Smoggest town in America!

www.cbsnews.com...

Haha, let me poke my head out the window, and yell at that city jet a miles a way, that they are more smogger then our city.

I knew i was living in the worst place in this country... nasty nsasty air here.

What can be done about smog, there are some days were the air is so nasty is bad to breath, hard to breath, and today, is terrible...

wow being as that it is in a california farmtown i kinda feel bad for the farm animals in that smoggy place.
so i wonder how exactly they get rid of of the smog?

I live in a somewhat remote part of Canada and have never experianced smog until i went to the city of Toronto. If your not used to it, it's totally sickening and makes you want to puke immediately. I don't know how these people live like that day to day.

Eh what a load of bull-puckey. The Central Valley has this nasty habit of blaming the San Francisco Bay Area for alot of their problems LA as well. In fact they were able to change the smog rules for our areas that require us to put our cars on rollers for the check. It went from $30 for the check to 90. But those rules of cource do not apply to these areas eh.

But when pressed for real data its a small percentage of the pollution in the area.

Whats the REAL culprit they don't want to discuss? Pesticides, farm machenery that is not regulated, the practice of burning crops etc. Alot of thier problems are thier own doing.

Arvin is at the south end of an immense valley, the San Joaquin. Think of this valley as a large soup bowl, where the soup rarely spills over. There is an "inversion layer" which traps air in. It is said that even original inhabitants saw the smoke from their campfires rise only to a certain level and then spread out. And this was surely before cars, farming, etc.

As late as 40 years ago in this valley you had many clear days where you could see the mountain ranges up and down the valley on both sides. Now you're lucky to see a silhouette of one range most days. People from urban areas have "escaped" to the rural towns and cities, adding cars, fireplaces, etc to the mix. Highway 5 really opened up the west side to agriculture and other development. Farming and dairies (which have moved to the SJ valley as So Cal housing developments drove them out) do reduce air quality. The clear broth in the soup bowl has transformed to peasoup!

Passes by Bakersfield and the Bay Area allow for the soup to spill out or in sometimes. That's why there are wind farms in these passes, they're windy.

Since what happens in the SJ seems to stay in the SJ, dust, exhaust, pesticides, etc are in the soup. Add Tule fog in the winter!

Arvin's location adds to the problem--everything seems to flow to the south! Even Mother Earth seemed to have dumped her oil there, as in the mix near Arvin are the giant oilfields of the southern SJ near Bakersfield. Ahhh, nothing like the smell of refineries in the air.

A side note--Valley Fever is spread in the air, when soil is stirred up. It's found in the SJ valley soil and gets in the air at times when the winds blow hard (or you're around farm equipment stirring up the soil). There have been stories of people who contracted VF just by driving through the Bakersfield area during heavy windy days.

People who have never before complained of breathing/sinus problems do so after moving to the SJ, what with the poor air quality and plants.

The air quality in southwest US is terrible now anyway, and Arvin just happens to be at the worst point of all.

Another side note--the 1930's dustbowl migrant camp at Arvin gave inspiration to Steinbeck for his Grapes of Wrath.

wow. I thought it was just us and LA duking it out for worst air. Didnt stop to think about arvin.

Ya,valley fever is a big issue,even though i dont know anyone who's actually gotten it. Ive just always heard about people from outside contracting it. Not to add west nile virus,they just did the aerial spraying not that long ago.

Now we're choking on this damn smoke from the zaca fire near santa barbara. Sore throat and everything. Living in bakesfield during the summer,i can easily forget its a nice looking place,because you cant see the mountains just next to.

I love it in the winter though. Taking a deep breath and not coughing And the snow covered peaks make it a nice view.

Spanish, I can't believe the smoke either. Depending on the winds, some days the sky would start out clear, then get overcast by afternoon. The sun has been a red ball, and the sunlight filters through the air producing a reddish hue. I don't ever remember smokey conditions here lasting that long. My son told me that his car had ashes on it when he had it up in the Sierras. This is very bad for lungs. Yes, sore throat and eyes.

Have you noticed that ever since last year's leap in gas prices, that there seemed to be a little less visible pollution? I attributed it to people driving less. I also noticed many Prius's and a few other hybrids on the highways.

Re Valley Fever. I've heard that if you've ever lived in the Valley, you've contracted VF, but most people never notice symptoms or just think it is a flu. I have had friends and colleagues come down with the stuff so bad they had to be hospitalized, one almost died. One was the son of friends, 15, who ended up with a collapsed lung. The mother of a friend got it as she exercised by walking; the problem was, she was out during a time when shopping centers were going in, and there was, at the same period, windstorms!

I forgot about West Nile. I remember a 7 year old girl, who one day was a healthy, active child, then got bit by a mosquito and contracted encephalitis, and ended up with severe brain damage, unable to walk or talk. That was so sad.

But, yes, on a clear day you can see those beautiful mountains. And the view from coming down Hwy 58 can even make Arvin beautiful, with it's green patches of groves and farmland. Damn, humans need to take care of this planet!!

Why do people live in the Valley? Many for the same reasons the Dustbowl escapees came, to find work and a better place to live. To get another start.

The Valley can seem another world to those passing through, not even part of Cali, unknown territory on the other side of the mountains. It's not southern CA or northern CA. It's as if you can take a map, fold it so Los Angeles and San Francisco touch, with nothing in between.
But the Valley has it's own history, a past and a future. From lesser known Jim Savage to well known Cesar Chavez. Perhaps passing through the southern Valley today is as boring visually as it was in the 1860's, but a sidetrip off the highways brings into focus a number of places of interest.

Wow, I'm trying to find a link, but in the paper today I read that the city I live in has the cleanest air in the country. It was saying that people with lung problems should move here. I live in Fayetteville Arkansas by the way. We're up in the mountains with little heavy industry to put out pollution.

I'm sitting here smoking a cigarette and telling myself that something is wrong with this picture.

I'll get back to you if I find the link,

Wow, I'm trying to find a link, but in the paper today I read that the city I live in has the cleanest air in the country. It was saying that people with lung problems should move here. I live in Fayetteville Arkansas by the way. We're up in the mountains with little heavy industry to put out pollution.

I'm sitting here smoking a cigarette and telling myself that something is wrong with this picture.

I'll get back to you if I find the link,

With all its problems though,i like it overall. Used to live in LA. I love LA,but bakersfield is the city that LA forgot. And thats a good thing. Less traffic,(but way worse since 90 when i moved here) and the housing is relatively cheap. Need more industry though.