Is your neighborhood quiet or noisy at night?

[fan-of-fans]

Here my neighborhood is usually quiet at night these days. The only thing that gets noisy sometimes is I will hear ATVs driving on the road that wake me up sometimes in the middle of the night. They're going to the trails nearby probably. There used to be some noisy neighbors down the street, they were having big parties and selling drugs. After they foreclosed on the house, it was torn down and new house built. So all of the neighbors now are quiet.

Only other thing is I will occasionally hear cars with bass going by out on the main road or boat motors at night.

 

[lordkenmore]

Surprisingly noisy, given that I live in the middle of nowhere. Of course, one expects wildlife related noise. For example, last week, during a warm spell when I had windows open well after dark, I heard plenty of frogs.

 

But when I first moved in here, I was really surprised by how much traffic I heard on the street. Then there was the neighbor who (at that time) seemed to love riding his motorcycle at 2 AM.

 

 

 

 

 

[dustin92]

Surprisingly noisy. You can hear cars out on the main street and highway at all hours of the night, and the highway is nearly a mile away. We don't have a lot of traffic on our street, but there is always a few throughout the night, and my bedroom is on the street side. Not too bad but far from silent.

 

[wayupnorth]

All I hear is Loons crying and damn crows at the crack of dawn during the night, but daytime, tons of boats racing by like it was I-95 . But I have not opened and left open any windows yet this year as we refuse to warm up to spring temps and I refuse to have heat on in almost May. I will probably have to put the a/c in next month when the humidity from the south gets here.

 

[jamiel]

We live 4 blocks south of an interstate, so there is a constant low-pitched hum 24 7.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I'm glad as far as noise level goes, that it is something where I "don't want to go there"--that is, no need to call the police, or just have to yell at anyone to quiet down...

However, I do not like to have windows open; I don't like what little outside coming in, or what a lot of inside going out...

-- Dave

 

[robbinsandmyers]

I live on the main street in town so during the day its pretty noisy traffic wise. In warm months the motorcycles use it as a drag strip. At night its not too bad other than the cops going by at 80 MPH responding to a call one every 30 seconds when the natives get restless down near the town line a mile away. There is a small tailor shop on the front of the house and Im behind it so it acts as a buffer at night with the traffic noise as its wider than the house. Getting to sleep was rough at first but I use a 1932 R&M 8" fan daily for white noise and its great. Its better than my old place which was in a historical area at pizza ground zero in New Haven but with a noisy upstairs neighbor.

 

[askolover]

I live right behind the hospital so I can hear ambulance sirens all hours of the day or night.  The helipad is only a couple of blocks the other way so I hear choppers coming in or revving up to take off all hours.  The young couple across the street frequently have cars in their driveway with thumping bass stereos blasting.  When I moved here it was an older neighborhood with mostly old people...then most of them died or moved away and now the old houses have become rental houses for younger people and WE are the old people now!  Wish we could move out to the country.  Tony is dying to move to Louisiana...he says New Orleans "calls" to him.....well it must not have my number because it ain't calling me...not to live there anyway!

 

[jmm63]

It's quiet and peaceful out here most of the time and I love it. Just the usual car going by or kids playing during the day, night time is usually very quiet. Except in the summer when a fox mates out in the woods behind us, you haven't lived until you hear that screaming at 3am.

I always lived in the suburbs and enjoyed mostly quiet times. When I first moved to Brooklyn, I couldn't sleep for about 4 months with all the noise at night. Summer was ok with the A/C on but it was terrible if you left a window open. When I moved to NJ 2 years later, I couldn't sleep at night with all the QUIET! Funny how you get used to things.

 

[gizmo]

We live in forest, it is quiet at night.

Our cat Casper and I have developed a routine. About 10.30pm he sits by the door and demands to be taken out. (He is a bird murderer so isn't allowed out without me.)

I carry him around outside for 10 to 15 minutes. He is a very big cat, about 6.7 kg, so we walk till my back and arms ache, then we come inside. We walk by moonlight, listen to the frogs in the dam, and the owls if there are any around. On warm nights, the crickets do their thing, too.
Last night there were two owls calling to each other, one in blackwood trees near the house, the other some distance away. I just love that sound, the closer one louder, the distant one quieter. HOO HOO. Hoo hoo. HOO HOO. Hoo hoo. HOO HOO. Hoo hoo.
Casper loves it too, his head swivels around to each new noise. I take him to different trees and shrubs to smell, too.

I have bad tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and have had for years. So I don't like quiet at night till I get to sleep. I love to listen to the frogs and owls when falling off to sleep, it takes my attention away from the tinnitus.

We have a tin roof, the rain on the roof sounds great, too.

 

[vacerator]

Quiet mostly.

My neighbor has a Harley Davidson, but is usually not running it after 9 p.m. The occasional barking dog.
We have a noise curfew of 10 p.m. I hear the occasional car boom box when young people come home at 2 or 3 a.m. Typical suburban noises. Our windows have thick double glazing.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

New York City, need I say more? Because I live in a high rise complex on super blocks, there is a lot of space between buildings, about a quarter of a mile. This makes a canyon effect. Sirens on emergency vehicles, horns and the elevated train from far away are amplified. Helicopters and the occasional ship horn are also present. We're also directly under the glide path to La Guardia airport, but thankfully aircraft pass so high above us you don't hear a thing. Most of the time, you just hear the far off drone of traffic.  It quiets down considerably in the evening, and some evenings it can get eerily quiet. If it snows, then there is utter silence. Falling snow acts like sound proofing. Now that it is spring, around 5am the birds get into a chirping frenzy. During the day, you hear many of them sing about among the trees. We also have falcons, they rarely make a sound, but when they do, it's unmistakable. Plus the occasional obnoxious seagull. We have double, insulated windows, when they're closed, you don't hear a thing.

 

[blackstone]

I live near the center of a medium-size city, Springfield Mass, at a relatively busy intersection. It is close to 2 major hospitals, and less than a mile from both fire and police headquarters. Needless to say, there is a lot of traffic noise, including sirens and motorcycles. I'm used to it; doesn't bother me. It is a convenient location to live.

What does grind my gears is when neighbors crank up the music in the evening and into the night. Intolerable, even with the windows closed. Calls to police are only a temporary solution. One night last year, it lasted until 6:00 am. I have a good mind to fill up the snowblower with gas, and let 'er rip at 7:00 am until the gas tank is empty.

The only frustrating thing about police sirens is the fact that Springfield has scrambled the police scanner frequencies. Now, when I hear all the cars zooming by, I don't know what is going on.

 

[cornutt]

When I lived in Florida, the bedroom windows in my apartment opened onto an alley. Across the alley was a bar. A bunch of noise. A particular irritant was that the bar backs would dump beer bottles from the upstairs bar off the fire escape into the dumpster below. And every few months ago I'd have to call the cops because of a fight in the alley.

 

[tolivac]

The car booming stereos is becoming a problem in my area on Saturdays---Sometimes during the day-trying to sleep-and then at night.Calls to the police or sheriff do no good--"Its out of the town limits--nothing we can do"or when you call the police they say call the sheriff dept-you call the sheriff and they say call the police.Guess me and neighbors are going to have to call the county comissioners or something.Car sound systems are nice-but you DON'T NEED to turn the woofer up all the way-and its BAD for your hearing!!!

 

[mrsalvo]

It can be both in our neighborhood, we live outside a suburb, it depends on how much rail traffic Union Pacific Railroad sends our way on any given night. If the wind is blowing in our direction and / or foggy conditions, those trains can sound like they are passing in our front yard. We live about a mile from the southern US mainline, so about every 30 minutes or less they come barreling through horns blowing constantly. Sometimes there's a banging noise associated with them. Dogs next door can bark through the night. And of course our chime clock every 15 minutes. I'm used to a lot of it, except the trains on a foggy night.

Barry

 

[tolivac]

I have a RR track not to far from my house-its a private spur owned by PCS Phosphate.The trains don't bother me.Southbound trains are either empty or carrying fill dirt.Northbound carry phosphates or phosphoric acid.No problems with any of these.The Northbound cars can go all the way top 'Jersey!They are carried by another RR.

 

[abcomatic]

Very quiet 24 hrs. a day here.

 

[circlew]

Although it's quiet most of the night, one of the neighbors around the corner starts his very noisy older (90's) Dodge truck about 5:30 AM most mornings. It's worse in cold weather as he lets it warm up for at least 10 mins. before leaving. The truck was quiet the first week he had it, but he just had to put a noisy exhaust on it, just like every other vehicle he's had. His stupid Honda Civic was just as loud. Before that he had an old Chevy Silverado that he made loud.

It used to be noisier when the house across the street was occupied by a young couple that would get into fights. Several times I was awoken by the two of them screaming and cussing at each other. Their house and surroundings were also a mess, so I was glad when they moved.

The only other night noises are an occasional neighbor dog barking, a cat fight, choo-choo's (trains), or woo-woo's (fire trucks, ambulances or police cars).

 

[kimball455]

It depends .....

Cape May is a very popular resort community. During the summer season we may have 40,000 (not a typo) plus people in the City. I am surrounded by weekly rentals. You know, 3 bedrooms sleeps 18 and has parking for 1 car. So, the summer season can be quite noisy. The entire city has a buzz during season. Occasionally, one of the rentals will be in party mode after the noise ordinance says take the noise inside and I do have the cops on speed dial. My take is if I hear your noise, party, etc. with the AC on and storm windows down you are loud. Only rarely have I had to call the cops. I think it was twice last season. Those bridal parties can get a bit loud. We have quite a few weddings in Cape May. The cost for them is in the many thousands of dollars.

 

On the other hand, after the summer season we get a nice break over the winter. The holidays are busy on weekends because of the historic tours but midweek is nice and quite. We actually call the winter months 'blinking light season' because the beachfront traffic lights are set to blink. All in all, Cape May is a great place (although housing is expensive) to live. It is also a great place to visit any time of year. We have two equity theatre companies, Cape May is a National Historic Landmark City, the only City that is. We have wineries, breweries, and distilleries, museums, and all kinds of tours. All in all something for everyone. We are the restaurant capital of South Jersey. Also, Rehobeth Delaware is a very pleasant ferry ride from Cape May. No, I don't work for the Chamber of Commerce but I am the Historian for the Colonial House Museum.

Harry

http://www.capemaychamber.com/

 

[ea56]

We live in a small town with a population of about 7,000, but there is also a state of Calif. university in the neighboring city, of about 50,000 pop., so its a college town in a way too.

Our 20 unit townhouse HOA is right downtown, but our complex looks like a park, lots of beautiful trees. Redwood, Sycamores and Liquid Ambers. We are almost a block from a busy street, which used to be the state highway before the ‘new’ highway 101 opened in 1957. That freeway is about 1/2mile to the West of us. So we are sandwiched between two heavily traveled roads, But the noise is only really evident during the morning and afternoon/evening commute hours. Otherwise, its just barely background noise. At night after the little strip mall nextdoor closes down there is little noise. We are so grateful to have wonderful neighbors on both sides of us. One is a gay women that was here when we bought the house in 1994, she’s been here since 90’. And our other neighbor is a single man about my age, who is quiet and a pleasure to know. There are wild turkeys that frequent our complex, and at the Walgreens down the street there are anywhere from 20 to 40 chickens that roam freely around the store and parking lot. There was a house there before Walgreens and they had a chicken coup. When they moved out for the Walgreens to be built, they left the chickens behind. The Walgreens employees have been feeding the chickens for the last 25 years!

And I can walk for 10 mins to the West and I’m out in the country. This little town is really a wonderful place to live. And the few times we have had disturbances, the police are here in 5 mins of less, and best of all, they actually take care of what ever the problem is! The PD and FD are both less than a half a mile away. There is also a goddamned Casino in the neighboring town. This place has brought way too many extra people, and a lot of grifters too, with all the problems that go with them.

We are a 30 min. drive to the Pacific Ocean and the same amount of time to Redwood forests and the Sonoma Mountain hills. The Russian River is also a 30 min drive away. The only bad thing about Sonoma Co.now is the tremendous, overnight population explosion. It used to be so much more quite and a slower pace. Also, housing costs have gone right thru the roof. But we’ve transitioned with the progress, and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Quite simply, its Home!

Eddie

 

[fan-of-fans]

Trains

I live several miles from the closest train track, but on certain nights I used to be able to hear them. Probably depended on what direction the wind was blowing. Seemed to happen most often on cold winter nights.

Plus I can hear the cars on the highway if the wind is blowing right and I'm about 5 miles from it. It's just a dull rushing sound that you kind of tune out.

When the hurricane came through last summer, had to sleep with the windows open due to the power outage. Very noisy with all of the generators running, not that I wasn't part of the cause of the noise. Even the whole house quiet generators can be heard several doors down.

 

[wayupnorth]

I have discontinued train tracks that separate 2 of my lots behind me and have to pay the state $200 just to cross my own land thru my driveway. Last State Rep fought for me and state told him that it was gravy and no way they would give up ownership of this unmaintained stretch of tracks since the late 70's. I remember as a kid, the train to Canada went thru at 6 in the morning and came back at 6 in the evening. The millions of dollars it would cost is not worth it to rehab. I can put up with crows and loons, no problem, just not a train in my back yard.

 

[superocd]

My neighborhood is almost always quiet and uneventful. Its a typical suburban cul-de-sac type of neighborhood. Most of my neighbors are retirees or working professionals that seem to never be home.

Speaking of screaming foxes, an aunt of mine lives fairly secluded in the woods. Not Appalachian secluded but she doesn't have neighbors close by and her backyard is at the foot of a massive forest. The first couple of months there she heard screaming at 1 AM. My uncle was away on a business trip or something, so she was home alone. She told me she had been watching TV downstairs when she heard it and called the police, absolutely terrified. Her home is a typical McManson where the entire front of the house is all windows, floor to ceiling, and she was terrified that the "murderer" would soon bust through one of them.

Several deputies showed up as expected when there's a terrified caller on the line who swears someone was being butchered in the forest behind her house. Some of them checked out the perimeter of her property and the immediate forest behind her home. They radioed back to the deputies still in her home that nothing suspicious was found and so they informed her that they get calls like this every once in a while from people new in the area unfamilar with the fact that the area is known to have a fox population. Before moving out into the sticks, my aunt and uncle used to live in a typical suburban cul-de-sac, so she truly believed that something BAD was happening out there and didn't think to remember that nature does have pretty odd and scary sound effects.

Even after the sherrif's department debunked her theory that someone was out there hurting or killing someone that night, she's come up with all sorts of conspiracy theories, like thinkng that a serial killer will use the woods as an "opportunity" to murder someone since the blood-curdling screams will be mistakened for just another late-night mating call by the people who live in the valley and that no one would be bothered to call the police. I'm like, that's very creative thinking, you should go make Lifetime movies. She isn't one to come up with crazy conspiracy theories, either, until after that night.

She also thinks that someone could hide across the road, in the woods, and see inside the entire house. Yes, you can see the downstairs (when the shades are open) and the upstairs balcony/hallway (which didn't have shades at the time) from the road at night, but I highly doubt that someone will actively creep out in the woods across the road from someone's house. She didn't seem to think so.

Last Fourth of July, we had a get together at her house. She had me stand across the road at dusk to see if I could see in the house from that far away. I could, but the house was 600+ feet away from the road. I could barely make out the upstairs balcony. I took pictures on my phone from that distance to show her how anyone couldn't just "peep" into the house from that far away. I show her the pictures and she just says "what about binoculars! They can use binoculars!" At that point I'm laughing and so is everyone else. I'm like, binoculars schminoculars, how could I forget?

Shortly after, she had custom motorized, remote-controlled shades installed for the upstairs windows, which had to have cost some decent money. I told her to stop watching all of these horror movies. It turned out she was watching one on the Lifetime channel when she heard that screaming that one night.

I guess one advantage to the shades upstairs is the fact that all the solar heat radiation coming through all those windows on the frontal elevation of the house would be reduced and would lower their cooling costs a bit in the summer. The house has dual, zoned Trane NG furnace/heat pumps to heat/cool 5000+ feet. She wasn't even thinking about the potential of energy efficiency, though, it was all about keeping the "crazy watcher in the woods who wants to kill people" from peeking in.

 

[blackstone]

Sure, it's quiet today. But that's following a night when I got only 4 hours of sleep.