OT — one more reason to fear lizard-infested suburbs with no walls

[spdrun]

Valley Fever, baby…

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/01/20/140120fa_fact_goodyear?currentPage=all

[an]

Last I check, Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento are not suburbs.

[spdrun]

It’s also found in inland SD Co…

[paramount]

Wow, I had never heard of this pathogen/condition.

I was planning on retiring in the Central Valley (clovis specifically), no wonder the real estate is cheap.

[an]

[quote=paramount]Wow, I had never heard of this pathogen/condition.

I was planning on retiring in the Central Valley (clovis specifically), no wonder the real estate is cheap.[/quote]I’m pretty sure Valley Fever is not the reason real estate there is cheap. I’m pretty sure it has to do with lack of jobs.

As to Clovis for retirement, why? You won’t care about schools when you retire, so why not Fresno instead? It’s even cheaper.

[paramount]

[quote=AN][quote=paramount]Wow, I had never heard of this pathogen/condition.

I was planning on retiring in the Central Valley (clovis specifically), no wonder the real estate is cheap.[/quote]I’m pretty sure Valley Fever is not the reason real estate there is cheap. I’m pretty sure it has to do with lack of jobs.

As to Clovis for retirement, why? You won’t care about schools when you retire, so why not Fresno instead? It’s even cheaper.[/quote]

I guess fresno and clovis are sort of like temecula and murrieta, twin cities attached at the hip. I do like clovis since it’s a bit more modern, it’s a college town and I really like having the Sierra’s for a backyard.

[Essbee]

I’ve been a physician here in California for 11 years. I’ve seen a few cases but not many. The most memorable was a ~20 year old Type I diabetic woman (from Delano, I think) who had it in her brain/spinal fluid. I wonder if she is still alive. I also found out that there are zero Infectious Disease doctors in many of the counties in the Valley. (That was the reason that the woman was transferred to LA for her medical care rather than remaining at her local hospital).

The Midwest has histoplasmosis, but you hardly ever hear about that, either.

[EconProf]

The whole article was scary and apocalyptic, which made me wonder why we haven’t heard more about this medical condition. The article claimed massive harm, increasing at a frightening rate, so why haven’t we heard more about it in the news?
I really stopped reading when they reported a family that had six-inch deep dust accumulating near openings in their house, dust so thick they had to wear dust masks inside their house, and dust so bad they could not see each other across the living room. This was a middle-class family, and I really doubt they would stay in such a house. Sorry, New Yorker Magazine, I’m not buying it till I see collaborating evidence.

[spdrun]

I didn’t gather that from the article — they said the harm has been there since at least WW 2. As far as the family that had to move — this was based on the journo’s interview of them, and perhaps they exaggerated. However, if you look at pictures of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, there are pictures of equipment and homes buried in FEET of dust, so maybe it’s not 100% surprising.

As far as why they didn’t move ASAP, people are surprisingly attached to their homes, and if a “middle-class” family dropped $300-400k on a home, do they really have money for mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc AND rent on an apartment or a motel room for weeks on end?

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=EconProf]The whole article was scary and apocalyptic, which made me wonder why we haven’t heard more about this medical condition. The article claimed massive harm, increasing at a frightening rate, so why haven’t we heard more about it in the news?
I really stopped reading when they reported a family that had six-inch deep dust accumulating near openings in their house, dust so thick they had to wear dust masks inside their house, and dust so bad they could not see each other across the living room. This was a middle-class family, and I really doubt they would stay in such a house. Sorry, New Yorker Magazine, I’m not buying it till I see collaborating evidence.[/quote]

Good Christ.
Do this:
Type “valley Fever” into Google News.
Or even just google.
It will help you deal with your skepticism.

Also, I think you mean corroborating and not collaborating.

[CA renter]

[quote=EconProf]The whole article was scary and apocalyptic, which made me wonder why we haven’t heard more about this medical condition. The article claimed massive harm, increasing at a frightening rate, so why haven’t we heard more about it in the news?
I really stopped reading when they reported a family that had six-inch deep dust accumulating near openings in their house, dust so thick they had to wear dust masks inside their house, and dust so bad they could not see each other across the living room. This was a middle-class family, and I really doubt they would stay in such a house. Sorry, New Yorker Magazine, I’m not buying it till I see collaborating evidence.[/quote]

My dad lived in the Central Valley for a number of years. Pretty much everyone who lives there has long known about Valley Fever.

[an]

[quote=paramount]I guess fresno and clovis are sort of like temecula and murrieta, twin cities attached at the hip. I do like clovis since it’s a bit more modern, it’s a college town and I really like having the Sierra’s for a backyard.[/quote]Uh, have you been to Fresno/Clovis area? It’s Fresno State, not Clovis State. Also, both have their new and old stock of houses. Fresno have a much bigger price variance than Clovis IMHO. Fresno have your really cheap houses in the Southern part, but it also have its “extremely” expensive part (Northern part, Van Ness Lake, Woodward Lake, etc). The Sierra’s as a background can be had in both Fresno and Clovis. I guess, I was just trying to see why you’d pick Clovis over Fresno, when you’re retiring and school no longer matter.

[Author]

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