

Safest Places to Live in U.S.

With the terrorist actions and natural disasters that have devastated so many communities throughout the world, you may wonder if there is anywhere left that is safe to live.

The answer is, NO. Every area in the world has either suffered from, or will suffer from, a natural disaster. Whether it is a drought and tornadoes in the Midwest, flooding and ice storms in the Northeast or earthquakes and mudslides along the west coast, Mother Nature has the upper hand. Now we also have the threat of terrorist action, and large cities that make attractive targets like New York and Washington D.C. and towns in their evacuation routes unsafe as well.

Warren R. Bland, professor of geography at California State University, Northridge and author of Retire in Style: 60 Outstanding Places Across the USA and Canada, has prepared a list of ten U.S. places that are unusually safe in terms of potential exposure to five major environmental hazards. He considered degree of potential exposure to flooding due to hurricanes and tsunamis, as well as threats to life and property from earthquakes, tornadoes, radon gas, and air pollution.

 All ten places have a zero chance of catastrophic flooding from hurricanes and tsunamis, and in all ten the dangers from earthquakes, tornadoes and air pollution are in the zero to low threat range. Only radon gas, an often overlooked threat to health, is so widespread across America that it poses a significant risk, if unabated, in five of the ten environmentally safest cities and towns.

Dr. Bland’s top ten environmentally safe places are:

1. Austin, Texas
2. Fredericksburg-Kerrville, Texas
3. Pinehurst-Southern Pines, North Carolina
4. Prescott, Arizona   (Search Listings in Prescott)
5. Colorado Springs, Colorado
6. Eugene, Oregon
7. Ithaca, New York
8. Portland, Oregon
9. San Antonio, Texas
10. Tucson, Arizona.

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