Air quality question

Submitted by oat_tao t3_z8cdj6 in pittsburgh

I’ve lived in the southern US for all of my life and I’m wanting to move to the northeast in the next year or two. Pittsburgh caught my attention because I’ve heard/read that there’s a lot to do, cool neighborhoods, good food scene, local sports (college and pro), quality job prospects, and very affordable for a medium to large city in the US.

The two primary cons (from my perspective) that I’m aware of are (1) air quality and (2) intense winters. The air quality is my main concern. For folks who’ve lived in Pittsburgh, I’d appreciate your insight and opinion on whether or not air quality in Pittsburgh is a serious issue?

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B0bb3r7 t1_iyawyuv wrote

Winters are not intense in Pittsburgh. Maybe relative to the south, though.

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mmphoto412 t1_iycrhbz wrote

I second this, we definitely do not have an intense winter. We maybe get a dozen days off snow accumulation a year, and it’s probably 3” or less most of the time.

Every 10-15 years we tend to get a big snowfall

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dingurth1 t1_iyaxc14 wrote

The worst air issues are mostly localized and avoidable. Generally the air is better than it used to be, but still not the best.

"Intense" might be relative, especially coming from the south, but Pittsburgh is not known for having bad winters in terms of snow and cold. People do complain about the 5 months of grey/brown and overcast skies (second cloudiest city after Seattle).

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uniquelabel t1_iyd4602 wrote

Yes, the lack of sunlight might be more of a problem than the presence of snow.

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rush2ryme t1_iyb1f1a wrote

I’m from NC myself, I haven’t been here long but I can say I don’t notice an acute difference on “bad air quality” days. Granted I don’t work outside or anything so that may make a difference, but I do have asthma and it’s not exacerbated by the low air quality.

As far as winter weather goes, while I can say I have honestly seen more instances of snow already this year than I’m used to seeing back home (mostly flurries, but still), the temperature has more or less lined up with what I’d be experiencing in North Carolina. It’s mostly just been weird to rework the part of my brain that says “snow means you don’t have to go to work.”

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James19991 t1_iyb7bmx wrote

Winters aren't really intense in Pittsburgh. They're definitely colder and snowier than the South or even places like NYC and Philly, but it's nowhere near as rough as places to the North like Buffalo in Erie.

Why is this factual comment getting downvoted?

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Neeee-nerrrr t1_iybekb9 wrote

I grew up under the jet fuel of Virginia Beach and had allergies and athletic asthma. I moved to Pittsburgh and worked in Oakland starting in 2007. After a few months, I had several problems with breathing and sinuses. I had to get ear tubes at 30. I left for a few years and several of the issues cleared back up. So… I’m definitely not a fan of Pittsburgh air.

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ATribeCalledGreg t1_iyayhbr wrote

I’d suggesting visiting. This sub sees weekly complaints about the air quality, but I personally don’t perceive any problems with the air on air days. Don’t base this decision on anyone else’s sensitives but your own.

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Karmanat0r t1_iyd2lbs wrote

Our air quality is objectively bad, regardless of how you think it smells. There’s plenty of data to back that up.

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ATribeCalledGreg t1_iydadxv wrote

Being bad on a meter and being a concern are different things. If I don’t notice it then it’s not really a problem for me.

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James19991 t1_iyb77qp wrote

This is the right answer. The only time I can remember ever smelling something in the air was when there was that inversion during Christmas in 2019. Other than that, I've never noticed a smell to the air unless there was a bus or truck directly nearby giving off diesel exhaust.

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ApricotFast5646 t1_iyb7gu4 wrote

As a transplant, I can immediately notice if the air quality is worse on some days than others. Literally as soon as I walk outside. It is because you are used to it.

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James19991 t1_iyb8ic6 wrote

I'm not sure where you live, but I'm also not in one of those spots that will get a smell or issues from the coke works.

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dingurth1 t1_iybafhd wrote

As a transplant, I can say I haven't noticed worse air quality any day that I've been here despite numerous posts on this sub to the contrary (I'm in Brookline).

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[deleted] t1_iybd3iv wrote

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dingurth1 t1_iybog2g wrote

You might be a person with above average sensitivity. I have a friend who got choked up when they had a minor spot of mold pop up in their bathroom.

I may also be biased because I transplanted from LA so the air quality here even on bad days is an improvement to what I used to live in. Though I can't say I've seen smog in the air.

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greentea1985 t1_iyd1eop wrote

I think it is down to how sensitive you are. I have allergies and asthma, so I do tend to have issues during the alerts. However, it’s only recently that there have been a lot of alerts at a frustrating level.

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87catsinatrenchcoat t1_iybd6t3 wrote

I'd agree with everyone who says visit. When I first came here for college, I started taking loratadine for seasonal allergy issues I hadn't previously had, but I haven't taken it in over 15 years. And the winters are not intense. They're unpredictable (it can hardly get below 28 some years, and other years it can get in the negative temps). Honestly, after I bought a few pairs of long underwear, a parka, and some good snowboots, I haven't been bothered by going outside in winter that much, relative to other places (NJ, DE) that I've lived. People like to think winters are bad because we're close to Lake Erie and it's often cloudy for at least several hours during a majority of days, but we RARELY get lake effect snow. People like to say that if you don't like the weather in Pittsburgh, wait an hour. I've worn sunglasses and switched back and forth with an umbrella within an hour many times.

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Pharmalucid t1_iyawrwp wrote

South east and north west of the city have the bad air because of Clairton coke works and the cracker plant. Most other areas are fine. Also winters have been getting less bad thanks to global warming

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thisisinput t1_iybj6sr wrote

Moved up from Texas and love it here. The bad air quality days are no different to me than the ones in Texas. I honestly don't notice.

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username-1787 t1_iybjyly wrote

Air quality is acceptable in the city, less so in the mill towns to the southeast

Winters are not bad relative to most Midwest/Northeast cities. It will frequently get into the mid/high 40s during the day and major snowstorms are rare. Worst part is general lack of sunshine from November-April

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Myownvalentine t1_iycmrai wrote

I would also characterize Pittsburgh as a small to medium sized city, having moving here from a large city. Everything operates on small town schedules, vs big city convenience.

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Yinzer-tits40 t1_iyczv8t wrote

I think people are understating the issue here a bit when it comes to air quality. It isn’t “fine” anywhere, but it’s better in some areas than others.

But at best, expect occasional mornings waking to a shitty rotten egg smell. This isn’t as bad as it could be, but it still sucks.

Let’s be honest folks, it’s a cool place to live, but the air and water quality are garbage.

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uniquelabel t1_iyd4g3i wrote

Probably depends on where you are. I’ve never noticed poor air quality in the south hills, downtown, or Oakland, but I admit I can be pretty oblivious to things like that anyhow.

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mr_finley_ t1_iydug8y wrote

Your air quality will depend on where you live relative to the US Steel Coke plant and wind patterns. If it’s a bad air day, you won’t want to open your windows on a hot evening. It can be frustrating depending on where you live. We do have weather inversions that trap the bad air. You can check two resources. Purple air for the PM2.5 and the smell Pittsburgh app. You can find both links here. https://pghcleanair.com/us-steel/ they can help you get a sense of where the bad air congregates. Purple air tracks PM2.5 it’s unhealthy, but it’s odorless. The bad smell is H2S hydrogen sulfide. You’ll see people reporting it in the smellpgh app.

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SparklesLuvsScotch t1_iyduwo0 wrote

I've lived in Florida, Maryland, Ohio and am now in Pittsburgh. I've always had sinus and allergy issues no matter where I've lived. I haven't noticed anything different as far as air quality in Pittsburgh.

You should definitely visit, especially if there's a specific part of town you want to live in (I definitely recommend north of the City - no tunnels!).

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chrisco125 t1_iybs3sc wrote

Air quality not really a problem. Is you know how to drive in the snow you are fine. But we have lots of hills.

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[deleted] t1_iyay0hf wrote

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tesla3by3 t1_iyb655j wrote

It's never been below zero continually for 7 straight days. At most, 2-3 days, and rarely. I'd bet we've never had 7 consecutive days where the low was below zero, let alone the high.

5 of the past ten years we never fell below zero at all.

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James19991 t1_iyb6ylg wrote

According to the below super interesting link, the longest stretch Pittsburgh was ever below zero was just over two days back in 1994.

https://www.weather.gov/media/pbz/records/coldperiods.pdf

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tesla3by3 t1_iyb7tur wrote

Ha, I was just trying to remember the year my pipes burst- based on that link I'm pretty sure it was 1994-- -22?

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James19991 t1_iyb8cb6 wrote

I was just a little toddler then. The coldest air temperature I've ever been out in that I can remember is -10. No memory of it or the '93 blizzard even though I was technically here for both!

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tesla3by3 t1_iybkbju wrote

The blizzard of 93 I was the only manager on site. I told my employees they could leave as soon as they could get home. Busses had already stopped, so some employees offered rides to others. Had already planned to shut down when I didn’t have enough staff to operate.

A bit later got a call from corporate to shut down,but the manager in charge had to stay. That was me. I had no idea how long this would last, so I went to the grocery store nearby for some food. Turned out I was able to go home in about a day. Drove home, took about an hour to go 10 miles. Got to within a few blocks of my condo, gave up driving, walked the rest of the way. Got stopped twice by people seeing my Giant Eagle bags asking what was open.

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James19991 t1_iybq25i wrote

I'm impressed you were able to drive on the roads only a day after that much snow. I know most cars did not have the traction and stability control that's basically standard on everything today yet then.

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James19991 t1_iyb6sy3 wrote

This is flat out false. There has never been a time in recorded weather history that Pittsburgh has been below zero non-stop for a week.

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