If you like quiet, do NOT move to the NoVA suburbs

[Anonymous]

My sister lives in Annandale and it's always quiet when I visit.
I have lived in two different high rise condo buildings which are only two blocks apart. The more expensive and fancier building is way louder at all times, inside and outside. If you got to have a security, you have noise/rule violation problems in the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep. I'm with you OP. Literally moving because of the noise.

We are moving from FCC to Vienna. I can no longer handle all of the noise. There is constant noise from cars zooming by and blaring music (our street is a commuter cut through right by the metro), and it is especially bad right in front of our house where there is a stop sign that they roll into in a rolling stop and then they gun it when they see there aren't other cars. Our houses are on top of each other and I am at the point where I desperately hate the neighbors on one side because of the constant noise. People are constantly walking up and down our street to and from the metro and part of the great noise pollution of these times is people walking down the street talking on the phone -- actually holding it right in front of their face, on speaker, and $#@*&ing screaming at it.

The new place in Vienna is at the end of a cul de sac, with old people in the adjacent houses, backing onto Wolf Trap woods. It is no where near as nice of a house. But I don't care. I need some peace.

This describes my situation perfectly. Trying to move also but everything is so expensive. It wasn't always this way at my house; the noisy cars and loud people seem to have multiplied ten-fold in the past few years. Some days, when people walk by blabbing loudly, I'm tempted to turn on my Ring doorbell and play a loud beeping or siren sound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Loudoun County and a few of my neighbors hire lawn services that come once a week in the spring and summer. Takes them less than half an hour to do a lawn and then that’s it. Not the continuous drone you’re describing.

Bc in the closer-in suburbs, many of us live on lots that are <.25 acres. In these neighborhoods, there are neighbors on all sides and someone is always having yard work done, renovations, tear-down/rebuilds, etc. and we have helicopters and airplanes heading to 2 major airports. it’s f’n noisy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Opposite of the opposite of the Asian countries is Germany. They have quiet hours which are strictly enforced, culturally instilled, and days like Sunday where shops and other businesses have to remain closed. It's slightly inconvenient but you adapt quickly and look forward to a period of predictable peace and quiet.

except for the church bells in Germany

[Anonymous]

Yup. Lawn mowing season around here where every yard basically gets cut once a week generally tapers off in September. You can often get a generally quiet October before the even lower leaf blowing season starts and runs through early December with another nice quiet run during winter until early April.

[Anonymous]

I don’t mind the crews, they’re in and out. On my street there are two homeowners that use the same guy, yes one guy, and he’s out there from 7am to at least 1pm every Saturday mowing and blowing. It’s awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to wonder if the countryside is any better. A lot of land often means gunshots, ATVs, chainsaws, and more. The world may simply be loud everywhere.

Nah, if it’s true countryside you have enough land that the trees between the lots hide your neighbors sounds. You will only hear things if those are your own children.

[Anonymous]

Buy windows with better sound protection. I replaced my windows with a kind that has specially ordered glass. The thickness of the inner and outer panes of glass are different and it helps reduce sound a well.

[Anonymous]

We live in a townhouse community with an HOA that has a crew come once a week so it's fine.

The irony of the suburbs is that everyone wants their own plot of land with a lawn in front and in the back, surrounded by similar houses with front and back lawns (bc density is bad) but they also want no noise from maintaining the lawns and also to live close to everything and not have their kids be "bussed" to school lol

[Anonymous]

I can’t imagine being bothered by noise of everyday life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in a townhouse community with an HOA that has a crew come once a week so it's fine.

The irony of the suburbs is that everyone wants their own plot of land with a lawn in front and in the back, surrounded by similar houses with front and back lawns (bc density is bad) but they also want no noise from maintaining the lawns and also to live close to everything and not have their kids be "bussed" to school lol

True…and if someone tries to go three weeks without mowing their property is viewed as blight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy windows with better sound protection. I replaced my windows with a kind that has specially ordered glass. The thickness of the inner and outer panes of glass are different and it helps reduce sound a well.

Coming here to say this. How old are your windows, OP?

[Anonymous]

OP, where do you live? Mowing takes 15 min a week per house and you can only be close to so many houses. The math doesn’t add up that it’s constant noise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure which neighborhood you live in. Ours has an occasional lawn mower or leaf blower or other contractor noise but nowhere near every day. We are surrounded by trees so lots of days the noisiest sounds we hear are the hawks, owls, and other birds and we love it.

Same. I’m surrounded by trees, and any noise is dulled. I like the sounds of birds chirping and lawn mowers mowing. It’s suburbia!

[Anonymous]

It's terrible. I'm moving out of state when my lease is up for some peace and quiet. This is unbearable.