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How Noisy Is Your Neighborhood? Now There's A Map For That (npr.org)

Posted by msmash on from the now-you-know dept.

An anonymous reader share an NPR article: There's no denying it: Los Angeles isn't exactly gentle on the ears. That's one lesson, at least, from a comprehensive noise map created by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. On the interactive U.S. map the agency released this week, which depicts data on noise produced primarily by airports and interstate highways, few spots glare with such deep and angry color as the City of Angels. Blame the area's handful of major airports and its legendary snarls of traffic -- ranked this year as the worst in the nation.

17 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Doesn't work by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    well, of course. npr doesn't either.

  2. Add THIS to the map by markdavis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Airports and interstates don't bother me much; and I am near both (2 miles from an International airport, 1 mile from a major interstate).

    What DOES bother me are:

    * Motorcycles and cars/trucks with illegal exhaust modifications
    * Dogs barking from neighbors
    * Boom-box bass cars, which I can hear a MILE AWAY sometimes
    * Unnecessary sirens

    None of that is on the map.

    1. Re:Add THIS to the map by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Illegal exhaust and boom boxes are a law enforcement issue. e.g. compare Santa Ana with Irvine.

      Dogs are subject to ultrasound, easy to manage.

      And the sirens are new to me. You are suggesting that running the siren when going to fire is unnecessary? Or that agencies without need run their sirens?

      Sounds like another law enforcement problem. Find a better city to live in.

    2. Re:Add THIS to the map by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      How do you suggest getting rid of the boom box bass cars? You hear them from a mile away, cannot see them, do not know exactly where they are because low frequencies are omnidirectional and by the time you call cops they'll either tell you there's nothing they can do about it without a license plate number and/or they can't stop people because of "freedom of expression" or some other shit.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Add THIS to the map by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Add military operations to the list, too.
      I used to live in Fallbrook, CA. Even miles away, artillery sounded like a thunderstorm. Try to sleep with the windows open at night and the sound of machine gun fire, helicopters, and artillery going off every hour until morning.

    4. Re:Add THIS to the map by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      There is definitely relativity to noise. Once I lived half a block from the interstate, just outside of downtown Chicago. Despite the constant hum, I almost never noticed it, other than the very occasional semi hitting the engine brakes hard, and even that was just kind of a pronounced note out of the background mishmash.

      Now I live outside a town of 20,000, in a tiny subdivision, and ten times a day I'm thinking to myself, "What are those crazy neighbors up to?" when they do anything at all, because it's generally so quiet *any* noise is disruptive.

      Then again, I've got young kids and a territorial dog now, whereas I was a blithely oblivious 20-something back then. Life circumstances may have something to do with my sensitivity to the noise as well.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    5. Re:Add THIS to the map by markdavis · · Score: 2

      >"Illegal exhaust and boom boxes are a law enforcement issue. e.g. compare Santa Ana with Irvine."

      And here nothing is done about it, and it won't change.

      >"Dogs are subject to ultrasound, easy to manage."

      Not easy when not your dogs. Trust me, I tried.

      >"And the sirens are new to me. You are suggesting that running the siren when going to fire is unnecessary? Or that agencies without need run their sirens?"

      Yes. I estimate 75% of the time they are running with sirens unnecessarily; the lights are enough. In fact, often the sirens just scare people and are actually counter productive. They are a major source of unnecessary noise pollution. Many studies corroborate this.

      http://www.jems.com/articles/2...
      http://noiseabatementsociety.c...
      https://www.emergencydispatch....
      https://www.emergencydispatch....
      http://gradworks.umi.com/35/54...

    6. Re:Add THIS to the map by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

      Fortunately I don't hear many sirens and none I would consider unnecessary but those other things bother me, mostly the neighbors. Occasionally military aircraft flies overhead but not too often but those things are really loud.

      Since I live in a townhome the worst is the walls were thinner than I expected when I moved in. I would love to find out there was some rating of sound insulation between units that could be looked up. For future reference of course, but I really want a freestanding home on its own lot next time I buy.

      I love hearing the train whistle in the distance at night though. I've lived close enough to train tracks to hear the train go by too. You get used to it just the same as you get used to having a clock that chimes or cuckoos every half hour if you have one. You simply don't even notice it most of the time.

      Or maybe not - train horns have become a political issue with people closer to the tracks (which have been here for probably at least a century) complaining about the horns.

      Most of the problems for me come through the walls or from dogs, loud motorcycles, powertools and cars.

    7. Re:Add THIS to the map by ayesnymous · · Score: 1

      Yep, my neighbor has 2 monster pickup trucks in his driveway that cause my windows to vibrate and 4 ATVs parked under his deck in the backyard. Don't think I'd see that on the map.

    8. Re:Add THIS to the map by chihowa · · Score: 1

      I'd add "all unnecessary police activity" to that list. Where I live, the police justify owning their helicopter(s?) by circling them low over different parts of town during the night. I've heard that they were looking for grow operations, which is such a good fucking reason for waking up tens of thousands of people every night, but pot is now legal here and they still do it, so I'm not sure what their current excuse is.

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
    9. Re:Add THIS to the map by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      Heh. When I asked my neighbor to stop running his power saw at 10 at night, his excuse was that my girls occasionally scream a little while they're playing outside during daylight hours. Apparently those are equivalent.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
  3. I wish it were a google earth layer. Also, fail. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    This web viewer seems to be inferior even to a properly set up umn mapserver. The UI is actually decent, but the refresh speed is quite poor.

    On the other hand, the map is crap. They're not even taking into account my muni airport which hosts the medi chopper.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Re:Doesn't work by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    "Does not load any noise data for me."

    Why do you always have to rub your deafness under our nose?

  5. Trains... by LeonPierre · · Score: 1

    ...they're about the worst.

    --
    "If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet"
  6. Different problem in the country by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    you go out to the country to get some quiet, but out there you have the gun nuts firing off their penis extenders all the time.

  7. Re:I wish it were a google earth layer. Also, fail by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    They're using arcgis, same as every other government mapping website. During peak hours it is sometimes a little slow, but mostly it works fine. It isn't a different speed than other things, though.

    When I was panning the map around, it all loaded very quickly; certainly more quickly than that other mapping company with all the letters.

  8. Alien landing zone? by fermion · · Score: 1

    What's up with the star pattern outside of Santa Fe, nm. Is that where the allien space craft land?

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black