I've had asthma since I was 2 yrs old, am now 65. Two years ago, I was also diagnosed with COPD. I am NOT on oxygen. I currently live in Casper, Wyoming which gets cold (sometimes -25 to +20 in the same day) and very dry (sometimes as low as 3) in the winter. Both of which causes breathing problems as well as chronic sinus infections. Also, the altitude does not help, 5200'. Any suggestions on where to live in the USA? Temps 25-80, medium humidity, good cost of living, with a wide list of activities. Best breathing a 67 degrees.
You could also look down toward San Diego -- San Clemente, Oceanside, Encinitas. All coastal communities and not inexpensive, but if you want those types of temperatures without altitude, you need to be close to the ocean.
I remember when I first moved from California to Denver I met so many people from Wyoming. I asked a woman once why there were so many Wyoming natives living in Colorado, and she just looked at me and said, "I take it you've never been there in the winter."
No, I hadn't, but within a few years I was driving through a white-out ground blizzard on I-80 at Christmastime and I understood exactly why folks leave! :-)
I know she did a lot of research as she was really struggling here with the high altitudes.
Iowa is incredibly affordable--as opposed to the Bay area--my daughter lives in Santa Clarita and she says the COL is beyond crazy there.
MJ1939: So you didn't like Wyoming's 65-70 mph winds? I don't either. Those winds do not help breathing, they blow a ton of dirt. Mounds of snow will be black from dirt the day after the snow.
Why I mentioned this is there was a column written in our major newspaper from a woman who was a recent widow, she lived in Phoenix. It wasn't until she was widowed that she realized how backward the area was. Salespeople acted like she couldn't make any decisions on her own unless her husband was there. I know I was so surprised that Phoenix was still that way.
That's one reason why I won't move away from where I have lived for over 30 years, the suburbs of Washington DC in Virginia. Never had any issues with tradesmen, car machanics, etc. Weather wise, it averages around 35-95 temp wise. No hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, earthquakes [ok, had a mild one years ago] and maybe one or two dumps of snow, usually in February.
Excellent hospitals, lots of them, outstanding doctors. Everything I need is just a few minutes down the road. Oh, lots of bumper-to-bumper traffic here. The going excuse for being late is that you had to stop for a motorcade :)
One huge drawback is the cost of buying a house/townhouse/condo. Expensive. A lot of 55+ communities, and senior living facilities, still building new ones.
List of activities, a ton of them especially if you like history :) Beautiful countryside with wineries. Even my parents moved here when they retired.