Watch out LA, as the American Lung Association is out with their annual "State of the Air" list, which ranks American cities based on how polluted they are. This year, the rankings have a simple and strong message for those in search of clean travel: go out west.
You may already be familiar with Cheyenne, Wyoming from the Oregon Trail game, but this year it gains notoriety after taking the crown for least year-round particle pollution, followed by Sante Fe, Honolulu, Great Falls, MT, and Farmington, NM. Of course, we could have told you that Wyoming and Montana have some pretty clean skies. Among places we're surprised to see on the list is one-time industrial center Duluth, MN, coming in at an impressive #13.
Nobody likes hearing about the winners however, as we know that the juicy news is in who got ranked the worst for air quality. The bottom of the list is no surprise: Los Angeles takes the cake as most polluted place in the country. In fact, the state of California dominates the "worst of" section, with Bakersfield, Visalia, and Fresno rounding out the bottom four. The city that surprised us most here is NYC, which came in a not-so-awful 18th-to-last-place—pretty good for the most populous city in the country.
Related Stories:
· State of the Air [American Lung Association]
· Pollution travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Wyoming travel guide [Jaunted]
[Photo: katymcc] ]]>