# What's it like living on a busy road? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031 "2015-05-01T19:13:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/21 "2015-05-02T20:35:59Z")
I think the one good thing is during a political season your yard becomes very popular because every candidate and party wants to put a sign there. I dont know your areas rules on that but it could become a money maker. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/22 "2015-05-03T00:46:21Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > Oh, my. But . . . you’ve lived there for quite a while and still live there? I do. Due to having a nice landlord, the rent hasn’t budged and so it’s undervalued on the market by a few hundred bucks compared to similar sized properties. We did move here on the assumption we’d be out within 3 years, but it didn’t happen due to the job market and the consequent chunk of time where more than half our income went to rent alone. But hey, we have the nicest landlord around, good neighbors, and comparatively low rent (ha!)…and the idea of finally moving out is what sustains us over the noise. If I thought I’d live the rest of my life next to a road like this it’d be interminable. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/23 "2015-05-03T00:49:33Z")
Not only do I live on a busy street but there’s two hospitals and a fire station nearby, so, plenty of sirens as well as the usual traffic sounds. I don’t mind that so much but I do mind all the gritty grime all those vehicles kick up and produce. I’d like to sleep with my windows open, regardless of the noise, but it isn’t long before a layer of dirt becomes noticeable on window sills and other surfaces. Makes me wonder how much of that stuff I’m breathing in. I’d like to move but can’t afford to on my own. My sister/roommate doesn’t want to, but since we just received notice of a rent increase in a couple of months, maybe that’ll cause her to rethink the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Arabella\_Flynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8491ac/32.png) [@Arabella\_Flynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arabella_Flynn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/24 "2015-05-03T02:03:09Z")
I’m in an apartment one building back from the major road through town. (There are shopfronts on the main road.) We also happen to be under one of the main flight paths for the airport. I don’t mind traffic noise, so I think it’s fine. I also don’t drive, but the parking area for the house opens up onto a one-way residential street at right angles to the main road, and none of my roommates have complained. The only major noise hazard I _hate_ is actually the downstairs neighbors, who have an unfortunate combination of excellent stereo equipment and terrible taste in music. 😃 Those are a risk no matter where your apartment is, though. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/25 "2015-05-03T02:19:35Z")
I lived in a terrible little shack right on a busy street, and it sucked. I had colds the whole time I lived there, almost certainly related to the nasty black grit that built up on every surface. I’m not a big homebody, so it didn’t make me absolutely crazy. But I definitely never felt fully comfortable. Like, I like to sit in bed on a Sunday with some coffee reading the paper-- but in that house it was kind of like sitting in bed and reading the paper- on a traffic median. I was always just a little on edge. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/26 "2015-05-03T05:19:08Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > I am considering moving to a house that’s on a reasonably busy 2-lane road (major arterial road for a subdivision, cars generally going 30-40mph). Interested in hearing experiences of others who’ve lived on busy roads. Did you hate it? Or didn’t bother you and got used to it quickly? > > I figure we wouldn’t use our front yard much, but I don’t use our front yard much now either. The backyard of this house is really great, though you can hear a little bit of traffic out there as well. The front door of the house is probably 35 feet from the road. If you think it’s going to annoy you even a little bit, then don’t do it. Because after you live there things that annoy you generally get worse. Sure you can stay inside all the time, and even do sound proofing on your house like the windows especially, but low frequency sounds are the worst to sound proof against. Like the sound trucks make while going by, or idiots on motorcycles trying to be as loud as they can, and people driving by with loud thumbing bass rap playing. It’s all going to come through your house. Would you get use to it? Maybe, but why should you have to? Also, when you go to sell your house people always look for a quiet street. It would be a negative to home buyers and there isn’t anything you can do to fix it, like putting in a new kitchen and bath. I know people have heard the saying the most important thing in real estate is location, location and location. It’s true. If the property is in a bad location, like because of the noise, you can’t improve on that in any meaningful way. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/27 "2015-05-03T05:20:53Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I lived in a terrible little shack right on a busy street, and it sucked. I had colds the whole time I lived there, almost certainly related to the nasty black grit that built up on every surface. > > I’m not a big homebody, so it didn’t make me absolutely crazy. But I definitely never felt fully comfortable. Like, I like to sit in bed on a Sunday with some coffee reading the paper-- but in that house it was kind of like sitting in bed and reading the paper- on a traffic median. I was always just a little on edge. That reminds me of a house we use to live in that had a nice deck. The only problem, is we could never sit out there more than 5-10 minutes before there was noise from someone running a leaf blower or mowing their lawn. It really ruined it. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/28 "2015-05-04T14:19:45Z")
Backing out of the driveway is by far the biggest problem. It’s not unusual for me to wait upwards of two minutes for an opportunity to back out during busy times. That may not sound like much time but cumulatively over the years one ends up spending weeks of their lives idling at the end of the driveway under such circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/29 "2015-05-04T17:28:46Z")
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is the smell of exhaust. I don’t live on a busy street, but my walks take me on a somewhat busy one. It’s a small, two-lane road where the speed limit is 25. It has the sound on one side and houses on the other. Some are about at most 15 feet off the road. It doesn’t sound so bad, but this street is used as a bypass for the busier highway about a quarter of a mile away and gets pretty busy during rush hour. Then the smell of exhaust is terrible! It’s beautiful, but for that reason you couldn’t pay me to live there. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/30 "2015-05-04T18:33:47Z")
I used to live on a pretty busy street. We had an apartment and all of our windows faced the street to one degree or another. It wasn’t intolerable, but it would be enough that I’d never have bought a house in that spot. We kept the windows closed as much as possible, and we set up some little indoor water fountains to add some non-traffic white noise. With no AC, we didn’t have much choice but to open some windows in the summer, so we just put up with the traffic noise. The one thing you’ll never get used to and can’t mask or drown out: sirens. We didn’t have much problem with exhaust fumes, but our apartment was on the second story. Maybe that made a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/31 "2015-05-04T19:09:58Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Backing out of the driveway is by far the biggest problem. It’s not unusual for me to wait upwards of two minutes for an opportunity to back out during busy times. That may not sound like much time but cumulatively over the years one ends up spending weeks of their lives idling at the end of the driveway under such circumstances. This is what I came in to say. It’s not too bad if you’ve got a driveway that you can turn around in (and can therefore turn into, and pull out of, without reversing), but reversing out or in can be a trial. Also, think about which direction you’ll be mostly turning when you pull out. If you’re mostly turning with the traffic (which would be right, to you Americans) it’s not so bad but having to turn left across a busy traffic stream every morning may drive you mad. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/32 "2015-05-04T19:29:33Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > If traffic noises are a problem for you and prevent you from sleeping, it can be bad. I live in an apartment on a busy 4-lane city street with traffic whizzing by at all hours. Fortunately I like city noise and it’s not a big issue for me, but I know some people couldn’t take it. I had one friend who visited me and was completely overwhelmed by the city noise and bustle. Yeah, you need to be in the bedroom at around bedtime, preferably one week and one weekend nite to be sure. The noise can drive you crazy. or not bother you. Oh, and you have to be really careful with pets and kids. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/33 "2015-05-04T19:48:23Z")
Thanks for all the feedback. The house has a circular drive, so backing out wouldn’t be necessary. But I think we’re going to opt against it–I don’t think it would bother me, but I’m envisioning the difficulty in selling down the road, because so many people just wouldn’t even consider the location. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/34 "2017-03-25T19:32:58Z")
Here’s a government map that will show you the noise impact of the traffic in your neighborhood: [ul] [li][https://maps.bts.dot.gov/arcgis/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a303ff5924c9474790464cc0e9d5c9fb[/li][/ul]](https://maps.bts.dot.gov/arcgis/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a303ff5924c9474790464cc0e9d5c9fb%5B/li%5D%5B/ul%5D) My neighborhood mapped out at a zero, but I am close to the noise. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/35 "2017-03-25T20:54:03Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > My experience is that in 6 months, you’ll sleep right through it. I owned a house about 50’ from a heavy traffic road and on the far side of that road was a heavily used freight rail line. For about a week I was about to cry my eyes out over what a horrific mistake I had made. Then one night there were apparently no trains… In fact it eventually got to the point that the only time I noticed was when I was on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/36 "2017-03-26T01:25:58Z")
As a kid, traffic noise was always kind of interesting and positive, because it meant we were staying in a hotel on a main road, doing something different, going somewhere different. And that feeling carried over when I was living on a main road, waking up in the middle of the night, listening to a truck go past (I was at the front of the house), drifting off to sleep some more. Of course now, I have constant ringing in my ears, and truck noise helps me sleep. ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/37 "2017-03-26T02:22:27Z")
Only vaguely related is something **drachillix** (post 35) mentioned. My current place is 50 feet from a railroad. I knew that from the get go and decided I could take trains going by. This line is lightly used so a train is more a curiosity than nuisance. But they (it) comes by once week _only_ between 2 and 5 A.M. Yes, I always wake up. No, after 20 years I haven’t gotten used to it. But there’s something about the rumbling that makes it okay. I’m not sure I could say the same thing for constant traffic noise. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/38 "2017-03-26T06:59:40Z")
I lived on a street car line from 1983-2008. When I moved in, I was wasted for 2 days - no sleep for first 3 days. After a week, it became background noise and I didn’t notice it. If you like the idea of bare hardwood floors (there is a reason carpet was invented) give them up. The house had been a rental. I had wall-to-wall installed before I moved in. When a previous resident came back for the house plants he’d left, he remarked that the noise was 1/3 of what he remembered. LOTS of soft, thick coverings on everything - I put cedar planking over the front wall. Soundproof windows are $500 vs $150 for standard double-paned. They are triple paned, and the frame is not hollow. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/39 "2017-03-26T07:13:30Z")
I spent 5 years living right on a busy city street, ground floor flat, cars maybe 20 feet from my bedroom window. The worst bit of the noise there was due to the complicated intersection at the end- at night, emergency vehicles would turn their sirens on just to get through the junction, and they’d turn them on juuust outside my window. It happened at least once a night, mostly several times. Oh, plus it was apparently on a main drunk walking route, so every Friday and Saturday night I’d be treated to a screaming row from a couple or group staggering past. I could get used to the rest of it, but not that. The problem I wound up with was when I went to visit my parents, who live in a little quiet country village, and it was just so quiet I couldn’t sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031/40 "2017-03-26T08:19:59Z")
I grew up on a farm next to a busy 2-lane highway (now it turns to 4 lanes right next to our north pasture. Traffic was normally moving at 55 mi/hr (88 km/hr) and was pretty constant, including a lot of trucks. And no air conditioning, so windows wide open in summer. Nobody in my family had any problems with it – the traffic noise just becomes background noise. (Later, on vacations, I discovered it sounds just like oceanside surf.) We had no problems sleeping through it. Except for sirens, and they were pretty rare. Now the town limits have moved to just a half-mile away, and the land is quite valuable because of the highway frontage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-like-living-on-a-busy-road/719031.md?page=3)