valleylist Monday 6.23.2008 v 25.0
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NOISE POLLUTION of any and every kind is a silicon valley commodity. Traffic noise airport noise cars jets airplanes industrial noise noise from kids at the grade school down the street and most of all noise from the cities themselves. There is need for noise reduction however the cities following in the footsteps of the Chuck Reed administration a dealing with an enormous gap in public policy development and administration – - Reed’s BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING got the news first hand.
Who’s responsible for noise pollution in silicon valley – - blame Al Gore again. Other people to blame who went on become very important – - Medal of Honor recipient Tom Lantos San Mateo Democrat Former Rep. Tom Lantos Receives Medal Of Honor .
Did I mention NOISE POLLUTION? It starts first thing in the A.M. and continues until you run into a local cafe or restaurant where it’s reduced to a low hum and the low whisper of conversation. The 14 different kinds of noise pollution that I have identified around silicon valley are really a problem. Not green or gas house emissionsns not industrial sewage not exhaust fumes it’s noise.
Somebody from the “anti” side of life thought that more noise was a good thing. Mess things up. Keep people disoriented. Keep the noise level as high as possible and drive people crazy. Cars that make a lot of noise are thspecialtyty for lots of people. Then they run into the “all electric car” and though they’d at least go hybrid. Hybrid – - mostly electric – - or battery powered – - is a lot less noise producing and a lot more fuel efficientnt. From the “all electric car” to the “solar powered rechargeable” hybrid car is a few years of high tech new product prototyping and testing. In the meantime everybody’s better off in their cars and quiet homes and work spaces than they are trying to survive the near death experience of enjoying a nice afternoon of window shopping or even out door dining or even walking to the corner store or having a good meal on an outdoor terrace – - the noise is an unbelievable and unacceptable problem.
Norman Y. Mineta also known as “Daniel” Minetta is among the political leaders in silicon valley who have made a real contribution to noise pollution. From first asian mayor of San Jose 1971-1974 to Secretary of Transportation and name sake for the first local airport in the silicon valley area. Norman “Daniel” Minetta likes the airport where it is. Maybe Chuck Reed will move the city of San Jose to a new undisclosed location somewhere near the coast to save everybody the terrible experience of dealing with noise pollution. Is new low-noise propulsionsion the technology solution to that very old and terribly painful noise pollution problem. Nope in fact it seems to be a good idea to actually move the entire airport to a new and yet again undisclosed location. The MIT people have the lead on low noise aircraft – - MIT Aero-Astro Magazine . Places to contact include Citizens Against Airport Pollution UPROAR Links The EnviroLink Network Airport and Aviation Noise San Jose Inside – Rants and Raves noise pollution Noise Monitoring Center - – san jose city council Nortech Noise Do airplanes have to be so loud? - – no they don’t Stanford School of Engineering – Ask The Expert - – make airplanes quieter Reducing Airplane Noise — Acoustical Engineers Find Simple Way to … New wind tunnel aimed at making airplanes quieter to those on ground
TRAFFIC NOISE can’t quite compete with those large 747′s and cattle car like air buses for noise pollution. Most people would agree that the noise pollution problem has gotten worse instead of improving during the last decade. Cars are not worst offenders. It’s those bone crunching large trucks and cross country carevans that make people just stop dead in their tracks and wonder what in the name of god was that. Just a 15 decible ear splitting nightmare blast from trucks on the run a destination to an end point somewhere usually in a large high density city.
Noise reaches the point of inducing pain at around 95 decibles though the authorities say noise pollution causes hypertension at the 65 decible level and can cause excruciating pain at the 120 decible level. That’s the unfortunate reality for those who live in the flight path of anything coming or going from an airport – - even a tiny two prop plane can induce excruciating pain. Those who don’t care for the high noise level of silicon valley cities can just go cancel their subscription to how to live a normal life and run to the nearest weirdo dome from the The Truman Show remake that’s still hangs around.
Most people just roll up the car window and turn up the loud music and try to drown out the incomprehensible reality – - the noise pollution is ruining everything. The largest contributors to traffic noise are busses all electric busses street cars trucks less than perfect cars trains like caltrain delivery transportation motorcycles leaf blowers lawn mowers large cars old cars police cars and fire engines.
CITY NOISE is that odd continuous loud problem of lie being lived ind people working on their way to a very specific projects and programs. Try getting up in the morning and without making any noise let alone completing a business day and not disturbing somebody with your noisey need to get things done. My point of view is that it’s loud yelling and arguments that are the most disturbing of all the city noises. Loud music and television noise contribute heavily to the near insanity level of noise that people experience in city living. Offices are cool and comforting compared to the messy noisey loud and disorganized homes that people really live in. My least favorite noise has got to be people arguing at the top of the vocal range. If every city has noise-related regulations and yet noises continue to aggravate people to the point of destruction and anniliation then who do you blame. Take a look at the top 10 noise-iest cities in the USA – -
TOP 10 NOISIEST CITIES
San Francisco CA
- – According to The Hearing Journal, San Francisco is the loudest city in the United States beating out New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The quietest city is Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Cairo EY
- – article in the New York Times about how noisy Cairo is
Athens GR
- – The noisiest city I have been to is Athens–at least what I remember. I’m basing this on a fuzzy memory of an experience
New York NY
- – According to Catch me if you can in an unoffical blog entry
Additional Candidates For Noisiest Cities
- – San Jose CA
- – Philadelphia PA person commented said
- – London UK
- – Toronto CA
- – Los Angeles CA
- – Rome IT
Silicon Valley cities remain terribly unaware of the need to manage the noise so that cities are livable. The mayor of the week this week has a real world as opposed to a “pretend” noise pollution control policy and they don’t live in San Jose which is why it’s an odd concept as well as a lucritive new program – -
who’s in charge of the noise pollution in Santa Clara CA Patricia Mahan’s Santa Clara Municipal Code .
NOISEY PEOPLE like people who are always arguing are oddly enough less troublesome than the construction noise or the very loud noises that people make driving to work. At least you can call and complain about noisey people and get involved in a good argument yourself with people who like to make noise. Do people have the right to make loud noise and generate noise pollution – - not really. Noise pollution on the part of a noisey neighbor can be reported and it’s probably a good idea to not confront really noisey people directly because they tend to freak out and apparently want to argue about whether or not they are arguing. Most people are unaware that loud noisy arguments actually escalate to the point of criminal complaint. These show up in the city budget as “% of noise complaints handled by the police” which is another version of let’s waste everybody’s time.
INDUSTRIAL NOISE is the ongoing grind of the loud and impossible to reason with manufactuing plant down the street if you are poor enough to in an industrial neighborhood as opposed to the industrial noise that people that people that encounter going and coming from the big factory not far from work. People who work in a high noise environment are advised to wear safety equipment and take safety precautions to avoid of all things “ear damage ” . It would appear that nothing be done about industrial noise. The noise level even a few miles away is so damaging and distracting it’s unbelievable. Contact OSHA – - Occupational Safety and Health Administration – OSHA - – to report industrial noise and complain and and you’ll end up facing odd little “do-it-yourself” suggestions like “why don’t you purchase double paned windows” and “why don’t you try headphones” to avoid industrial noise problems. OSHA doesn’t solve problems they get the noisey people to solve the problem. Who’s the worst inustrial noise polluter in silicon valley?
It’s doubless the cities themselves.
CONSTRUCTION NOISE is not quite the same as industrial noise however it remains a serious problem to most people. Especially in the big cities where people are building new office and condominium developments. Complain and it’s headphones and double paned windows until the construction is completed. I’d say nearly 14% of city noise is construction and only the people who work in construction really know where all the noise comes from. My least favorite of all the construction noise projects is of course the unending new shopping mall construction which is a good investment as well as a good opportunity to keep the noise away from the places where people live.
Construction noise links Occupational Safety and Health Construction Noise UPROAR Links The EnviroLink Network
CELL PHONE NOISE is such a pronounced problem that critics have instituted “cell phones off” programs in most bars restaurants and public places. Those who insist on using their cell phones anyway find find themselves sometimes told to “take it outside” . Many cell phones have a silent “vibrate” setting to enable people to answer phone calls without disturbing everybody in the room. New cell phone policy is to go get somebody to pick you up and tell you what to do. According to Chuck Reed that’s only way to be certain that you’re up on the latest. The newest problem is in fact cell phones cause accidents and as usual ther is a legislative response – - What you should know about new hands-free cell phone law .
Talking on your cell phone is a luxury given the “people sensitive” programs and policies that people run into. Then there are people who ignore all the rules and just talk on their cell phones all the time without distrurbing anybody because they modulate their voices to avoid that harsh crass annoying tone that made Archie Bunker and Married With Children such important cultural milestones. My most recent encounter with the truely great cell phone paraphenalia was a Rodney Dangerfield ”ring tone” announcing “George Michael” is performing in town this week but he’s not allowed to land.
NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR is a process of continuous improvement in silicon valley. Yet again there isn’t anything that can be done except to yell out the window that it’s too early to start sawing logs for example. Any quiet neighborhood or decent subdivision is a likely target and no sooner do people around town get a promotion or a big raise the all of a sudden it’s time for somebody nearby to start adding a new porch or putting up a new fence. If you’re feeling slighty paranoid you might suddenly find yourself upset all the time or sleeping all hours or the unable to leave the house for a day or two. Never fear just go and talk to the people who are doing the construction. Another good option is to talk with new people in the neighborhood about all the problems that the weirdo constrution group of people and what in the heck is a good person like myself going to do except call Kathy Bates star of Misery for torture and abduction instructions.
BIRDS AND WILDLIFE noise pollution you can do something about. Yet most people enjoy the few wildlife species brave enough to hop skip or jump across the lawn. However other than the plastic owl designed to scare birds away there are a variety of products that should send all kinds of wildlife off to scurry in other directions. The parks and rec is interested in complaints about flora and fauna noise pollution problems. They will instruct you to never harm those cute little creatures and if they really bother you then contact the fire department to have them safely removed and relocated to a much safe location.
AIRCONDITIONER NOISE need not be a problem because you should be able to set the noise level to a very low level. Believe it or not this is one of the reasons why people call the air conditioner repair people – - because there’s something wrong and the air conditioner seems to be making a lot of noise. Yahoo! shopping has the least expensive acceptable air conditioner is the GE AGQ05LJ 115 V Electronic Room Air Conditioner .
The most high tech air conditioner is probably availble almost anywhere – - I would try sears or the nearest hardware store who need to be in the air conditioner business for a very long time. The same simple logic applies to the air conditioner in your car which should not make any noise at all. The comfort of your car driving experience is improved a million times over by spending a few hundred dollars to have air conditioning and fan noise reduced to a minimum or eliminated. The crazy environmental impact zone is that few hundred yards between your car and the inside or your home. Experts estimate that a large percentage of ambient noise pollution comes from air conditioners that are a few too many generations out of state of the art.
MUSIC AND TELEVISION NOISE is almost fun and interesting if you are only in the other room. When it’s the neighbor down the street who listens to the new rap songs at 14 decibles then it’s a different story. People who like their music loud are larger part of the market these days. The “loud complainers” might feel like they are in the minority when they drive to the neighbors house and suggest politely that they turn down the loud music and try to keep it down because it’s a bother to people. In fact the way to escalate these kinds of complaints is to always stay very calm and if necessary only contact the police if the people playing the loud music are unresponsive. Almost the same with loud television noise except that people sometimes forget to turn off the television and leave it at a very loud volume disturbing everybody’s sleep. The normal approach is to somehow communicate that the television noise is too before starting an out of control argument in the neighbor’s doorway and upsetting everybody.
CITY REPAIR CREW NOISE is not just the city noise or highway repair crew it is the nearly ubiquitous type where people enounter repair crews on almost every street corner. Old cities revamping sewars and need to clean out water drains are among the most normal reasons to call a repair crew. I’d like to call a repair crew on the noisey neighbors down the street but that service is not yet available and you of course need to find a way to survive the unending noisey blast that repair crews are famous for. You can contact the city and spend the entire day on the phone and add one phone number after another to the long list of people to contact or spend the day leaving voice mail messages. Those who are disturbed enough to talk to the repair crews directly often are greeted with “I don’t know what the problem is” and provided with a phone number to call if needed. Probably the most obstinate form of noise pollution is that city repair crew noise and here’s a list of places to call and people to contact the mayor’s office city and county supervisors the fire department and anybody from the department of public works. Try UPROAR Links The EnviroLink Network San Jose Inside – Rants and Raves noise pollution Noise Monitoring Center - – san jose city council Nortech Noise
DEMOLITION WORK ranks right up there with city repair crews as the noisiest and ear irritating kinds of noise. It can take more than a year to demolish an old structure and in the meantime try calling a city repair crew on the demolition brigade and guess what – - it’s OSHA again or some regulatory body who needs to be contacted again and again before anything happens or at least try the in person visit.
That way the demolition brigade can adjust their hours to disturb fewer people and complete their demolition project with fewer disruptions.
PEOPLE NOISE is a human break from real noise pllution. Almost as interesting as “noisey people” mentioned earlier people noise is the combination of noises that are the result of people who want to have fun. Party music loud chatter and most all the laughing screaming giggling and loud voices that accompany people just keeping busy and doing things or finding ways to enjoy themselves and take advance of the pleasures of living.
Actually talking is a special thing for most us because cities are not designed lately to allow people to meet or even have a conversation. The thought that people used to like to meet their neighbors and have some kind of social life is odd distant memory for most of the citizens of the unusually noisey cities of the 21st century. A social life where people make noise is usually interesting unless it is extremely nasty and offensive. Nobody needs a way to totally elimiate people noise or noise pollution either. It’s a question of a livable and decent society in which people can live and make noise. Nobody is more interested in problems that get in the way of a livable city.
NING internet social groups about noise pollution
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- – Environmentalists Lifestyle Change for a Better Life Anti-Pollution Groups intoGreen Telecommuting Save Our Planet PollutionPolice GLOBAL WARMING! environment safety The Ethos Challenge
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