shhh
I've learned to ask about noise when I check out a possible apartment. I lived in a thin-walled apartment building on Mass Ave, across the street from a high school, for 10 years, and I didn't think the noise was that much of a problem. Sure, it was annoying sometimes. But I didn't realize how much it had been bothering me until I moved to a quieter neighborhood. My blood pressure dropped abruptly, and stayed down, even when I was having a lot of trouble with the move or the landlord or other related problems.
Maybe it's living in Somerville, or having a housemate, or something else unrelated to traffic noise. I joked with my doctor that she should recommend Somerville to all her patients with high blood pressure. I can't afford to have "quiet" be anything like a deal-breaker. But I do ask if a place is quiet, or what the noise is like around here.
"Oh, this is an old building, so the walls are very thick--it's very quiet."
"It's an old building, so of course we can hear the neighbors moving around, but they aren't real noisy."
"I only practice the violin between noon and 10pm."
"This isn't a neighborhood with a lot of parties...the cops only get called 4, maybe 5 times a year."
"We're a couple of blocks away from [main road], so we only hear the fire engines, not the regular traffic. But the fire station is right on the corner."
The one about the police really surprised me. I mean, it's a useful answer. It just wasn't quite the kind of answer I was expecting.
This entry was originally posted at http://adrian-turtle.dreamwidth.org/19201.html. Please comment there using OpenID, or here as usual.
Maybe it's living in Somerville, or having a housemate, or something else unrelated to traffic noise. I joked with my doctor that she should recommend Somerville to all her patients with high blood pressure. I can't afford to have "quiet" be anything like a deal-breaker. But I do ask if a place is quiet, or what the noise is like around here.
"Oh, this is an old building, so the walls are very thick--it's very quiet."
"It's an old building, so of course we can hear the neighbors moving around, but they aren't real noisy."
"I only practice the violin between noon and 10pm."
"This isn't a neighborhood with a lot of parties...the cops only get called 4, maybe 5 times a year."
"We're a couple of blocks away from [main road], so we only hear the fire engines, not the regular traffic. But the fire station is right on the corner."
The one about the police really surprised me. I mean, it's a useful answer. It just wasn't quite the kind of answer I was expecting.
This entry was originally posted at http://adrian-turtle.dreamwidth.org/19201.html. Please comment there using OpenID, or here as usual.