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Friday, October 6, 2006

Noises

Our next door neighbors are good at making noises. Here are some of them:

Loud fireworks (apparently M-90s are too quiet for them) from May 31 through August 31.

The thumping of bass from automobile and home stereos, nightly, usually after 10:00 p.m.

Screaming from children. (Disturbing, emotional screaming -- not joyous screaming.)

Domestic disturbances.

Cheering on another neighbor and relative's, uh, involved reaction to a pornographic movie they could see him watching. (He has a 50-inch TV and leaves the blinds open.)

Barking from two pit bulls, who sometimes bark if they hear us while we are still inside of our house.

Thankfully, one of the sounds is not that of gunfire.

If anyone thinks that rehabbing an old house on the north side is at all glamorous or about making money, read this post and consider that it's hard work that really is about social change.

14 comments:

Travis Reems said...

After having lived in the city, I'm not sure I could sleep without typical city noises (sirens, a little thumpty thump music, pigeons plotting against my gangway), but it sounds as if you have a more active block than I do. Best wishes on turning your little piece of the city into an urban paradise.

Anonymous said...

My next door neighbor has hundreds of thousands of guests a year, most of them under the age of ten and all of them loudly excited to climbing on a four-story playground apparatus outside my window.

And just last night, the entire place was a circus!

I wouldn't live anywhere else.

PE

Anonymous said...

Haha, PE, you are so funny! (Btw, that line is getting old.) Noise pollution is a serious issue and no joking matter. When you have a dog barking continuously for no reason for hours--and it is the only noise around--it can get on your nerves and make you reach for the shotgun. Unlike the other nuisance crimes that make urban life difficult, this is basically unsolvable without a behavior change by the offenders.

Anonymous said...

Have the police been enforcing the ban on loud car stereos since it's been enforced? Sure doesn't seem like it.

Doug Duckworth said...

The day that water and air pollution are eliminated is the day we should address noise pollution.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Doug, but I disagree. While ultimately it may keep me up at night, water and air pollution do not wake me in the middle of the night like those thumping speakers.

I can sleep with the sound of dumpsters being banged around by the trash trucks. I would feel lost if there wasn't an almost constant siren noise. But the thumping that jolts me awake is too much.

A law is a law. The police should enforce it. We all want clean air and water. But I need sleep in the meantime.

Anonymous said...

These are the sounds that caused and cause white flight. You should take pride in the fact that you are sticking up for your neighborhood and not running from the problems like previous generations of St. Louisians.

Anonymous said...

A couple of early-morning knocks on the door by our boys, or girls, in blue, and my next-door neighbors dog doesn't bark so much anymore. By early morning I mean 3.30a and 4.30a. It was so satisfying to hear that knock at her door. I may have at least three poorly managed and trashy adult(the kids are OK... so far) occupied Section 8 houses on my block, but at least I got the frigging cops to come out and do their jobs for once.

Anonymous said...

Interesting how a discussion of nuisance properties leads to racial stereotypes. The racist characterization doesn't work in this case--ie. the offending parties are white and "owner-occupants". Nice try, though..

Mark Groth said...

I read this thread and and interested which comments were racist in nature.

Joe said...

I'm getting really tired, myself, of gunfire. Especially when 1) I know it's not just for fun, somebody is probably actually getting killed; and 2) you call the police and get a busy signal. To quote Public Enemy: "9-1-1 is a joke in yo town."

Also police helicopters hovering over the block at midnight with spotlights blazing. Not so nice to hear and see at least once a week.

Both get real old, real quick. Neither makes me feel safe.

Instead, I feel like if the 'thugs' (regardless of race, gender, or age) don't 'get' me, maybe the cops will. Only increasing my paranoia and stress.

Now, as for the old drunkard with the bloody head who almost fell over on me last Saturday on my front steps -- I guess we'll call that 'local color.'

Hey, don't get me wrong -- I love a lot of things about my neighborhood. Diversity, history, transit access. But the crime and the police (yes, there are a few good ones I know) are not among my favorites.

It's enough to make me think about moving (shudder) west of Grand!

Doug Duckworth said...

This is what happens in a City and I doubt passing new ordinances will ever address the problem. Some people simply do not respect others. When there is density the frequency of this occurs more often. We should not fool ourselves as this occurs everywhere even in suburbia. Noise pollution occurs everywhere except Montana. Where people live there is noise. Be happy if you live in a brick building with triple pane windows. Other than that invest in ear plugs if need be. This is the price of living in a metropolis. Enjoy the architecture and the museum the next day and you will feel better.

Anonymous said...

Even Montana.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E5DD153EF93BA35752C1A9639C8B63

PE

BarkingDogATLAS said...

Post your neighbor's noisy barking dog at the Barking Dog ATLAS.