Years ago Los Angles had the reputation of having some of the dirtiest air in the country. Smog alerts were common, requiring children to refrain from playing on the playgrounds and recommending that older people remain indoors. Today, thanks to tough pollution and emissions laws, though LA is home to more vehicles per capita than virtually anyplace else in the country, the city’s air is now among the cleanest in the nation. Also adding to the area’s atmospheric purity, the county is housed in a basin, surrounded on three sides by mountains.

There was a time when many people believed that there was simply nothing to be done about the brown air in Los Angeles. Fortunately there were enough environmentalist and community leaders who recognized that if LA’s air quality were to continue in the direction it was headed 30 years ago that eventually Los Angeles would start losing both a large percentage of its core business, as well as, residential population.

Thanks to the efforts of many people, today the air in Los Angles is fit to breathe. In fact, there hasn’t been a Stage One Alert in Los Angeles County since 1998 and there hasn’t been a Stage Two Alert since 1989. Back in the 1970s it was not uncommon for there to be more than 100 Stage One Alerts per year.

To be proactive and combat the negative ramifications of air pollution, California has tougher auto and truck emission standards than the Federal Government, and Los Angeles County has an active program designed to get older, polluting vehicles off the streets. Most vehicles are required to have an emission inspection prior to being issued a state registration certificate, and those which do not pass emissions tests must have their cars repaired and brought up to code.

At the same time there have been severe restrictions put on commercial plants, limiting their emission outputs. These rules and regulations are among the strictest in the nation and have resulted in one of the most dramatic decreases in air pollution anywhere in the nation.

What an invigorating concept, today both children and the elderly can breathe easier within in the City of Angels.