Locations rating map of the USA. How many people find this lines up w their experience?

[frozenborderline]

https://paradigmchange.me/rate-locations/

I find this map to be fairly accurate but not detailed enough, it leaves out lots of areas of the us

 

[frozenborderline]

This has notably very bad ratings for the bay area, the Pacific northwest, Boston and ny and much of the southeast

 

[Ailúron]

Thanks for the link @debored13!

I live in the Ozarks region (SW Missouri and NW Arkansas), where official mold counts are horrifying for anyone with mold sensitivities - I would definitely give this area a "1" - AWFUL. In fact, I just decided to go back and rate it "1" right after I post here, so at least a bit more will be filled in. I am absolutely miserable today as mold counts have set record highs for this time of year for several days in a row (around 35,000 mold spores per cubic meter). These are readings that are often seen here in August and September, but have come frighteningly early this year - good grief, how lethal is the mold going to get this year if the readings are already this high? Is this the year that mold kills me! Already lost hearing in one ear while trying to treat nasal misery. [See my profile and my other postings if interested in knowing how this happened. Wouldn't wish this even on somebody I hated!]

I'm burning all over, eyes and sinuses feel scalded, brain feels hot, and I feel spacey as hell. In fact, I feel like I'm already suffering eternal punishment in Dante's Inferno!! Got only a few hours of fitful sleep last night - with bad, crazy nightmares. Antihistamines have very little effect - only prednisone gives me any real relief, but it also makes me very manic (hence, little sleep) and sick to my stomach. You read everywhere it's a physically disastrous drug to stay on for extended periods of time - and it lowers immunity - and with the pandemic worsening here! And being in my 60's! Scared ****less to keep taking the only thing that offers any kind of relief from this mold.

I'm stunned that this map indicates that Tulsa, Oklahoma, so close to my location is rated "good" - I'm definitely going to drive over there and find out for myself. If I feel any relief, I'm moving there whenever this pandemic is over. If that doesn't work for me, then it looks like Silver City, NM is the next place for me to try - lots of good and excellent ratings in the Gila National Forest region. Cost of living is probably pretty cheap. Interestingly, my mother grew up around there, though I've never been there.

@Booble, you might be interested in that map if you have any way to escape where you are.

 

[frozenborderline]

I'm stunned that this map indicates that Tulsa, Oklahoma, so close to my location is rated "good" - I'm definitely going to drive over there and find out for myself. If I feel any relief, I'm moving there whenever this pandemic is over. If that doesn't work for me, then it looks like Silver City, NM is the next place for me to try - lots of good and excellent ratings in the Gila National Forest region. Cost of living is probably pretty cheap. Interestingly, my mother grew up around there, though I've never been there.

I am planning to try gila national forest as well.

I have heard good things about tulsa and Oklahoma city , which may seem surprising , but maybe the specific. Toxin for our specific illness isn't a major problem there even if general toxins from fracking etc are.

We passed thru Oklahoma and didn't spend a lot of time outside so I can't speak to my specific feelings /experiences but to find good air I've considered relocating to tulsa as it is an affordable city with a good rep.

live in the Ozarks region (SW Missouri and NW Arkansas), where official mold counts are horrifying for anyone with mold sensitivities - I would definitely give this area a "1" - AWFUL. In fact, I just decided to go back and rate it "1" right after I post here, so at least a bit more will be filled in. I am absolutely miserable today as mold counts have set record highs for this time of year for several days in a row (around 35,000 mold spores per cubic meter). These are readings that are often seen here in August and September, but have come frighteningly early this year - good grief, how lethal is the mold going to get this year if the readings are already this high? Is this the year that mold kills me! Already lost hearing in one ear while trying to treat nasal misery. [See my profile and my other postings if interested in knowing how this happened. Wouldn't wish this even on somebody I hated!]

How close are you to monongahela national forest in west virginia? It's not on the map bc I wasn't experienced enough to rate it at the time but I highly recommend it, especially the spruce knob region, and others have had same experience. It is sort of an island of good air in the south along with blue ridge mountains. I think it was as good as great places in new Mexico

With new Mexico in particular it's a huge state with lots of promising places probably out of the map. In facti know for a fact that several people that have very good experiences in their small towns in northern new Mexico that don't list them on the map bc they don't want too much traffic there! Like towns in taos county and Rio arriba county, dixon, ranchos de taos, Arroyo seco, trampas , etc.

 

[Ailúron]

I am planning to try Gila National Forest as well.

Well, it looks like we're "on the same page" regarding this choice!

I have heard good things about Tulsa and Oklahoma City , which may seem surprising , but maybe the specific toxin for our specific illness isn't a major problem there even if general toxins from fracking etc are.

I think you're very probably right about that, @debored13. I lived in Oklahoma City for thirteen years, and even though I didn't really like that area or the monstrous sprawl of the whole "metroplex" of OKC and all the "sub-cities" clustered around it, I never suffered any major allergies (even living in an old musty house for a year) like I do here in NW Arkansas. One difference that seems significant is the ground in OKC doesn't stay covered with damp, decaying leaves, there is little rotting wood, and mushrooms/fungi of all types don't flourish throughout the year like here in the Ozarks.

Tulsa is a nicer, more compact town - certainly not "the most beautiful city in America" as the chamber of commerce absurdly used as their slogan. But it's not a vastly sprawling Los Angeles type city in the plains like OKC. But Tulsa still has every advantage you could ask for in a major city, plus more cultural venues, great museums, the biggest, most fantastic public aquarium I've ever seen, a wonderful zoo, etc., etc.

We passed thru Oklahoma and didn't spend a lot of time outside so I can't speak to my specific feelings /experiences but to find good air I've considered relocating to Tulsa as it is an affordable city with a good rep.

I think you've got an accurate assessment of Tulsa. Affordable and offering every kind of service, friendly people, and a complex of excellent health facilities.

How close are you to Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia?

That's more that 950 miles east of where I live! Tulsa is just 114 miles away from me by high speed turnpike (toll road, but not expensive).

With new Mexico in particular it's a huge state with lots of promising places probably out of the map. In fact I know for a fact that several people that have very good experiences in their small towns in northern new Mexico that don't list them on the map bc they don't want too much traffic there! Like towns in Taos county and Rio Arriba county, Dixon, Ranchos de Taos, Arroyo seco, Trampas , etc.

I agree with you. I took a long driving vacation in NM from Carlsbad in the furthest south to the area north of Santa Fe, zigzagging my route from one side of the Rockies (that are kind of like the "backbone" of the state) to the other to visit interesting several sites and towns - this state has such incredibly different environments, from flat barren deserts to cool conifer forested mountains (this was not a desperate mold avoidance trip; it was before I ever moved to the Ozarks, where I've been severely afflicted with these horrible allergies I have now). But in all my travel from one end to the other of NM, I don't remember having even a slight allergic reaction anywhere I went. HOWEVER, I was in Albuquerque for only a few hours and can't speak for it myself, but I've heard a lot of people complain of coming down with bad allergies in that city. So that's off my list. It's also the second most expensive city after Santa Fe in NM. Real estate is way too costly for me. Seems lots of retirees, many from lots of European countries, have retired there, as in Santa Fe and Taos Ski Valley, which literally looks like Switzerland, when Taos itself is a barren desert. Like I said, New Mexico has a dizzying mix of environments!

 

[frozenborderline]

For what it's worth, I don't think the "supermold" that bothers us is just a result of humidity. I've been in high humidity temperate forests in the south, like the one I mentioned in west Virginia, that were extremely pristine, and dry cities and towns that weren't.

But I imagine the ozarks are either in the middle of or downwind of some nasty pollution that can combine with the natural molds there to produce super toxins.

Yeah new mexico is one of the most diverse places in terms of eco regions and biomes. You can go from simple creosote Bush low desert to high altitude pine forests, to pinyon and juniper high desert hills , to cold sagebrush steppes all over the state.

Santa fe and Albuquerque are known to have somewhat bad air but this doesn't mean one cant go to them for shopping , etc.

And it's all seasonal. Some of the particular outdoor toxins that can flare up in the cities are worse there in the winter, but not all of Albuquerque is horrible all of the time. And certainly parts of the east mountains that are in the Albuquerque area are pretty good, like tijeras or placitas. But yeah I wouldn't plan on living directly in Albuquerque.

I think dixon, taos, Raton, abiquiu, jemez, ranchos de taos, Trampas, alamogordo, Madrid, white sands , Gila national forest, are all promising areas to try

 

[Ailúron]

I agree with everything you've written here, @debored13!! You've given me some new and troubling insight into the actual circumstances of where I live and what's probably caused me to suffer more and more and more in the past several years!

In the 20 years I've lived here, NW Arkansas has become unbelievably urbanized, with very rapidly expanding cities - what used to be three well-separated major towns when I moved here (and had no allergies at all here then) - have now grown so greatly they've completely merged into one solid metroplex with unbelievable traffic on six-lane freeways, as well as having lots of pollution from hog farms and slaughter houses, huge crowded poultry farms (enormous inhumane bird prisons, IMHO), ad nauseum. Reason being, this area is the headquarters of Walmart International and its main trucking, railroad, and airborne distribution center, Tyson Foods and its distribution center, and the national hub of J.B. Hunt - a major national trucking company.

But all this horror IS worsened by climate change in this area as well. We used to have 2- to 3-foot snows a few times every winter back in the early 2000's and long hard freezes, but now it often doesn't snow at all in the winter and there are very few, very brief freezes (thus no major mold die-off), while we continue to have more rain and warmer temperatures than ever.

So yeah, it sure does look like it's the mix of supermold (due to an increasingly mold-supportive climate) AND expanding pollution that going to kill me if I don't get out of here.

 

[frozenborderline]

My only knowledge of the ozarks comes from watching true detective season 3 and knowing about lake of the ozarks but I could see how it could be a bad region. A lot of the mountain regions in the south, like Allegheny. Blue ridge, etc, are pretty pristine, but some of those are in protected areas. And many have less industry and stuff now. West virginia used to be famous for coal but now that is winding down and there is relatively little farming. Those places I mentioned also have bigge3 climbs in elevation than the ozarks. So while the ozarks are sort of pretty they seem badly positioned to be a pristine area.

 

[frozenborderline]

Heres a few photos from northern new mexico, on my blog:

https://atomicchesterton.blogspot.com/2020/06/taos-new-mexico.html

 

[Ailúron]

I typed this out two days ago, but apparently forgot to click on "post reply". Amazingly, I find that this website has kept the unsent draft all this time. Not really that important, but since it's here, might as well go ahead and post it. May be of importance to you or somebody considering the Ozarks, from what they see in tourism mags, TV or movies:

The Ozarks are still very pretty, but only in photos and movies for me. In reality, the air here is anything but pristine. It's more of a picturesque HELL for hypersensitive people like us. A place you should never even consider moving to, though 20 years ago, I think it was still close to pristine. And you're certainly correct that this area doesn't have the elevation of the Appalachian forested areas, and there's no truly protected areas - just more and more uncontrolled industry and irresponsible waste disposal. My location is only about 1600 feet in elevation, and the highest peak in the entire area is only something around 2500 feet.

By the way, the Saharan dust storm totally covered this area on Saturday, and I eventually went from "not too bad" to "scarily miserable" that night after having to leave the front door open for the plumber to replace my hot water heater, which had sprung a bad leak - "perfect" timing for this to happen, leaving me to suffer severe allergy-type reactions and exhaustion ever since. Feel poisoned. The Saharan dust thoroughly coated my car (even making it look a different color!), so I must have gotten quite a "snootful" of the dust as the plumber came in and out of the house several times that day - plus not only was there already lots of mold "soup" in the utility closet from the leak slowly increasing under the water heater (which I thoroughly cleaned with Clorox, but stupidly forgot to wear my face mask), I also ignorantly went outside to gape at the incredible 100% opaque dark ivory overcast from horizon to horizon. Never imagining what a serious environmental threat that dust was! And of course, it hasn't rained since then, leaving the free-floating dust to remain on everything. Seems sometimes like Mother Earth is out to kill off the weakest of us - COVID19, lethal dust, "supermolds" in more and more places....

 

[frozenborderline]

Some pics from journey in southern california and nevada : https://atomicchesterton.blogspot.com/2020/07/nevadacali-miscellaneous.html?m=1

 

[frozenborderline]

the pristine part of the south:
https://atomicchesterton.blogspot.com/2020/07/appalachia-summer-2019.html

 

[Ailúron]

See PM.

 

[frozenborderline]

https://atomicchesterton.blogspot.com/2020/07/arizona-summer-2019.html

arizona locations

 

[Ailúron]

Arizona has some beautiful scenery, but with it topping the list of new cases of COVID19 - even above that of other countries - there's no way I would consider relocating there!

Arizona tops the list of COVID19, above entire countries.

 

[frozenborderline]

But I imagine the ozarks are either in the middle of or downwind of some nasty pollution that can combine with the natural molds there to produce super toxins.

I've read stuff about that areas of arkansas having some kind of conventionally recognized outdoor mold from chicken farms that peoples doctors recognized them having allergies to... which is uncommon unless it's really really serious. But I don't have. a citation. Just read that somewhere.

 

[frozenborderline]

I talked about location effects in my podcast

we talk about psycho geography and taos and the southwest as well as ME/CFS history and drugs and various things... I think it is very good mostly not because of me but because of my friends editing.
Listen to Origin Story Pt. 3 by Headless Youth Podcast on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/s7xN

 

[frozenborderline]

https://atomicchesterton.blogspot.com/2020/07/arizona-summer-2019.html?m=1

A bunch of pics from arizona mold avoidance, some of them fairly nice and scenic

 

[frozenborderline]

Got wheeled down a dirt path in a pristine air areas said to be a "vortex", after visiting someone else with ME/CFS who lived in Sedona and helped us out a lot