There's Plenty to Pick From
Persons who have a pulmonary problem such as bronchitis or are allergic to humid cool weather and still want to live close to the city of San José should locate in the western part of the Central Valley. I have friends and relatives who, by simply moving 10-15 miles from Sabanilla or San Isidro de Coronado on the east to Escazú or Santa Ana on the west, stopped having pulmonary and breathing problems. The latter two areas are lower in altitude, warmer and drier. A 6 year old child of a friend of mine was always suffering from bronchitis. By simply moving 8 miles west on his doctor's orders, he soon found relief.
Forty years ago it was usual for many wealthier families of San José and Cartago to spend their week ends at such places as San Antonio de Belén in Heredia, Rio Segundo in Alajuela, Santa Ana and Villa Colón because of their warmer climate. This was particularly true of persons having heart problems. They found relief by locating at the lower, warmer altitudes of denser air.
On the flanks of Irazú Volcano, where temperatures are very cool though not freezing, the people living on the dairy and potato farms have a noticeably very white complexion with many of the children and young women showing enviable rosy cheeks. Up until the late 1960s there existed a few miles from the town of Tierra Blanca a very good sanatorium to cure tuberculosis. It had been established there because of the area's cold dry climate -- a locality with a climate similar to the Colorado Rockies though less cold and minus the snow. The sanatorium's fame brought patients even from other Central American countries and Panama. It was closed in the 1960s because by then the disease had been practically eradicated in Costa Rica and there were not enough patients to justify the expense of maintaining it open. Though today hospitals report some cases of tuberculosis, there are no plans to reopen the old sanatorium.
Out in the west-northwest part of the country and going to the Pacific Coast, all within Guanacaste Province where the terrain is mostly low and flat you have hot weather throughout the year. There the dry season extends a month or more than it does in the Central Valley.
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