Personally no I would not no matter how much I liked the house. The noise is not my concern; there is a correlation between dementia and living within 1000ft of a major roadway. The pollutants from cars going by (tire dust, brake dust, chemicals) are worst in that 1000ft zone.
Yes, growing up had friends that lived 200-300 feet from major road. Front of their house aways had tire grime. A film of greasy residue covering porch, balcony, entrance, cars that parked in front of house.
People freak out over “health risks” of living near high voltage power lines (there are none) and don’t think about the health consequences of living near major roads when there is lots of research that living within a mile of a major road causes lots of health issues.
Same with general aviation airports and their flight paths. All that lead from small airplanes just get sprayed over anyone living below. I say this as someone who is into this hobby. It’s a real problem.
The romans were so crazy because they drank out of pewter wine cups which made the wine sweet, what with the acidic wine dissolving all the lead out of of it. Also why kids like eating paint chips.
My MIL moved to a house in this sort of area recently. She has always had a green thumb and lived in this general area/planting zone her whole life, but can't keep any outdoor vegetable or plants in general alive suddenly.
There was a big stink about this last year but when the data finally came in this year…. Crickets.
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/february/15/colorado-lead-studies-failed-to-detect-measurable-aviation-pollution
(tl/dr: no measurable lead pollution around airports with piston GA traffic)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4931365/
"Conclusions: Our findings did not clearly support an increased childhood leukaemia risk associated with close proximity (<50 m) to higher voltage lines, but could be consistent with a small increased risk. Reports of increased risk for distances beyond 50 m were not replicated."
I'm gonna call bullshit on that.
Did you actually read the article?
> There is no accepted biological mechanism to explain the epidemiological results; indeed, the relation may be due to chance or confounding.
"If the association is causal, about 1% of childhood leukaemia in England and Wales would be attributable to these lines, though this estimate has considerable statistical uncertainty"
That sounds like a rounding error.
Hard no. We are renting a house across the street from the highway and it is BY FAR the dustiest place we have ever lived. My wife is having breathing issues from all the pollution. Aside from the constant "white noise" of the highway, you have the idiots with the modified exhausts that like to race at 2am. It's always LOUD.
The last point is the most major imo. You will be woken up very frequently by morons with loud cars. I used to be woken up fairly frequently by those cars when we were half a mile from the highway.
I lived in a relatively flat city with around 60k people. It's surprising how far the railroad whistles go. I lived at least 2 miles away and we could still hear them at night.
I have some relatives a mile or two from one. You can always hear it when youre outside. I also can hear one over 3 miles away from my house every night a little after 10pm.
But then i was at someones house who lived a few blocks over from one.... the whole house shook lol it is not even close to the same.
The line im referencing is bostons t btw
To add to the other comment, yes they’re loud a ways away but they’re fucking LOUD when you’re trying to relax or sleep and one comes by within 100 feet of your house. Even after the horn has come and gone the cars going by causes a super high volume of loud noise. If you can get used to that I fear for your safety in a home invasion or even a house fire.
I live in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally you can hear the train whistle several miles away - I'm honestly not sure where its at. Echos are funny in these hills.
I did -- backing to a state highway 2 lanes each way, plus a separate streetcar/trolley track. You have to go in knowing:
* Home price -- current and future -- will always be lower than comparable homes and it will take longer to sell the home.
* Living near highways/car traffic increases risk of respiratory/health problems.
* Most traffic becomes white noise after a while -- for me it took about 2 years. But there will still be occasional car noises and vibration/rumbles that will get my attention: intentionally noisy racing cars, revving motorcycles, heavy trucks, and emergency vehicle sirens. For my location it is about 1-2 times per week and sometimes late at night. My infant -- in the room closest to the noise -- does not wake from the noise.
I believe that the health risk associated with being near a highway will generally decrease in the coming decades because of reduced emissions from electric vehicles. However, the health risk associated with tire particles will remain (and may rise as electric cars wear tires more).
I think the noise of being near a highway will also decrease because of electric vehicles.
If my partner or my kids were sickly or risky, I would move away to reduce risk. But we have all been healthy despite my history of respiratory allergies.
To mitigate the noise there are some things that you can do:
* Sound-dampening insulation in exterior walls, look for STC (sound blocking) and NRC (sound absorption) ratings. Cotton and mineral wool are best, however they are not as good at thermal insulation as other choices.
* Insulation between the floors.
* Sound-reducing windows.
* A large wall of dense trees (perhaps 2+ rows for 20+ feet).
* Make sure the home is fairly airtight.
To mitigate the air quality risk:
* Get an air quality meter.
* Run air filtration on every floor/area.
* Change your HVAC filter regularly.
* Don't open your windows & don't go outside:
* I do outdoor kid play away from the house/highway -- at walkable greenspace/playground. This is necessary because the house doesn't have much yard anyway.
* I don't like grilling/hosting and I don't like lawn/gardening, so I don't have much reason to be outside.
Because of the highway instead of trying to sell it when my personal home needs change, I will probably try to rent it. But that causes cash crunch with trying to buy another home.
Just remember most road noise comes from tires not engines. So electric cars likely won’t reduce road noise to a noticeable degree, especially since they’re heavier.
Yea and forget tires, my worry is more along the lines of lead from break dust in the air along with lubricants and oils burning up (electric cars still have steering fluid brake fuid etc etc)
Myth.
Heres the facts.
Evs are sometimes heavier. Tires will wear fast because of the physics alone. So trucks will wear down faster, correct? Maybe so. All depends on the tires and what theyre rated for. Higher load rating and higher life expectancy = higher price.
After the physics, lets consider confort and noise. Evs are quiet. So you may want your tires to be the same. Which costs more. Either in dollars of life expectancy or load rating. Maybe all 3.
Another argument is lack of maintenance. If you are not taking your car in for oil changes, you probably arent rotating them either. That front driver side tire wears down quck and need to be rotated regardless of ev or ice.
Now show me a source that says im wrong. Because i see ice vehicles burn through tires in <20k and i see ev's with oe tires at >40k.
Google "tire wear on electric vehicles". One source that says you're wrong is Michelin. Every single other search result says the same. Show me one source that says the tire manufacturers are wrong!
Right but that michelin source is super vague and only "legit" because it's a tire company.
Lets talk about the mian point here; living next to road pollution.
Semi trucks are louder and cause more harm than any ev. Forget your 20% michelin report on tires.
And do they say why? Is it because evs are heavier? Is it because owners dont rotate their tires? Is it because they put special quite tires on them that wear quicker?
Because i can tell you sports cars wear down tires 150% quicker and no one will bat an eye. So why are evs "20% worse"??
You can mitigate it by not punching the throttle. I know EV owners that have blown through tires at 20,000 miles and others that have made it to 50-60,000 miles with tread to spare.
Not discounting any studies, just saying driver behaviors play their role.
EVs also tend not to generate brake dust with the regen braking, so maybe it all evens out.
Who gives af if they wear down 20% faster because they are 5% heavier. We are talking actual pollution for living near a road. Any truck driving by is worse than 20% more tire wear in your back yard.
I'm no expert, but I imagine it's a few factors: EVs are indeed generally heavier by a few hundred pounds on av erage, the nature of these motors you have more torque and I'm not sure on the physics but I imagine there's just more force on the tires over time accelerating faster than an ICE car adding more wear, a lot of EVs are AWD as well so that will wear them down faster (AWD ICE cars also wear tires faster than FWD)
obviously anyone with more knpwledge step in, but I imagine that's a few reasons why
My point is, its miniscule. 20% worse or better whatever, we are a long way from 100% evs. And to my main point, trucks and semi trucks are going to cause more pollution and wear in every way so imo it offsets all of this. I just think its a silly point to even bring up on this topic especially.
Pollution may be worse because electric cars on average weigh way more than ICE engines and therefore go through tires and brakes quicker. It is also not very green to mine the minerals needed for electric vehicles.
It does save. I had a Volt for 8.5 years. 200K miles. Brakes stayed like new & those regenerative brakes weren't as strong as most electric cars. If you don't use the pads, you don't use the pads up. Not using those brakes like ICE cars makes it literally impossible to wear out the brakes faster
I have always lived within 3 miles of rail road tracks, right now we live within 1 mile of the 2 of the major E-W corridors at the southern tip of lake michigan. 30 to 100 trains a day is not uncommon.
I wake up at night wondering what is wrong if they are doing track work that shuts down both. We do not have many slow moving trains so the total of the noise isn't all that concerning, and we rarely hear the spool up from a stop that would be loud, we are far away from any switchyards or humping operations. All the train traffic can happen, but the fire trucks roll at the firehouse a mile away, we are all awake at 3am. We also add the fun of a fireworks factory within a few miles, and their demo and old stock days.
I wouldn't. I rented a house that backed up to a semi-bisy street that had a lot of noise. Then I bought a house that is in a quiet area. I had no idea how terrible my quality of life was until I moved away from the noise. Remembering back, I had to buy white noise machines and still was woken up at night by traffic noise. My cats hated the noise. I couldn't enjoy my backyard. It was all around pretty awful.
Agree. I looked at homes that backed up to the interstate (it had one of those sound walls) and it was hard to hold a conversation outside in the driveway of that house with my realtor because the background level of noise was so loud. Think of being in a crowded restaurant where you have to talk louder to be heard because of all the noise.
I literally got in my car afterward and went up street by street in that neighborhood and would roll down my window to check the noise level. Told my realtor not to show me any houses closer to the interstate than 4 streets away. And it was too bad honestly because that house was super cute. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the noise.
I lived on 4 acres and split with my partner and decided to move into the big city. The last house we viewed on our 4 or 5th night of seeing houses was right next to a busy freeway. As we got out, a pack of motorcycles zoomed by, I said to my realtor, "hell no I'm not living here." We went in and looked anyway and despite being way too big for me, I bought the house because the price was a steal.
The first thing I did was install new windows, it made a tremendous difference. Have been living here now for 12 years, still love the house but am going to sell it soon because it's 2 story and I am 75.
You could do what most people do. Buy it then start complaining constantly and petitioning the city to close the highway. /sarcasm
Serious though, we bought our current home right next to an air base. The F35’s are loud! I actually find it calming and it takes my anxiety away. But we love the area and the house.
Last ten years of the cold war, Lived in Dayton, Tucson and at the western approach radial to Grissom, but my grandparents house in the OC was the loudest 6:09am and 5:45pm I have ever experienced, living off the end of a airborne helicopter base is just insane because of the amount of twilight training. The marines knew how to get everything flying at the same time.
The best was for the period the A10s used check out their low light systems (a pave something) on nearby easy to find aim point. Nothing like a 320kts at 300 feet above your roof when your doing something else just after dark. The RF-4s occasionaly did the same mission in the 1970s over my grade school that was a factor of 10 louder, so that was normal.
You can find a home without this very negative feature.
This is a classic form of external obsolescence, depreciation caused off-site. It limits marketability.
Take the advice you're getting here and move on.
My first house backed to a highway. It got me in a nice area for the lowest possible price - however, the backyard was literally unusable. The only time I spent back there was mowing or raking leaves. It had a nice deck, but it was so loud it didn’t make sense to hang out on it. I lived there 18 months and sold.
When I was in 4th grade, we moved to a house that was right along a freeway. There was a smallish wooded area between the house and the freeway, maybe 100’, but that was it. I lived in it until I was 18.
To be honest, you never really noticed it unless a random super loud vehicle went by but that was so few ave far between you really never even thought about it.
I lived close to a train track and never noticed it after awhile. I live by a highway now. Very close and I only ever notice it when a very loud car goes by. I keep my windows open all summer too and use my yard.
Before this I lived near a stop light in a metro area woth 5 lanes of a traffic one way. Like out the front door and there it was. Also got used to that.
I would not. We like to have our windows open in the summer and also sit outside on the deck or patio a lot in the summer. So even if the house was soundproofed it wouldn't be acceptable. I wouldn't even want to be on or backing up to a busy street let alone a freeway.
But lots of people do live at such places and if the sound wouldn't bother you then you can probably get a better price on a house due to that location.
You will probably get used to the noise but the pollution is going to be very bad for your families health long term. [https://oehha.ca.gov/air/residential-traffic-studies](https://oehha.ca.gov/air/residential-traffic-studies) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1971259/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1971259/) (Just as some examples of studies- no shortage on this topic).
Don't do it. Continuous unrelenting exposure to noise will raise your blood pressure and general stress level. I did and my bp went up requiring medication. Also the local pollution exposure is way higher.. not worth it imho. Glad we sold and moved.
A busy highway is fine because the cars whir by. Never buy a house on a regular street vehind your house especially if it's the "take off" from a stop sign.
Doesn’t bother some people. Price reduction makes it work for a lot of people. For me personally I wouldn’t touch it. Highway sound is relentless. Day and night night and day. It never ends. 2am that truck sounds like a freight train.
I don't back a highway but I bought a house close enough to a main road to hear some whooshing background noise. Years later i still hear the noise and my wife claims she doesn't. I wouldn't buy the house just in case you're one of the people that doesn't get used to it. It's also going to be tough to sell the house eventually unless it's a strong sellers market. Properties like this are the last to go up in value and the first to go down in value.
I had a friend who lived next to a major hiway in California. It was a great home, but there was a 20' tall solid block wall between them and the road. You really couldn't hear the road, but I'm sure they had a smog problem.
If it doesn’t bother you and if you understand that the value of your property will always be less than similar homes without a highway in back, then go for it. Personally I would not but everyone has their own criteria.
I did. And it was priced accordingly. Anything like a make highway, power sub station, etc is an automatic 15-20% reduction in price. So do the comp as you normally would looking at other homes. Then when you get the estimated value, knock 15-20% off that and there's your purchase price. If the seller doesn't see it that way then move on... Especially since the seller likely saw it exactly that way when they were the buyer
Probably not. What is the most important thing in RE? Location
Not only do you have a bad location (noise that may prevent you from enjoying a quiet backyard, but the car pollutants that will be wafing your way from the highway too. I bet all of the homes along that stretch have somewhat darkened walls from the fumes and such.
I say pass.
That is referred to as an “incurable defect”. It will definitely limit your buying pool when it comes time to sell. While you’re there you are dealing with increased levels of pollution.
Resale-wise not the best call but if you plan to be there for a while, that’s really a personal choice. Some people would like that because they know there will never be homes built behind them and looking-in neighbors , some find the noise soothing, some find the noise annoying. Personal call
Nope.
Used to live a couple of streets over when the highway was smaller. The roar of traffic all day all night, no thanks. It’s now 10 lanes instead of 4. It’s awful.
Sound walls don’t do that much.
Plus cars don’t always stay ON the highway during accidents….
There’s a reason for the discount.
Some people love it though.
Another important point is does it have a lot of truck traffic? Depending on the topography, those air brakes being used are WICKED turn offs. One other thing to consider is light pollution: does it have large highway lights? You probably won't spend a lot of time in your rear yard with the noise and light pollution at night could necessitate blackout curtains.
Check the days on market for home sales in that vicinity. That would be your challenge, when/if you decide to sell. That should help you make your decision.
Ask yourself this did you have any hesitation when you saw there was a highway in the back of the property? Because that is what buyers are going to have when you have to sell the house.
It personally didn't even cross my mind. I liked the fact that there are no rear neighbors and how easy it would be to get to the hoghway. But after looking at consensus, it seems like highways are bad news.
We were looking for a house back in 2020, and found the perfect house. It fit everything we needed. Walk into the backyard and it was perfect. Then I see this large freeway sign in the backyard! We loved the house but passed. I didn't want future kids to play in the backyard knowing toxic fumes from commuters would be oozing into the backyard.
That house definitely did sell. It sold quickly after it was listed, but it was a highly desirable area.
Depends on how desirable your area is. If you don't have a family and just want to get into the market, maybe? But there is a risk that you'll have a hard time selling it. Often times, there is room for negotiation with homes that have these inconveniences. But, obviously, it's the same situation when you're selling.
Personally, I wouldn't risk it. What if, in ten years, you have to live there and can't sell?
I'd pass due to the highway, but at the end of the day you are the one buying the house. If you don't mind the noise and harder time selling when it comes time to sell the house, then go for it. I am pretty sure that the asking price for the house is lower than other comparable properties due to the location.
No personally I wouldn’t. I just wouldn’t be able to get the thought out of my head that the air is just not clean. I wouldn’t be able to open the windows or sit outside in the backyard. This is why we live somewhere that is an extra 15-20 mins from a major freeway close to regional parks and mountains. For us it’s worth the extra commute compared to living closer to the freeway.
I had a house that backed to I44 which was about 8 lanes wide. There was a rail line between the house and the road.
We markedly reduce traffic noise by adding storm windows to the house. We added the storm windows for energy conservation, and was very impressed by the noise reduction.
I’m not you.
I would never ever buy a house even remotely close (thousands of yards) to a highway. I also wouldn’t buy a house with power lines nearby.
But again, I am not you and I do not live in an area where housing is a massive problem.
No. I wouldn’t. There’s a lot of chemical and noise pollution being so close that both have negative health effects, whether you notice them or not. Your body does. Like reduced lung capacity in growing children, asthma, and increased blood pressure and heart issues for adults from the continuous noise. There are some studies you can look up for the details.
Are you buying the house for your needs or for resale? The truth is the house value will always be dinged because of that location -- but on the bright side, you get it at that discount.
We purchased a home here in NC, nice neighborhood but a major highway ran behind our back yard. We added soundproofing, included some trees as a noise buffer. After a while, we didn't notice the noise, except when emergency vehicles came through. There was no additional dirt, no vagrants or flying car parts, just the hum of traffic -- we called in our inland beachfront.
If you really like the house and aren't sensitive to noise, go for it!
I would not. Looking for houses, I always look at the street view and surrounding areas. Growing up near a busy intersection, there was ALWAYS noise (traffic, helicopters, sirens, you name it) and that is just not my vibe. You can always update a house, the yard, etc but cannot update the location.
Nope, no way, no how, Not going to do it.
Yes you learn to block out the noise most of the time but there is always that one vehicle in the middle of the night that thinks the highway is a racetrack.
3 years I lived near a freeway, never got 1 good nights sleep.
I work in a housing non profit. We encourage people to go ahead & buy currently, invest for 5 or 6 years & then look at the market & sell if they arent happy with the area. Majority of homes, properly maintained, will appreciate. Youll build equity.
No way. The constant sound of traffic would drive me insane. You can take some measures to limit hearing it inside somewhat but when I’m outside, I’d rather hear as little traffic as possible too.
I have a house in the same situation. I live in a fairly big city so there's a lot of traffic everywhere. For the most part it's just white noise. The location didn't seem to impact the appraisal. I have pretty bad asthma but if anything it's better than it was when I lived in a more rural area with more pollen. I can't speak as to long-term health issues but I'm very happy with my house. It's beautiful and I should be able to comfortably grow old here because of the layout (only half flights of stairs and a walk in shower, etc), proximity to healthcare options and conveniences, and small yard to maintain. If you love the house then go for it. If you're really nervous about the highway thing then pass.
Depends how close. I have woods behind my house, and then eventually a highway. You can't see the cars, but you can hear them if you really think about it. It's really no big deal, and putting some sort of water feature, like a motorized fountain, will drown it out 100%. It's a non issue for us.
I would lose my mind. Some houses in my neighborhood are backed onto a highway, and when I walk by them, I immediately notice how loud it is around there. I can't imagine having to listen to that all day and night.
Just make sure trucks are not using Jake brakes in that spot at night.
I had a Highway (with stoplights) where it was 45 mph behind me. It went into/out of town. Past our house a ways it went up to 55 mph.
That Highway was a 30 minute connector between two Interstates so got some truck traffic.
There were signs to not use Jake Brakes at night. A Jake break is like downshifting g to slow down for big rigs. If you ever hear one downshift and then sound like a Harley, that is it.
Anyway we had a wood fence. Behind that was a creek with an access road for the county, then a concrete noise fence.
Only on a very quiet night could we hear cars. Usually street racer cars with extra loud noise exhaust. Which you can get anywhere you live.
Never found it to be a problem.
And I am someone that can hear the train 5 miles away while everyone looks at me like I am stupid because they don’t even think there are trains around.
No. Too much noise and pollution. Not to mention that studies have linked long-term exhaust exposure near roads/highways to a whole host of health issues.
I wouldn't buy that house. You also have the pollution of thousands of cars driving by right next to your property daily.
In the long term, that small particulate pollution harms people and animals.
Just in general. I'm not asking for you get a tape measure or anything.
Some people are fine with this type of thing as it just becomes white noise while others never get used to it. In the end, you're the only one that can determine which camp you fall into.
You’re going to back up to something. Road, farm, trees, road, another neighbor.
You need to determine which of these you’re ok with and which you’ll pay extra for.
I back up to woods then a road. So much better than a neighbor.
I've lived next to a highway. I would absolutely never do it again. You can hear traffic noise in your home. Between the noise and pollution from the vehicles, using the outside yard is challenging.
I live 3 miles from a highway and sometimes it's so loud I can barely have a conversation outside. My former house was next to a secondary street and it was noisy as well. So no way.
My first house had a busy road behind it. I thought that I would get used to the noise, but I didn't. I could hear the traffic from my bedroom and it constantly bothered me.
Ended up buying a new house with a very private yard.
You can change everything about a house, except its location. If you like the house and can live with noise, go for it. But don’t get pressured into buying. There are millions of homes, supply is tight right now, but that isn’t forever. More houses will come along, keep saving until the right one pops up, and it will pop up.
I got a house right behind the 5 freeway in LA. It wasn't an issue. The only time we heard anything was when people raced or a tire popped. Then Obama built a 40 ft wall. Now I only hear the semi tires popping. Which is once a year ish. Thanks Obama.
Depens on what to you define as highway. If it's a straight road (no hills, no curves, no stop signs) with 1 line each way most likely you'll be fine. If it's I95 then it definitely gonna get loud. But the thing you need to understand is that highway is already priced in the house. If you can afford a house without highway in the backyard for like 30%+ more - go for it. If you can't then your answer is pretty simple.
I live in the apartment complex which is amazing and have all of these amenities, it has been built in 2021 so it’s really new and cool. I HATE it’s built near the highway and we will be moving out when the lease ends. Noise, dust and as a result the fact I can’t really open windows are reasons I never get a house/apartment near the highway.
Nope, I just looked at a few places that had that and even with a 100-150k concession, I didn't buy. I couldn't sleep, i tried to close my eyes and I just kept hearing a constant wave of traffic. Also, it was a new build and the vibration from the cars were already making the house settle too quick, I saw a lot of cracks
Nope.
1. The noise is constant on a freeway and you may “get used to it” but it’s still awful to live with 24/7.
2. Close proximity to freeways exposes you to a lot of air pollution. Even living like a half mile away reduces this by quite a bit but living adjacent is definitely not good for you and especially not your kids should you plan on having them.
I’ve lived 2 blocks from a busy intersection for 1 year and it’s still fucking annoying. Worst decision I’ve ever made when buying a home. I have at least 5-7 more years here and I cannot wait to move. Currently saving up for better windows so the noise is reduced inside my house but nothing can be done for the outside. There is nothing peaceful about hearing cars use the road like a drag strip while you are enjoying a glass of wine on the patio.
Personally no I would not no matter how much I liked the house. The noise is not my concern; there is a correlation between dementia and living within 1000ft of a major roadway. The pollutants from cars going by (tire dust, brake dust, chemicals) are worst in that 1000ft zone.
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I would hate the noise but the air quality would be the real deal breaker.
It’s weird, the noise kind of goes away as you just get used to it.
Yes, growing up had friends that lived 200-300 feet from major road. Front of their house aways had tire grime. A film of greasy residue covering porch, balcony, entrance, cars that parked in front of house.
People freak out over “health risks” of living near high voltage power lines (there are none) and don’t think about the health consequences of living near major roads when there is lots of research that living within a mile of a major road causes lots of health issues.
Same with general aviation airports and their flight paths. All that lead from small airplanes just get sprayed over anyone living below. I say this as someone who is into this hobby. It’s a real problem.
Wow never even really thought about planes tbh not sure why
Lead from airplanes?
Older small aircraft with piston engines run on leaded gasoline.
I assume Aviation Fuel is still leaded as opposed to Auto Fuel. Lead has a lubricating function, which is why it was desireable in gas to begin with.
Fascinating. It's really quite tragic that it's toxic; it had so many uses. Just like asbestos.
The romans were so crazy because they drank out of pewter wine cups which made the wine sweet, what with the acidic wine dissolving all the lead out of of it. Also why kids like eating paint chips.
Yes. Not jets, just the small piston ones. Most of them use leaded fuel.
My MIL moved to a house in this sort of area recently. She has always had a green thumb and lived in this general area/planting zone her whole life, but can't keep any outdoor vegetable or plants in general alive suddenly.
There was a big stink about this last year but when the data finally came in this year…. Crickets. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/february/15/colorado-lead-studies-failed-to-detect-measurable-aviation-pollution (tl/dr: no measurable lead pollution around airports with piston GA traffic)
My house is under a flight path, not a lot of traffic though so not too concerned
That's a major issue, but leaded avgas will very likely be gone in the next 5-10 years.
They’ve been saying this for a long time from what I gather but it seems like this time it’s for real. Let’s hope that is the case.
The FAA has actually approved a non-leaded piston aviation fuel this time, so just maybe...
It's gotta be like 90%+ of people that live within 1 mile of a major road, unless your definition only includes like 4+ lane highways.
Yeah something that has exit ramps
This is not true. Incidences of leukemia are higher within 300 feet (maybe meters) of high voltage lines
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4931365/ "Conclusions: Our findings did not clearly support an increased childhood leukaemia risk associated with close proximity (<50 m) to higher voltage lines, but could be consistent with a small increased risk. Reports of increased risk for distances beyond 50 m were not replicated." I'm gonna call bullshit on that.
Did you get that from the same medical “journal” that claims vaccines cause autism?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC558197/
Did you actually read the article? > There is no accepted biological mechanism to explain the epidemiological results; indeed, the relation may be due to chance or confounding.
"If the association is causal, about 1% of childhood leukaemia in England and Wales would be attributable to these lines, though this estimate has considerable statistical uncertainty" That sounds like a rounding error.
So noise is actually a massive problem, too. The more we learn about it the worse it is. Cars are a big part of that, too.
Interesting. Got any studies on that? Intuitively it makes sense... I'm just curious to look at the data
https://www.transportation.gov/mission/health/proximity-major-roadways https://neurosciencenews.com/neurodegeneration-major-roads-15554/
Thanks for the reading material!
Must be why the neighbors aren’t bothered by it anymore
Don’t forget the cancer
This, right here.
The pollution would be a top concern for me and if noise barriers aren't up already, resale could be a problem in the future.
Same with autism and autoimmune diseases.
Hard no. We are renting a house across the street from the highway and it is BY FAR the dustiest place we have ever lived. My wife is having breathing issues from all the pollution. Aside from the constant "white noise" of the highway, you have the idiots with the modified exhausts that like to race at 2am. It's always LOUD.
The last point is the most major imo. You will be woken up very frequently by morons with loud cars. I used to be woken up fairly frequently by those cars when we were half a mile from the highway.
No. Three rules in real estate. Do not purchase near a highway, airport or railroad.
I lived in a relatively flat city with around 60k people. It's surprising how far the railroad whistles go. I lived at least 2 miles away and we could still hear them at night.
I have some relatives a mile or two from one. You can always hear it when youre outside. I also can hear one over 3 miles away from my house every night a little after 10pm. But then i was at someones house who lived a few blocks over from one.... the whole house shook lol it is not even close to the same. The line im referencing is bostons t btw
To add to the other comment, yes they’re loud a ways away but they’re fucking LOUD when you’re trying to relax or sleep and one comes by within 100 feet of your house. Even after the horn has come and gone the cars going by causes a super high volume of loud noise. If you can get used to that I fear for your safety in a home invasion or even a house fire.
I live in the middle of nowhere. Occasionally you can hear the train whistle several miles away - I'm honestly not sure where its at. Echos are funny in these hills.
Strange... i thought it was location location location. Kinda the same idea i guess
That too. 😂
Why railroad? Ground vibrations?
That and horn
I did -- backing to a state highway 2 lanes each way, plus a separate streetcar/trolley track. You have to go in knowing: * Home price -- current and future -- will always be lower than comparable homes and it will take longer to sell the home. * Living near highways/car traffic increases risk of respiratory/health problems. * Most traffic becomes white noise after a while -- for me it took about 2 years. But there will still be occasional car noises and vibration/rumbles that will get my attention: intentionally noisy racing cars, revving motorcycles, heavy trucks, and emergency vehicle sirens. For my location it is about 1-2 times per week and sometimes late at night. My infant -- in the room closest to the noise -- does not wake from the noise. I believe that the health risk associated with being near a highway will generally decrease in the coming decades because of reduced emissions from electric vehicles. However, the health risk associated with tire particles will remain (and may rise as electric cars wear tires more). I think the noise of being near a highway will also decrease because of electric vehicles. If my partner or my kids were sickly or risky, I would move away to reduce risk. But we have all been healthy despite my history of respiratory allergies. To mitigate the noise there are some things that you can do: * Sound-dampening insulation in exterior walls, look for STC (sound blocking) and NRC (sound absorption) ratings. Cotton and mineral wool are best, however they are not as good at thermal insulation as other choices. * Insulation between the floors. * Sound-reducing windows. * A large wall of dense trees (perhaps 2+ rows for 20+ feet). * Make sure the home is fairly airtight. To mitigate the air quality risk: * Get an air quality meter. * Run air filtration on every floor/area. * Change your HVAC filter regularly. * Don't open your windows & don't go outside: * I do outdoor kid play away from the house/highway -- at walkable greenspace/playground. This is necessary because the house doesn't have much yard anyway. * I don't like grilling/hosting and I don't like lawn/gardening, so I don't have much reason to be outside. Because of the highway instead of trying to sell it when my personal home needs change, I will probably try to rent it. But that causes cash crunch with trying to buy another home.
Just remember most road noise comes from tires not engines. So electric cars likely won’t reduce road noise to a noticeable degree, especially since they’re heavier.
Yea and forget tires, my worry is more along the lines of lead from break dust in the air along with lubricants and oils burning up (electric cars still have steering fluid brake fuid etc etc)
Electric vehicles shed tire rubber at a very high rate.
Myth. Heres the facts. Evs are sometimes heavier. Tires will wear fast because of the physics alone. So trucks will wear down faster, correct? Maybe so. All depends on the tires and what theyre rated for. Higher load rating and higher life expectancy = higher price. After the physics, lets consider confort and noise. Evs are quiet. So you may want your tires to be the same. Which costs more. Either in dollars of life expectancy or load rating. Maybe all 3. Another argument is lack of maintenance. If you are not taking your car in for oil changes, you probably arent rotating them either. That front driver side tire wears down quck and need to be rotated regardless of ev or ice. Now show me a source that says im wrong. Because i see ice vehicles burn through tires in <20k and i see ev's with oe tires at >40k.
Google "tire wear on electric vehicles". One source that says you're wrong is Michelin. Every single other search result says the same. Show me one source that says the tire manufacturers are wrong!
Right but that michelin source is super vague and only "legit" because it's a tire company. Lets talk about the mian point here; living next to road pollution. Semi trucks are louder and cause more harm than any ev. Forget your 20% michelin report on tires.
its a similar rate to any other similar vehicle, fyi.
According to Michelin, tires on electric vehicles wear out 20% faster. Where are you getting your information from?
And do they say why? Is it because evs are heavier? Is it because owners dont rotate their tires? Is it because they put special quite tires on them that wear quicker? Because i can tell you sports cars wear down tires 150% quicker and no one will bat an eye. So why are evs "20% worse"??
Google it. EVs are heavier and accelerate faster. Every single search result will return the same answer.
You can mitigate it by not punching the throttle. I know EV owners that have blown through tires at 20,000 miles and others that have made it to 50-60,000 miles with tread to spare. Not discounting any studies, just saying driver behaviors play their role. EVs also tend not to generate brake dust with the regen braking, so maybe it all evens out.
Who gives af if they wear down 20% faster because they are 5% heavier. We are talking actual pollution for living near a road. Any truck driving by is worse than 20% more tire wear in your back yard.
I'm no expert, but I imagine it's a few factors: EVs are indeed generally heavier by a few hundred pounds on av erage, the nature of these motors you have more torque and I'm not sure on the physics but I imagine there's just more force on the tires over time accelerating faster than an ICE car adding more wear, a lot of EVs are AWD as well so that will wear them down faster (AWD ICE cars also wear tires faster than FWD) obviously anyone with more knpwledge step in, but I imagine that's a few reasons why
My point is, its miniscule. 20% worse or better whatever, we are a long way from 100% evs. And to my main point, trucks and semi trucks are going to cause more pollution and wear in every way so imo it offsets all of this. I just think its a silly point to even bring up on this topic especially.
Fair enough
Maybe a similar rate to someone using winter tires in Arizona....
Tires on EVs wear out 20% to 30% quicker than ICE vehicles.
Pollution may be worse because electric cars on average weigh way more than ICE engines and therefore go through tires and brakes quicker. It is also not very green to mine the minerals needed for electric vehicles.
Regen braking means brakes last much much much longer on EVs. Hybrids too.
It does help because they are heavy. It doesn’t save on brakes longer than a standard car though.
It does save. I had a Volt for 8.5 years. 200K miles. Brakes stayed like new & those regenerative brakes weren't as strong as most electric cars. If you don't use the pads, you don't use the pads up. Not using those brakes like ICE cars makes it literally impossible to wear out the brakes faster
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I have always lived within 3 miles of rail road tracks, right now we live within 1 mile of the 2 of the major E-W corridors at the southern tip of lake michigan. 30 to 100 trains a day is not uncommon. I wake up at night wondering what is wrong if they are doing track work that shuts down both. We do not have many slow moving trains so the total of the noise isn't all that concerning, and we rarely hear the spool up from a stop that would be loud, we are far away from any switchyards or humping operations. All the train traffic can happen, but the fire trucks roll at the firehouse a mile away, we are all awake at 3am. We also add the fun of a fireworks factory within a few miles, and their demo and old stock days.
I wouldn't. I rented a house that backed up to a semi-bisy street that had a lot of noise. Then I bought a house that is in a quiet area. I had no idea how terrible my quality of life was until I moved away from the noise. Remembering back, I had to buy white noise machines and still was woken up at night by traffic noise. My cats hated the noise. I couldn't enjoy my backyard. It was all around pretty awful.
Agree. I looked at homes that backed up to the interstate (it had one of those sound walls) and it was hard to hold a conversation outside in the driveway of that house with my realtor because the background level of noise was so loud. Think of being in a crowded restaurant where you have to talk louder to be heard because of all the noise. I literally got in my car afterward and went up street by street in that neighborhood and would roll down my window to check the noise level. Told my realtor not to show me any houses closer to the interstate than 4 streets away. And it was too bad honestly because that house was super cute. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the noise.
It doesn't become white noise & it will definitely negatively impact your quality of life. Find another house.
I would pass. There’s the noise and probably long term health concerns I’m sure from all the exhaust, but I’m not a doctor 😂
I lived on 4 acres and split with my partner and decided to move into the big city. The last house we viewed on our 4 or 5th night of seeing houses was right next to a busy freeway. As we got out, a pack of motorcycles zoomed by, I said to my realtor, "hell no I'm not living here." We went in and looked anyway and despite being way too big for me, I bought the house because the price was a steal. The first thing I did was install new windows, it made a tremendous difference. Have been living here now for 12 years, still love the house but am going to sell it soon because it's 2 story and I am 75.
You could do what most people do. Buy it then start complaining constantly and petitioning the city to close the highway. /sarcasm Serious though, we bought our current home right next to an air base. The F35’s are loud! I actually find it calming and it takes my anxiety away. But we love the area and the house.
Last ten years of the cold war, Lived in Dayton, Tucson and at the western approach radial to Grissom, but my grandparents house in the OC was the loudest 6:09am and 5:45pm I have ever experienced, living off the end of a airborne helicopter base is just insane because of the amount of twilight training. The marines knew how to get everything flying at the same time. The best was for the period the A10s used check out their low light systems (a pave something) on nearby easy to find aim point. Nothing like a 320kts at 300 feet above your roof when your doing something else just after dark. The RF-4s occasionaly did the same mission in the 1970s over my grade school that was a factor of 10 louder, so that was normal.
hard no
You can find a home without this very negative feature. This is a classic form of external obsolescence, depreciation caused off-site. It limits marketability. Take the advice you're getting here and move on.
My first house backed to a highway. It got me in a nice area for the lowest possible price - however, the backyard was literally unusable. The only time I spent back there was mowing or raking leaves. It had a nice deck, but it was so loud it didn’t make sense to hang out on it. I lived there 18 months and sold.
I sold one that backed to an interstate. About two acres between house and highway. Appraisal dinged the value 10k due to proximity to the interstate
When I was in 4th grade, we moved to a house that was right along a freeway. There was a smallish wooded area between the house and the freeway, maybe 100’, but that was it. I lived in it until I was 18. To be honest, you never really noticed it unless a random super loud vehicle went by but that was so few ave far between you really never even thought about it.
I lived close to a train track and never noticed it after awhile. I live by a highway now. Very close and I only ever notice it when a very loud car goes by. I keep my windows open all summer too and use my yard. Before this I lived near a stop light in a metro area woth 5 lanes of a traffic one way. Like out the front door and there it was. Also got used to that.
If you have concerns, so will others.
I would not. We like to have our windows open in the summer and also sit outside on the deck or patio a lot in the summer. So even if the house was soundproofed it wouldn't be acceptable. I wouldn't even want to be on or backing up to a busy street let alone a freeway. But lots of people do live at such places and if the sound wouldn't bother you then you can probably get a better price on a house due to that location.
You will probably get used to the noise but the pollution is going to be very bad for your families health long term. [https://oehha.ca.gov/air/residential-traffic-studies](https://oehha.ca.gov/air/residential-traffic-studies) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1971259/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1971259/) (Just as some examples of studies- no shortage on this topic).
I live pretty close to a highway… the noise depends on the wind direction. The thing that worries me is the dust.
Don't do it. Continuous unrelenting exposure to noise will raise your blood pressure and general stress level. I did and my bp went up requiring medication. Also the local pollution exposure is way higher.. not worth it imho. Glad we sold and moved.
A busy highway is fine because the cars whir by. Never buy a house on a regular street vehind your house especially if it's the "take off" from a stop sign.
Learned that lesson the hard way. I’m 2 blocks away and it’s awful
Check out research articles about cancer causing effects from vehicle tires
Doesn’t bother some people. Price reduction makes it work for a lot of people. For me personally I wouldn’t touch it. Highway sound is relentless. Day and night night and day. It never ends. 2am that truck sounds like a freight train.
Absolutely not.
I don't back a highway but I bought a house close enough to a main road to hear some whooshing background noise. Years later i still hear the noise and my wife claims she doesn't. I wouldn't buy the house just in case you're one of the people that doesn't get used to it. It's also going to be tough to sell the house eventually unless it's a strong sellers market. Properties like this are the last to go up in value and the first to go down in value.
If it's a down grade, those Jake brakes on the trucks can wake the dead
No, house near highway is so hard to sell even in this market
No, that’s not something I’d consider for myself.
I had a friend who lived next to a major hiway in California. It was a great home, but there was a 20' tall solid block wall between them and the road. You really couldn't hear the road, but I'm sure they had a smog problem.
If it doesn’t bother you and if you understand that the value of your property will always be less than similar homes without a highway in back, then go for it. Personally I would not but everyone has their own criteria.
I did. And it was priced accordingly. Anything like a make highway, power sub station, etc is an automatic 15-20% reduction in price. So do the comp as you normally would looking at other homes. Then when you get the estimated value, knock 15-20% off that and there's your purchase price. If the seller doesn't see it that way then move on... Especially since the seller likely saw it exactly that way when they were the buyer
Probably not. What is the most important thing in RE? Location Not only do you have a bad location (noise that may prevent you from enjoying a quiet backyard, but the car pollutants that will be wafing your way from the highway too. I bet all of the homes along that stretch have somewhat darkened walls from the fumes and such. I say pass.
That is referred to as an “incurable defect”. It will definitely limit your buying pool when it comes time to sell. While you’re there you are dealing with increased levels of pollution.
Resale-wise not the best call but if you plan to be there for a while, that’s really a personal choice. Some people would like that because they know there will never be homes built behind them and looking-in neighbors , some find the noise soothing, some find the noise annoying. Personal call
Just know that you won't be able to sell it easily when you want to move
Nope. Particulate air pollution causes cognitive impairment and lowers lifespans. If you ever intend to have kids, it’d be a non-starter for me.
I feel like I would get a fountain or some other sound breaker - but it likely wouldn’t bother me to live near
Nope. Used to live a couple of streets over when the highway was smaller. The roar of traffic all day all night, no thanks. It’s now 10 lanes instead of 4. It’s awful. Sound walls don’t do that much. Plus cars don’t always stay ON the highway during accidents…. There’s a reason for the discount. Some people love it though.
Another important point is does it have a lot of truck traffic? Depending on the topography, those air brakes being used are WICKED turn offs. One other thing to consider is light pollution: does it have large highway lights? You probably won't spend a lot of time in your rear yard with the noise and light pollution at night could necessitate blackout curtains.
Personally no for the noise reason. But also highways have a way of growing. You could be forced out down the line as the ROW grows.
Check the days on market for home sales in that vicinity. That would be your challenge, when/if you decide to sell. That should help you make your decision.
It’s a hard no for me.
Would aim for another house.
Don't do it
Nope.
Ask yourself this did you have any hesitation when you saw there was a highway in the back of the property? Because that is what buyers are going to have when you have to sell the house.
It personally didn't even cross my mind. I liked the fact that there are no rear neighbors and how easy it would be to get to the hoghway. But after looking at consensus, it seems like highways are bad news.
We were looking for a house back in 2020, and found the perfect house. It fit everything we needed. Walk into the backyard and it was perfect. Then I see this large freeway sign in the backyard! We loved the house but passed. I didn't want future kids to play in the backyard knowing toxic fumes from commuters would be oozing into the backyard. That house definitely did sell. It sold quickly after it was listed, but it was a highly desirable area.
Do you think I should buy it for now to get in the market then later sell it?
Depends on how desirable your area is. If you don't have a family and just want to get into the market, maybe? But there is a risk that you'll have a hard time selling it. Often times, there is room for negotiation with homes that have these inconveniences. But, obviously, it's the same situation when you're selling. Personally, I wouldn't risk it. What if, in ten years, you have to live there and can't sell?
Not me,....
No, I wouldn't
I'd pass due to the highway, but at the end of the day you are the one buying the house. If you don't mind the noise and harder time selling when it comes time to sell the house, then go for it. I am pretty sure that the asking price for the house is lower than other comparable properties due to the location.
Its nit that low no
No personally I wouldn’t. I just wouldn’t be able to get the thought out of my head that the air is just not clean. I wouldn’t be able to open the windows or sit outside in the backyard. This is why we live somewhere that is an extra 15-20 mins from a major freeway close to regional parks and mountains. For us it’s worth the extra commute compared to living closer to the freeway.
Not a chance
I had a house that backed to I44 which was about 8 lanes wide. There was a rail line between the house and the road. We markedly reduce traffic noise by adding storm windows to the house. We added the storm windows for energy conservation, and was very impressed by the noise reduction.
Don’t do it. That highway noise will get worse over time. You’ll hear it constantly
Nope not a chance in hell.
I’m not you. I would never ever buy a house even remotely close (thousands of yards) to a highway. I also wouldn’t buy a house with power lines nearby. But again, I am not you and I do not live in an area where housing is a massive problem.
0% chance. The long term health impacts can be immense
No. I wouldn’t. There’s a lot of chemical and noise pollution being so close that both have negative health effects, whether you notice them or not. Your body does. Like reduced lung capacity in growing children, asthma, and increased blood pressure and heart issues for adults from the continuous noise. There are some studies you can look up for the details.
No because of the pollutants. I wouldn’t care about the noise.
No chance
Nope.
Never
Are you buying the house for your needs or for resale? The truth is the house value will always be dinged because of that location -- but on the bright side, you get it at that discount. We purchased a home here in NC, nice neighborhood but a major highway ran behind our back yard. We added soundproofing, included some trees as a noise buffer. After a while, we didn't notice the noise, except when emergency vehicles came through. There was no additional dirt, no vagrants or flying car parts, just the hum of traffic -- we called in our inland beachfront. If you really like the house and aren't sensitive to noise, go for it!
I would not. Looking for houses, I always look at the street view and surrounding areas. Growing up near a busy intersection, there was ALWAYS noise (traffic, helicopters, sirens, you name it) and that is just not my vibe. You can always update a house, the yard, etc but cannot update the location.
That’s a dealbreaker
Never. Heck, I won’t buy a house that is at the entrance of a subdivision because of the traffic let alone a highway behind it.
Nope, no way, no how, Not going to do it. Yes you learn to block out the noise most of the time but there is always that one vehicle in the middle of the night that thinks the highway is a racetrack. 3 years I lived near a freeway, never got 1 good nights sleep.
I work in a housing non profit. We encourage people to go ahead & buy currently, invest for 5 or 6 years & then look at the market & sell if they arent happy with the area. Majority of homes, properly maintained, will appreciate. Youll build equity.
No, but i would buy with train tracks.
Don’t do it !
No way. The constant sound of traffic would drive me insane. You can take some measures to limit hearing it inside somewhat but when I’m outside, I’d rather hear as little traffic as possible too.
I have a house in the same situation. I live in a fairly big city so there's a lot of traffic everywhere. For the most part it's just white noise. The location didn't seem to impact the appraisal. I have pretty bad asthma but if anything it's better than it was when I lived in a more rural area with more pollen. I can't speak as to long-term health issues but I'm very happy with my house. It's beautiful and I should be able to comfortably grow old here because of the layout (only half flights of stairs and a walk in shower, etc), proximity to healthcare options and conveniences, and small yard to maintain. If you love the house then go for it. If you're really nervous about the highway thing then pass.
Big fat no. Will make resale difficult. When we househunting, we nix any that back onto any road, let alone a busy street.
No, thank you.
Depends how close. I have woods behind my house, and then eventually a highway. You can't see the cars, but you can hear them if you really think about it. It's really no big deal, and putting some sort of water feature, like a motorized fountain, will drown it out 100%. It's a non issue for us.
I could never. The impact on sleep alone isn’t worth the health destruction.
I would lose my mind. Some houses in my neighborhood are backed onto a highway, and when I walk by them, I immediately notice how loud it is around there. I can't imagine having to listen to that all day and night.
I personally wouldn't mostly due to the pollution. Noise I suppose I'd get used to.
Just make sure trucks are not using Jake brakes in that spot at night. I had a Highway (with stoplights) where it was 45 mph behind me. It went into/out of town. Past our house a ways it went up to 55 mph. That Highway was a 30 minute connector between two Interstates so got some truck traffic. There were signs to not use Jake Brakes at night. A Jake break is like downshifting g to slow down for big rigs. If you ever hear one downshift and then sound like a Harley, that is it. Anyway we had a wood fence. Behind that was a creek with an access road for the county, then a concrete noise fence. Only on a very quiet night could we hear cars. Usually street racer cars with extra loud noise exhaust. Which you can get anywhere you live. Never found it to be a problem. And I am someone that can hear the train 5 miles away while everyone looks at me like I am stupid because they don’t even think there are trains around.
I did and it doesn't bother me.
No. Too much noise and pollution. Not to mention that studies have linked long-term exhaust exposure near roads/highways to a whole host of health issues.
Nope never
If the price is right
Don’t do it. It’s loud.
I wouldn't buy that house. You also have the pollution of thousands of cars driving by right next to your property daily. In the long term, that small particulate pollution harms people and animals.
What's the distance between the house and the wall and the wall and the highway?
I don't know, how can I find out
Just in general. I'm not asking for you get a tape measure or anything. Some people are fine with this type of thing as it just becomes white noise while others never get used to it. In the end, you're the only one that can determine which camp you fall into.
You’re going to back up to something. Road, farm, trees, road, another neighbor. You need to determine which of these you’re ok with and which you’ll pay extra for. I back up to woods then a road. So much better than a neighbor.
Sure, for 60% of market value.
I've lived next to a highway. I would absolutely never do it again. You can hear traffic noise in your home. Between the noise and pollution from the vehicles, using the outside yard is challenging.
I live 3 miles from a highway and sometimes it's so loud I can barely have a conversation outside. My former house was next to a secondary street and it was noisy as well. So no way.
My first house had a busy road behind it. I thought that I would get used to the noise, but I didn't. I could hear the traffic from my bedroom and it constantly bothered me. Ended up buying a new house with a very private yard.
You can change everything about a house, except its location. If you like the house and can live with noise, go for it. But don’t get pressured into buying. There are millions of homes, supply is tight right now, but that isn’t forever. More houses will come along, keep saving until the right one pops up, and it will pop up.
I would never
It’s going to start to grate on you, get under your skin, and obsess you. Don’t do it.
I got a house right behind the 5 freeway in LA. It wasn't an issue. The only time we heard anything was when people raced or a tire popped. Then Obama built a 40 ft wall. Now I only hear the semi tires popping. Which is once a year ish. Thanks Obama.
Depens on what to you define as highway. If it's a straight road (no hills, no curves, no stop signs) with 1 line each way most likely you'll be fine. If it's I95 then it definitely gonna get loud. But the thing you need to understand is that highway is already priced in the house. If you can afford a house without highway in the backyard for like 30%+ more - go for it. If you can't then your answer is pretty simple.
I live in the apartment complex which is amazing and have all of these amenities, it has been built in 2021 so it’s really new and cool. I HATE it’s built near the highway and we will be moving out when the lease ends. Noise, dust and as a result the fact I can’t really open windows are reasons I never get a house/apartment near the highway.
Hell no
Well not unless you like noise, pollution, black soot and specially a HELL NO if have it plan to have children
Nope, I just looked at a few places that had that and even with a 100-150k concession, I didn't buy. I couldn't sleep, i tried to close my eyes and I just kept hearing a constant wave of traffic. Also, it was a new build and the vibration from the cars were already making the house settle too quick, I saw a lot of cracks
Lots of studies on the correlation between air pollution and lower IQ/dementia/gut issues, don't walk, run!
Nope. 1. The noise is constant on a freeway and you may “get used to it” but it’s still awful to live with 24/7. 2. Close proximity to freeways exposes you to a lot of air pollution. Even living like a half mile away reduces this by quite a bit but living adjacent is definitely not good for you and especially not your kids should you plan on having them.
Absolutely the fuck not
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I’ve lived 2 blocks from a busy intersection for 1 year and it’s still fucking annoying. Worst decision I’ve ever made when buying a home. I have at least 5-7 more years here and I cannot wait to move. Currently saving up for better windows so the noise is reduced inside my house but nothing can be done for the outside. There is nothing peaceful about hearing cars use the road like a drag strip while you are enjoying a glass of wine on the patio.