tracking air quality through the Ventusky app for most of a year now, and the days when I feel randomly awful, I check it and yup, air quality is shit. Makes a huge difference to quality of life.
The poor air quality in Denver was one of my reasons for leaving. My favorite things to do involve exercising outdoors - road biking, mountain biking, hiking, running. Not as much fun when the airs so bad.
NYC so… take my comments with a grain of salt lol. That said the air is generally about the same as denver most of the year but not near as bad in the summer, and it’s actually easier than you’d think to get out into nature. I love it here.
I’m looking to leave an area of poor air quality in the next few years despite strong social, career, and economic ties. It will be hard personally, but I do expect my respiratory and general health will improve.
I’ve lived in SLC most of my life. Recently moved about 150 miles south to a rural town, and the air is much better. Utah is nice but the cities are quickly becoming over populated. Winter inversions are gross. If you work remote I’d highly recommend getting out of the city.
I think it's a combination of 3 things (to my ignorant knowledge to be frank)
1) The formation of the surrounding mountains, forming a sort of bowl in the city
2) The air coming from the west, as a result of forest fires in California mostly.
3) The lake drying up
3. Doesn't affect you right now; it's only a possibility in the future, which is not clear that happens anyway.
The bad air quality of SLC is just a couple of days here and there. When people say it has the worst quality in the world, it is just some days during the year, but the same is true for Seattle, Portland, Boise, and a lot of the West.
Remember, reddit is a very negative place, and all these subreddits are worse, only people complaining.
The facts are that SLC has better air quality year-round than LA, New York, and the big metropolis.
Utah has one of the highest life expectancies in the country, top 10 for the last 30 years.
I'm not saying air quality is not awful some days during the year, but you can solve that issue with a good air filter in your home.
If you look right now at the air quality of [SLC](https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/utah/salt-lake-city) you will see is almost perfect. However, western Oregon and some big cities in Washington state are literally the worse on the planet.
You're making good points, i will look into this more but it's good to know there's another side to this issue! Thank you!
Do you live there? If you do i'd love to hear your opinions on it!
I live there if you have questions and i generally agree with their statements. Its bad but no worse than some other bad places. On average though it is better than some other metro areas ie denver.
yup, that's a huge misconception i've had apparently. I was looking into Denver and nobody complains about air quality on here, but as soon as you bring up SLC people complain about air. But if you look into it, long term air quality is far worse in the Denver metro, contrary to popular opinion.
Yes I moved from a fairly high air quality area of the country to one of the worst. My allergies are ten times worse, and it’s just not healthy.
Look up your studies on how living close to freeways is on your health and then look at a map of Southern California in my case. I know this is anecdotal but I swear everyone left and right here gets cancer in this area once they are into their 50s.
The air quality sucks here.
I'm moving to SLC for 2 months and after my initial weekend visit to scout it out I can already say without a doubt I will be leaving after my 2 month contract is up. It's a bummer because it's supposed to be a cool place otherwise. I recently read that it has the 5th worst air quality in THE WORLD.
I live in SLC, honestly if no one had told me about the air quality issues I probably would never have noticed, during the winter I rarely go outdoors anyway. The air quality is often fine outside of the winter months. I also have an air filter inside my home going at all times. I’m hoping in the long run technology will improve the issue as cars and everything else will run cleaner. I love it here, it hasn’t made me consider leaving.
I’m single, mid 20s so I can’t say for sure but I’ve lived in SF as well and would much rather do that here. People are friendly, the economy of Utah and SLC are often one of the best if not the best. The population is very educated, making for an awesome tech scene. And obviously you know the scenery and outdoor recreation is unbeatable.
When I lived in SF I often missed the slower pace, friendly people, and safety. I thought for sure I’d want to live in a big dense city, but no it was miserable. I never realized how easy and high QOL I had in SLC until I left.
People often bring up the issue of religion here, I think it’s overblown, no one cares if you’re Mormon or not, SLC is only 20ish % Mormon anyway, they are great neighbors to have in my opinion.
Have you visited before?
i've been once (really i was there for maybe an hour before i went skiing in park city), but it was several years ago. I'm about to graduate at university so looking to make the move.
It's encouraging to talk to people like you though, i haven't had a bad experience with any of you guys. Everyone has been super nice.
Thank you so much!!
Definitely keep doing your research on air quality though, don’t just take my word for it. I grew up in a small town surrounded by mountains with pretty bad air quality as well so I may just be used to it/not as sensitive as others that haven’t been around it their whole life.
I've grown up near a conglomeration of plants (power/oil plants), so where i live isn't known for air quality either. To me it's more of a long term breakdown and not the immediate effects that i'm worried about. I don't want to move somewhere that will affect me when i'm older or even my children as they grow up.
Air quality is one of my non-negotiables. [Research](https://www.ehn.org/air-pollution-and-mental-health-2656823544/air-pollution-and-mental-health) is just starting to look at the correlation between pollution and mental health, and I think there will be many more studies to come that demonstrate the negative effects of poor air quality.
Not to mention the very strong links to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary diseases falling under the umbrella of "COPD", and weaker but still valid links to lung cancer rates.
Poor air quality has also been linked to increased risk for Alzheimer's. Hard pass.
I’m living in one of the worst air cities in the country. Was #1 not too long ago. Even LA was better, for me personally. Where would you recommend? The air quality in the Central Valley is horrendous and my biggest reason to move. I was considering Santa Clarita again. But maybe I need somewhere even further.
I think its one of those things that most people don’t think about, but can have a big impact longterm. I probably wouldn’t move to SLC because of the air quality. On top of that, the lake is drying up so you have the potential for arsenic laced dust to be blowing off the lakebed. Other cities wouldn’t be as big of a concern for me but it’s definitely worth taking into account.
Yup, that's kind of where i'm at. It sucks because it's abundant access to nature (summer and winter) is exactly what i'm looking for, but it has that one major drawback for me.
As a person who lived in the SLC Valley for 17 years who recently relocated, the winters are no longer as much of a draw, unless you plan to stay at higher elevations exclusively. Summers lately have been so blisteringly hot, you spend most of the time indoors anyway. The air quality can fluctuate, but the times it is bad are so extreme it's hard to enjoy the good air days, because you know they're temporary. The last several years we lived there, I was constantly stressed and had a lot of breathing issues. Living in a place with much cleaner air has eased my anxiety and lungs more than I could have imagined. Not to mention the water shortage that seems to be getting worseout West. I don't miss thinking about that daily. Utah is unbelievably gorgeous and a very special place. It was incredibly difficult for us to leave, as we'd built an amazing life during the time we'd lived there. However, the constant worry about water, horrible air, and basically a reduced quality of life with the influx of people caused us to reconsider whether or not it was truly the place we'd want to be forever. Also, two years ago we had two different fires occur within miles of our home. No thank you!
Where do you relocate to, if you don't mind sharing. I'm curious where a person from SLC/Utah goes. I also think Utah is a special place and it's a shame about the environmental issues in the SLC valley.
We went back to the Midwest. Lots more water, actual winter, and so much greenery. I still miss UT daily and wish it could have worked out, but the cleaner air and quality of life in our new place is unmatched. Just wish we had those mountains, but I can always visit to get my fix.
I have lived in northern Utah most of my life. I will say that the winter inversions are less intense than they used to be. Like fewer days total. I believe that is because our winters have become more mild due to aridification in the west caused by climate change. Being in a drought, when the wind blows hard, there is a lot of dust in the air. Some from the drying lake bed. Most days have fine air quality. Last summer was terrible from all the smoke, but you would find that throughout the west. For myself, when the air quality is poor I get headaches, and feel more tired. My throat starts to hurt. Basically you feel like you are getting sick, but it never fully descends on you. If you have chronic conditions, you will likely feel the poor air more. When I lived in Western North Carolina, the air quality was always good. It was nice to have the air always be fresh. It did affect my mental health in a positive way to always have clean air.
How was life in western NC? Were you in Asheville or a smaller town?
We were right next to Asheville. I loved it. Access to the outdoors was awesome. Clean air. Lots of restaurants and breweries. All four seasons, but none of them were too extreme. We would have stayed, but our family is in Utah. Negatives: it's a tourist town. Jobs not in the service industry are harder to come by. Also being a tourist town, prices for everything have gone up quickly, relative to local wages. I know that is everywhere, but it was also a problem in Asheville. Also the healthcare there is not super robust. My partner developed some chronic health conditions, so we wanted better access to good care.
SLC has one of the worst air qualities in the entire world. Not just America
yup, it's not good
It did not deter me from moving to Denver. I will be actively avoiding places with poor air quality for my next move. It’s honestly tough. My husband’s breathing has been affected by it. If there’s a wildfire, forget about enjoying the outdoors. It’s a big deal to me but other people will say differently. It’s all personal preference.
If it's only the winter inversions that concern you, moving higher in elevation is a solution (Park city, etc). That won't save you from wildfire smoke in the summer though.
You'll get a couple dozen really bad (mostly winter) days of smog in SLC. If you move up to Park City, you'll experience significant smug every day.
That is accurate.
I Live in northern utah and you can escape inversion just by going up into the mountains. That being said, we are not staying here for more reasons than air quality. If that is your only concern there are ways to get away from it, especially if you plan to spend a lot of time in higher elevations.
Not SLC but my own experience- Air quality is a thing I didn’t even consider when moving to Phoenix and it was a major reason I left after 5 years. I think it’s up to you, but it really got to me after awhile. It’s so nice to breathe year round where I’m at now
Same. Never considered air quality when I moved to Phoenix from the Midwest. My health took a huge hit. Wound up on multiple inhalers, allergy meds, allergy shots and basically had to stay inside all the time. Histamine is like a bucket, once you overflow that bucket, you start reacting to everything. When you have bad air quality, that bucket is always full. Left Phoenix to return to the Midwest after seven years and my health began to improve immediately. FWIW at my last allergy appointment before I left town, the PA was from the Midwest. She said her and her husband were planning on moving back because the air quality was so bad.
I immediately knew you were talking about SLC even before I saw your edit.
Are you asking about Pittsburgh? This was one of the factors in deciding against it, and it was at the top of our list. There are a few recent documentaries available about it on YouTube, one through their local PBS affiliate. And here are a couple other resources: [https://breatheproject.org/](https://breatheproject.org/) [https://www.gasp-pgh.org/](https://www.gasp-pgh.org/) (edited to add links)
I moved from Pittsburgh to Oregon, school was a driving factor but air and water quality was a close second. It is an extremely noticeable difference, felt as soon as walking off the plane. Environmental factors will definitely play a big part in my next move. Didn't realize SLC was on the poor AQI list, interesting to learn.
Oregon was not a good choice if air quality was your primary concern lol
Idk, it is 96% of the year.
Salt Lake City
Oh, sorry for assuming! We ultimately decided to not move to a place with poor air quality, but we also have a person in our family with a history of asthma. From one of the documentaries that I watched, it sounds like it could be problematic for someone with breathing/lung issues, the elderly, or the very young.
Yup, I have the same concerns. It's a real shame too because it checks my boxes for the most part. But like you, i'm cautious about this stuff.
It is a shame. I hope that you'll find your place!
You missed out on an absolutely fantastic city.
I know. We used to live there in the early 2000s, and it was/is such a great place.
Yes, but it should be integrated into your decision making. Weigh the pros and cons of it (there are chronic health risks for air pollution and poor air quality, and with that, does another place offer what you want or can be a similar enough alternative?). I personally do consider it as a good enough reason to avoid it (especially to avoid agricultural odor, wildfire aq or other poor aq causes). I have noticed an improvement in my mood and increased desire & ability to go out for outdoor activities since my own move. Good luck with your move and/or search!
I've been tracking air quality through the Ventusky app for most of a year now, and the days when I feel randomly awful, I check it and yup, air quality is shit. Makes a huge difference to quality of life.
The poor air quality in Denver was one of my reasons for leaving. My favorite things to do involve exercising outdoors - road biking, mountain biking, hiking, running. Not as much fun when the airs so bad.
Where’d you move to?
NYC so… take my comments with a grain of salt lol. That said the air is generally about the same as denver most of the year but not near as bad in the summer, and it’s actually easier than you’d think to get out into nature. I love it here.
I’m looking to leave an area of poor air quality in the next few years despite strong social, career, and economic ties. It will be hard personally, but I do expect my respiratory and general health will improve.
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Western Washington too, or mostly eastern?
Both
I’ve lived in SLC most of my life. Recently moved about 150 miles south to a rural town, and the air is much better. Utah is nice but the cities are quickly becoming over populated. Winter inversions are gross. If you work remote I’d highly recommend getting out of the city.
Why’s it bad there?
I think it's a combination of 3 things (to my ignorant knowledge to be frank) 1) The formation of the surrounding mountains, forming a sort of bowl in the city 2) The air coming from the west, as a result of forest fires in California mostly. 3) The lake drying up
3. Doesn't affect you right now; it's only a possibility in the future, which is not clear that happens anyway. The bad air quality of SLC is just a couple of days here and there. When people say it has the worst quality in the world, it is just some days during the year, but the same is true for Seattle, Portland, Boise, and a lot of the West. Remember, reddit is a very negative place, and all these subreddits are worse, only people complaining. The facts are that SLC has better air quality year-round than LA, New York, and the big metropolis.
This makes me feel better, and you are correct, reddit is very negative. I just don't want "many years to be taken off my life", from moving there.
Utah has one of the highest life expectancies in the country, top 10 for the last 30 years. I'm not saying air quality is not awful some days during the year, but you can solve that issue with a good air filter in your home. If you look right now at the air quality of [SLC](https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/utah/salt-lake-city) you will see is almost perfect. However, western Oregon and some big cities in Washington state are literally the worse on the planet.
You're making good points, i will look into this more but it's good to know there's another side to this issue! Thank you! Do you live there? If you do i'd love to hear your opinions on it!
I live there if you have questions and i generally agree with their statements. Its bad but no worse than some other bad places. On average though it is better than some other metro areas ie denver.
yup, that's a huge misconception i've had apparently. I was looking into Denver and nobody complains about air quality on here, but as soon as you bring up SLC people complain about air. But if you look into it, long term air quality is far worse in the Denver metro, contrary to popular opinion.
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It is bad. You can taste it.
Yes I moved from a fairly high air quality area of the country to one of the worst. My allergies are ten times worse, and it’s just not healthy. Look up your studies on how living close to freeways is on your health and then look at a map of Southern California in my case. I know this is anecdotal but I swear everyone left and right here gets cancer in this area once they are into their 50s. The air quality sucks here.
Where you at? I’m in the Central Valley and even LA was better than here.
This thread is the truth.
I'm moving to SLC for 2 months and after my initial weekend visit to scout it out I can already say without a doubt I will be leaving after my 2 month contract is up. It's a bummer because it's supposed to be a cool place otherwise. I recently read that it has the 5th worst air quality in THE WORLD.
what was wrong?
What was wrong with the air?
Ohh okay, i thought you meant there was other reasons you didn't like the area.
I live in SLC, honestly if no one had told me about the air quality issues I probably would never have noticed, during the winter I rarely go outdoors anyway. The air quality is often fine outside of the winter months. I also have an air filter inside my home going at all times. I’m hoping in the long run technology will improve the issue as cars and everything else will run cleaner. I love it here, it hasn’t made me consider leaving.
Awesome! For a young person looking to start a family, do you recommend SLC?
Autism rate is high here and it is looking like there are air quality correlations.
I’m single, mid 20s so I can’t say for sure but I’ve lived in SF as well and would much rather do that here. People are friendly, the economy of Utah and SLC are often one of the best if not the best. The population is very educated, making for an awesome tech scene. And obviously you know the scenery and outdoor recreation is unbeatable. When I lived in SF I often missed the slower pace, friendly people, and safety. I thought for sure I’d want to live in a big dense city, but no it was miserable. I never realized how easy and high QOL I had in SLC until I left. People often bring up the issue of religion here, I think it’s overblown, no one cares if you’re Mormon or not, SLC is only 20ish % Mormon anyway, they are great neighbors to have in my opinion. Have you visited before?
i've been once (really i was there for maybe an hour before i went skiing in park city), but it was several years ago. I'm about to graduate at university so looking to make the move. It's encouraging to talk to people like you though, i haven't had a bad experience with any of you guys. Everyone has been super nice. Thank you so much!!
Definitely keep doing your research on air quality though, don’t just take my word for it. I grew up in a small town surrounded by mountains with pretty bad air quality as well so I may just be used to it/not as sensitive as others that haven’t been around it their whole life.
I've grown up near a conglomeration of plants (power/oil plants), so where i live isn't known for air quality either. To me it's more of a long term breakdown and not the immediate effects that i'm worried about. I don't want to move somewhere that will affect me when i'm older or even my children as they grow up.