This is something that drives me banana. The answer you'll get is always "Well, cities are noisy, deal with it or live in the suburb.
But the thing is they don't have to be. Sure, you have to expect people talking, cars going through, people mowing the grass, the occasional honking. But even in the middle of Manhattan, the only noise that will wake you up in the morning are people being assholes or breaking rules. Special construction permits that have no business being issued (eg: jackhammers in the middle of the night), people screaming (why?), harleys motorcycles (why is that legal?), neighbors blasting music (you can hear it just fine, can you lower it a bit?), musicians in apartments (can't you use an electronic drum to practice?).
Everything's avoidable. People are just inconsiderate, and/or the problem isn't taken seriously. But no, it's not inherent to living in a dense area, unless you're talking about "being surrounded by assholes" being inherent to cities. Then yeah.
suburbs aren't really a solution because people can be assholes everywhere. But even if they weren't, current pushes to get rid of restrictive zoning means you won't be safe in a suburb for much longer anyway. We need solutions for noise in densely populated areas because we're not going to be able to avoid it long terms. The solutions all exist, they just need to be implemented and enforced.
But the thing is they don't have to be. Sure, you have to expect people talking, cars going through, people mowing the grass, the occasional honking. But even in the middle of Manhattan, the only noise that will wake you up in the morning are people being assholes or breaking rules. Special construction permits that have no business being issued (eg: jackhammers in the middle of the night), people screaming (why?), harleys motorcycles (why is that legal?), neighbors blasting music (you can hear it just fine, can you lower it a bit?), musicians in apartments (can't you use an electronic drum to practice?).
Everything's avoidable. People are just inconsiderate, and/or the problem isn't taken seriously. But no, it's not inherent to living in a dense area, unless you're talking about "being surrounded by assholes" being inherent to cities. Then yeah.
suburbs aren't really a solution because people can be assholes everywhere. But even if they weren't, current pushes to get rid of restrictive zoning means you won't be safe in a suburb for much longer anyway. We need solutions for noise in densely populated areas because we're not going to be able to avoid it long terms. The solutions all exist, they just need to be implemented and enforced.