Table 2. Community Participant Responses on the Thematic Topics Regarding Life Near A Major Rail Yard.

Violence and Employment Challenges
Community violence and unemployment rates affected residents' feelings about their exposure to polluted air, ranking it lower than other, more immediate priorities related to day-to-day survival.
1) “Oh. There's a little bit of everything…. People trying to rob you…. You just can find yourself in the wrong place, who knows…you might came up on a nice pair of shoes and this dude comes along with a gun and they will be his.” —Male 2) “…. There's more to worry about than the actual air.”—Hispanic Male 3) “We were at the park…next thing you know, my girls are seeing a stabbing and they, they don't need to see that….”—Female 4) “….Trust me, I want good health, I want good air, I want the city to be awesome by the time my great-grandkids live here, you know what I mean? But by the same token, I think other things need to be fixed beside that.”—Male 5) “…If you're in San Bernardino and you're in the slum ain't nothing gonna change.”—Male
Participants reported feeling powerless to reduce the level of violence in their area, and high levels of concern for their children's safety.
6) “I'm worried about the safety of my children…you can't just have them outside….”—Female 7) “I think for the youths, they don't have nothing to do…there's a lot of youngsters from all different areas that hang out right there…these kids need something to do with their lives.”—Female
Empty lots with overgrown weeds and businesses that have relocated out of the city: these are some of the factors negatively impacting the health and vitality of their community.
8) “…There is just too many abandoned buildings…”—Female 9) “I've seen this community go from a family neighborhood to run-down or abandoned houses, empty lots, and growing weeds.”—Male 10) “Most of the businesses are leaving San Bernardino for other cities in the area. We used to have a mall down the street; it's all gone now.”—Male
Community members said they would like to move out of the area, but couldn't afford to.
11) “I do not like this place, but we chose it because it was the place we could afford. I have lived here for seven years and the city is cheap; we are here because we don't have more resources to be in another area.”—Caucasian Female 12) “Unfortunately this is one of the most economical places to live, but the consequences for living here is too great, not for what you pay financially, but that your health is seriously affected.”—Hispanic Female
Air Quality Challenges
Participants pointed out that children are most vulnerable and voiced a growing concern that poor air quality may be affecting their children's health.
13) “I have a nephew and he has allergies awfully bad and it's like blowing his nose and stuff 24 hours a day; every time I see him he blowing his nose and it seems like the air is more toxic and makes it worse.”—Hispanic Female 14) “The people more affected are the kids because they go to school and are breathing contaminated air inside and outside the classroom…here we have one school, less than half a mile from the rail yard, and the number of asthma cases is increasing.”—Hispanic Female
Some community participants noted the difference in air quality at different times of the day and seasons.
15) “I'll wake up in the mornings, like, I can't breathe.”—Hispanic Female 16) “When the weather is the hottest, that is when we have the most kids that are sick, with little kids getting sick with a horrendous cough, like a smoker's cough.”—Hispanic Female
Rail Yard Challenges
Members understand that semitrailer truck movement around the rail yard is necessary but are frustrated by spotty enforcement of truck idling laws.
17) “… They're idling in their trucks and there are signs out there saying ‘do not park your vehicles there.’”—African-American Female 18) “They'll park their trucks wherever they wanna park it, and there is nothing to be said about it. You got to go to the right places and get to the right people to respond, because if you don't, they ain't gonna do nothing about it.”—African-American Male
Noise pollution causes sleep disturbances and other stressors, including physical “rattling and shaking” of nearby homes caused by rail yard activities.
19) “I guess it was naïve of me to think that when the traffic dies down so will the noise, but there is still a lot of noise happening within the night. I know that it's affecting me and it's also affecting others in the community because they report hearing this especially when they are sleeping.”—Hispanic Female 20) “Yeah it's pretty loud. You hear it in the middle of the night, BOOM it wakes you up. I live about two blocks away and you can still hear it real loud.”—African-American Female 21) “The noise bothers me too much. I live in a mobile home and when the train passes by my house, the whole house shakes. That's where I live and it's a house that I am paying for and that is the sacrifice we are all doing.”—Hispanic Female
Participants felt that they have sacrificed overall quality of life for the benefit of the rail yard, and are concerned about health impacts on their families, especially their children.
22) “I think we like the package from where we live, what we do not like is that the railway is so close because that affects us. My husband has symptoms of asthma, and then allergies follow. My youngest daughter also gets the flu and bronchitis. We would like for the rail yard to be more careful.”—Hispanic Female 23) “I want to say that the contamination that the train brings and the type of fuel that it uses is reflected in the kids' health; for me it is obvious that they go hand in hand.”—Hispanic Female 24) “ …because they continue to use dirty equipment, then that pollutes the air, which harms the neighbors. So all we want is really for them to be good neighbors; to be responsible.”—Hispanic Female 25) “Companies are the masters of the nation and they do not listen to our concerns because for all the calls that have been done to tell them to maintain and update their equipment it appears that we have not done the petition correctly.”—Caucasian Female
Health Care Challenges
Community participants view health and access to health care as an unattainable value for themselves, but haven't given up hope of obtaining it for their children.
26) “The community worries me, but first I have to worry about my family. Many of us have no health insurance and these diseases, tumors, asthma, having to constantly go to the doctor is expensive, that worries the mom, dad, children, and the whole family.”—Hispanic Female 27) “I am a grandmother to six kids and I don't matter much, but the little ones do.”—Hispanic Female 28) “The situation with children in this community is very bad. My granddaughter was not sick so often, but since she moved and lives with me she constantly gets sick.”—Hispanic Female