Anyone Experience Living in a Home on a Busy Road

[Anonymous]

Wife and I are considering purchasing a house on a fairly busy DC road. Anyone have experience? Any regrets? Any tips?

[Anonymous]

I live right on Western Avenue. Fenced backyard, so the busy road in front was not really an issue when kids were small. It is only busy during rush hour on weekdays when, pre-pandemic, everyone was out or on their way in/out. Regular traffic noise is not much of an issue. With good windows, only trucks, buses, sirens are noticeable. With sound insulating windows it would be better. The only time the street traffic bothers me is late at night-early morning when I'm in the front bedroom and early or late buses are running, or the occasional emergency vehicle with siren goes by. I sleep with white noise machine for that and manage fine. We spend most of time in the back of the house, where the street noise is barely noticeable. Sometimes I worry about car fumes, but we don't open the street-facing windows and have shrubs & tree buffers in front of and around the house. And other than weekday rush hour, the traffic is actually fairly light. It was the house we could afford at the time we bought in an otherwise great location. I have no regrets. The only thing I would change, if I had the budget, would be to get the expensive noise-cancelling windows for the front bedroom.

[Anonymous]

We had a house on a fairly busy road. It was in a different city (not DC) and the street wasn't DC-level busy, but it still had frequent traffic and buses every 10-15 minutes. It wasn't awful, but we did look for a quieter street the next time we bought. Little things like not hearing the buses or just being able to walk across the street without worrying about traffic were just so much better at the house on a quieter street.

I wouldn't want a house on most state-named streets in DC, personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live right on Western Avenue. Fenced backyard, so the busy road in front was not really an issue when kids were small. It is only busy during rush hour on weekdays when, pre-pandemic, everyone was out or on their way in/out. Regular traffic noise is not much of an issue. With good windows, only trucks, buses, sirens are noticeable. With sound insulating windows it would be better. The only time the street traffic bothers me is late at night-early morning when I'm in the front bedroom and early or late buses are running, or the occasional emergency vehicle with siren goes by. I sleep with white noise machine for that and manage fine. We spend most of time in the back of the house, where the street noise is barely noticeable. Sometimes I worry about car fumes, but we don't open the street-facing windows and have shrubs & tree buffers in front of and around the house. And other than weekday rush hour, the traffic is actually fairly light. It was the house we could afford at the time we bought in an otherwise great location. I have no regrets. The only thing I would change, if I had the budget, would be to get the expensive noise-cancelling windows for the front bedroom.

This would be a dealbreaker for me.

[Anonymous]

We rented a short term apartment on Wisconsin Ave. during a renovation. It was so loud with police sirens, ambulances, fire trucks. None of us could sleep at first, but we eventually got used to it. I felt like I was living back in NYC. We really appreciate our quiet street now.

[Anonymous]

I live on New Hampshire Avenue NE and actually it's no big deal. We have a yard and a garage. We replaced the windows on the front with noise cancelling windows. You can't hear the traffic from our back yard. Actually, the biggest issue is rush hour.

I used to live on the highway in Chevy Chase, MD and that was much worse even though there was a noise cancelling wall. It was terrible.

[Anonymous]

We live on Eastern Avenue in DC, and we barely hear the road in the backyard or inside the house. The front porch is loud, but we have a great backyard, and our has more than doubled in appraised value in 15 years.

[Anonymous]

I agree with 18:17 -- I would rather live on a busy road than a highway. The traffic slows down at night on the road but the highway always has that annoying traffic drone sound.

Busy streets were a topic recently: [/url]https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/934448.page[url]

I live on Connecticut Ave and love my house. Sure, I wish the street was quieter, but I wouldn't be able to afford the neighborhood otherwise. My adjacent neighbor on the side street paid $400k more for their house. Both houses are similar in style and construction, but theirs is smaller. My larger corner lot is also fenced.

[Anonymous]

I once did some drop in house-sitting for a few weeks at a place on Wisconsin. I would dread literally all day having to back out onto the road when I left. It stressed me out so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live on Eastern Avenue in DC, and we barely hear the road in the backyard or inside the house. The front porch is loud, but we have a great backyard, and our has more than doubled in appraised value in 15 years.

Hey neighbor!

[Anonymous]

There is a big difference between Wisconsin or CT Ave and Western/Military.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We rented a short term apartment on Wisconsin Ave. during a renovation. It was so loud with police sirens, ambulances, fire trucks. None of us could sleep at first, but we eventually got used to it. I felt like I was living back in NYC. We really appreciate our quiet street now.

I lived in a front-of-the-building second floor apartment on Wisconsin when I first moved here. Same as you, it was so loud but I got used to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a house on a fairly busy road. It was in a different city (not DC) and the street wasn't DC-level busy, but it still had frequent traffic and buses every 10-15 minutes. It wasn't awful, but we did look for a quieter street the next time we bought. Little things like not hearing the buses or just being able to walk across the street without worrying about traffic were just so much better at the house on a quieter street.

I wouldn't want a house on most state-named streets in DC, personally.

This. We would never do it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live on New Hampshire Avenue NE and actually it's no big deal. We have a yard and a garage. We replaced the windows on the front with noise cancelling windows. You can't hear the traffic from our back yard. Actually, the biggest issue is rush hour.

I used to live on the highway in Chevy Chase, MD and that was much worse even though there was a noise cancelling wall. It was terrible.

Which highway?

[Anonymous]

We're on K Street NE. It's actually gotten quieter over the last couple years as they have put in bike lanes and removed rush hour parking restrictions. But it's still a popular commuter route coming in on NY Ave and then connecting from WV Ave., so it's busy in morning and afternoon rush hours. The rest of the time it's fairly quiet, not side street quiet, but quiet enough that we still happily sit on our front porch. So all in all, not a big deal for us. Certainly a world of difference from, say, H Street. We also have deep setbacks from the street, which makes a huge difference.

Its hard to get the nuance of post-COVID traffic right now, but I would suggest hanging out on the street during rush hour as well as on the evening and over here weekend to get a sense of the differences in traffic and noise.