Airplane noise concerns overblown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow I'm just finding this thread!

Just moved to Kalorama (yes it is a lovely neighborhood and I am grateful) but I am finding the plane noise to be terrible on North flow days (when they are taking off in our direction) They thunder and echo through the sky from 6 am till near midnight, sometimes at a rate of every 90 seconds. I've waited 54 years to have a small outdoor space and now I can't enjoy it at all. Already thinking of moving.

You sound extra sensitive. I can’t imagine how the planes can be so loud in Kalorama when following the river path and now mostly flying much closer to the Virginia side.

They fly over residential areas of VA way inland from the river and they fly low, you would think airport is nearby when it's pretty far, not sure why they fly so low. There are flight paths that veer off from Potomac into residential parts of Arlington and Mclean and probably FC and Alexandria. When I am in DT Mclean I see they fly in lines over residential homes. I also see planes making turns over dense residential areas and this makes noise linger as planes fly in lines spaced by about a minute. These pathways aren't always utilized all day long, it got a bit better from 1-2 years ago when they would fly for hours every day. When I am in DC around river front they are way closer, but they aren't frequent.

I have opinions that in a densely populated metro it doesn't make sense to have a big airport right in the middle, this is what DCA is. You cannot successfully reduce noise and pollution without reducing number of flights and type of aircraft allowed to fly there, and there are going to be a lot of neighborhoods affected even if you disperse traffic in as many directions as you can. Focus should be on building/maintaining large airports outside of metro areas and creating dedicated toll roads to take people there quickly that wouldn't be used for other purposes. Train lines are also essential and DC has all this. But DCA really needs to be 1/3 of its current capacity and with smaller planes if DC metro residents desire to not deal with noise and pollution. With UAD and BWI airports relatively nearby there is no reason to have so many flights out of DCA.

Disagree completely. Having access to a nearby airport is great. Most people don't want to have to trek all of the way out to Dulles or BWI.

We have regular air traffic above us and it's no big deal.

How many times a year do YOU fly? Vast majority of ppl fly very rarely and it's NBD to have to spend extra 30 min to get to the airport, really, if you do this 2-3x a year total. I used to fly weekly and I would rather take extra time and more direct flights than deal with a airplanes flying overhead

Several times a year at the moment but I used to fly weekly pre-covid.

30 min can easily become much longer with traffic.

Most people - those who actually do fly - don’t want to trek out to BFE.

[Anonymous]

"I can totally relate, nothing is more annoying than having loud airplanes fly one after another with a few seconds break. Especially if you bought in a quiet leafy neighborhood FAR from the airport and miles away from the river. it was quiet before flight changes with occasional air traffic, nothing like what it is now with lines of airplanes in the sky like one entire runway starts sending every single plane in one direction in a beeline for hours on end. This was horrible, days of this. I would sit with windows closed in my office and hear it miles away from the airport and the river. It later got a bit better with these pathways utilized for 1-2 hours vs many hours a day. If I hear a few airplanes one after another (few seconds apart) and then nothing for 20 min I can deal. I would think if I can hear a plane every 10 min I'd probably not notice, nbd. How about spreading them out so that nobody has to bear constant noise for hours and pollution that comes from it."

Yes - thank you for relating - a beeline for hours on end it sometimes is. And yes there are gaps too. Maybe if so many others were able to 'just get used to it' I can also. I've also learned it's not how far you are from the airport, but how far you are from it's flight paths.

I wish I had known about this website earlier https://maps.dot.gov/BTS/NationalTransportationNoiseMap/. You can plug in any address to see if it falls within an airports noise area (or whatever it's called). Ours does.

Inside it's annoying but tolerable (tv, white noise machines etc can obviously always be used), but outside it's frequently ridiculous. I was very much hoping to have a peaceful place to sit outside, something I never had living in NYC, but thought I might get here.

PS - a plane just flew over and it's 12:19 am. Geez.

[Anonymous]

"Several times a year at the moment but I used to fly weekly pre-covid.

30 min can easily become much longer with traffic.

Most people - those who actually do fly - don’t want to trek out to BFE."


True - everyone has different agenda I guess. If you are a frequent flyer I can see how Regan would be very convenient.

I fly up up to maybe 10 times per year - and would trade in a heartbeat a longer ride to the airport for more peace and quiet on a daily basis. But to each his own.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP for posting the noise map. It confirms what I’ve suspected. To avoid Ashburn, Lenah and South Riding in Loudoun and the strip of land surrounding the Potomac River from Glen Echo to Fort Washington. Also confirms that in McLean, anything east of Old Dominion near Langley high would be bad.

[Anonymous]

It has gotten terrible on DC side -- luckily I am in a different part of NW but I am shocked people in the Palisades didn't sell and run for their lives during the crazy market in the last few years. There will come a time no one will want those houses. You can't see the pollution, but it sees you.

[Anonymous]

I hate noise. I can't stand hearing anything while trying to sleep. Silence is definitely a priority when real estate shopping. I don't want to hear car horns, neighbors talking, dogs barking.

Airplanes don't bother me. I lived in the Palisades for eight years. It was completely fine. Now I live in Glen Echo. Also a non-issue.

[Anonymous]

I can’t see how that could possibly be true without some hearing loss.

Let’s say the noise doesn’t “bother you” — the inconvenient truth is that it bothers your major organ systems and the pollution will get you one way or another. It’s even worse for any children living under the flight path.

This is no longer your quaint flight path from 25 years ago; this is a major highway in the sky dumping on you every 90 seconds.

[Anonymous]

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g28970-i40-k14245147-Airplane_noise_in_Georgetown-Washington_DC_District_of_Columbia.html

Good thread!

[Anonymous]

Went to the Fxhl/Palisades today. It’s a Sunday and yet it’s still a disaster. Honestly, at this stage, if you are stupid enough to buy there, it’s on you; if you’re a macho man who doesn’t give 2 hoots about your or your children’s health, it’s on you too.

It’s all been said. You’d have to be a complete yahoo to buy there now. But if you do you know the score. Some sort of respect is due for that kind of stubbornness in spite of your own hearing, peace and health, I guess

[Anonymous]

Holy shit, this is OP. We are now happily living in a home in glen echo. I have to say I almost find the occasional background noise comforting while we're at home.

[Anonymous]

How is that possible?! I mean good for you, I guess. But, aren’t you worried about the inevitable pollution? It’s not a matter of if it affects you but when

[Anonymous]

On the local listserve no one is calling it comforting and everyone’s filling out forms and complaining bitterly.

They complain about the non stop planes and how the last one shaking the house is well after midnight and the first before the sunrise.

It’s only on dcum that you’d be led to believe that these areas are full of neighbors who love it all and can’t hear a thing. Pollution schmolution too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is that possible?! I mean good for you, I guess. But, aren’t you worried about the inevitable pollution? It’s not a matter of if it affects you but when

By this reasoning, half of Bethesda has a reason to be worried. I am pretty sure that at the height the planes are flying there are little to no issues. Living close to 495 is a totally different ballgame, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the local listserve no one is calling it comforting and everyone’s filling out forms and complaining bitterly.

They complain about the non stop planes and how the last one shaking the house is well after midnight and the first before the sunrise.

It’s only on dcum that you’d be led to believe that these areas are full of neighbors who love it all and can’t hear a thing. Pollution schmolution too.

Can you please add a link to the local listserv? I live in the neighborhood and would like to join.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the local listserve no one is calling it comforting and everyone’s filling out forms and complaining bitterly.

They complain about the non stop planes and how the last one shaking the house is well after midnight and the first before the sunrise.

It’s only on dcum that you’d be led to believe that these areas are full of neighbors who love it all and can’t hear a thing. Pollution schmolution too.

In an ideal world, what would be the resolution? Close the airport? Fly over someone else's house? I truly don't understand the goal of complaining about it. It seems like your options are move or deal with it.