Allergies/Air Quality in MSP (Minneapolis, St. Paul: pharmacy, live in, vs.)

[glspringfield]

Good Evening, All. I have kind of a two-part question but I thought the topics were somewhat related so decided to put it in the same post ...

My wife and I (along with our two young children) are considering a move to the MSP area, and during some of my research I was doing a city comparison on Sperling's Best Places website and couldn't help but notice the difference in Air Quality index between Minneapolis (85) and St Paul (46), with 100 being the "best" (note: the U.S. avg is 82.8, which I'm sure is a skewed number). Anyway, I don't know how reliable or valid these stats are but wondered if you all could either confirm or deny this seemingly dramatic difference in air quality between the Twin Cities.

The other part of my question is more specific to seasonal allergies. We currently live in Springfield, MO and have had a terrible time with allergies (tree pollen, ragweed, etc.), particularly in the last few years. Our 21 month-old son has been on and off of a nebulizer probably a half dozen times since spring. I've heard there's no escape in the U.S. (unless, of course, you retreat to the desert or mountains) but surely it's all relative, right? Please tell me it's at least better in Minnesota!

Thank you all for your valued input!

[pete6032]

Originally Posted by glspringfield

We currently live in Springfield, MO and have had a terrible time with allergies (tree pollen, ragweed, etc.), particularly in the last few years. Our 21 month-old son has been on and off of a nebulizer probably a half dozen times since spring. I've heard there's no escape in the U.S. (unless, of course, you retreat to the desert or mountains) but surely it's all relative, right? Please tell me it's at least better in Minnesota!

I've never lived in MO but I can tell you that the ragweed/pollen season here is really bad. During the peak of allergy season I often go to Target only to find out that the pharmacy has run out of Allegra or other OTC allergy meds earlier in the day. 9 months out of the year I have no allergy problems but come July, August, Sept, and part of Oct it gets really bad with ragweed. Ragweed/pollen all get wiped out in October or the first time temperatures drop below freezing, though, which must make the allergy season shorter than what you'd experience in MO.

[golfgal]

No, you won't escape allergies here at all, shorter season for it maybe, but they are pretty bad. Air quality is more because of the smog that gets trapped in Minneapolis-high rise buildings maybe?? Outside of Minneapolis proper, air quality improves dramatically (smog) but no where here will you escape pollen.

Our kids have pretty bad allergies and found that much of their issues were actually asthma related vs allergies. Once they started getting treated for asthma, their symptoms were much less severe. Something to look into, especially with the frequent nebulizer use (been there too).

[glspringfield]

Just to add a little clarification to my question about air quality ... based on the statistic/index I referred to it sounds like Minneapolis has a lot cleaner air than St Paul. Intuitively this didn't make any sense to me but it got me curious ...

Not necessarily asking anyone to disprove the data but just wondering if this stands to any kind of reason? Or is the stat bunk?

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by glspringfield

Just to add a little clarification to my question about air quality ... based on the statistic/index I referred to it sounds like Minneapolis has a lot cleaner air than St Paul. Intuitively this didn't make any sense to me but it got me curious ...

Not necessarily asking anyone to disprove the data but just wondering if this stands to any kind of reason? Or is the stat bunk?

I missed that....I vote for bunk. You can see the smog hanging around Minneapolis, never around St. Paul (views of the skyline from a distance). I guess it depends on what they are measuring in the air though--if it is pollen, I can see where St. Paul proper would have more as there is more green space in downtown, etc. vs Minneapolis.

[MnMomma]

It's hard to predict allergy effects. When I lived in Chicago, my allergies were absolutely horrible in the spring. When I moved to Minnesota my springtime reactions were much lower. I'm allergic to the ivy that grew on many of the buildings in my area of Chicago. Likewise, my youngest doesn't seem to have allergies at all, but take him to San Diego and he's a mess (haven't figured that one out).

I'd recommend going to the allergy department of Southdale Pediatrics when you move here. They are fantastic at treating both kids and adults. My oldest and I both did allergy shots and it has made an amazing difference (especially for him). If your son is using a nebulizer frequently, I'd highly recommend digging deeper (i.e. specialist vs. general pediatrician) to see how to avoid instead of just treating symptoms. Albuteral and Pulmicort are pretty yucky drugs for kids--I was so happy to get my boys off of them (thanks to Dr. S at Southdale Peds allergy clinic). Sorry to sound like an ad for them, but I've watched too many kids get treated by their general practitioners with crappy results and then go to the allergist to finally get some relief without crazy meds.

As for air quality, Minneapolis always has a few days in the summer where I have to shut the windows and use the AC because too much stuff in the air, but overall the air quality is pretty good (keep in mind I moved from Chicago...it's all relative).