When I lived in a rented house in Omaha, it was in an "affordable" downtown area - very close to the interstate & Dodge St. which is a main street in Omaha. When fellow audiophiles came over for listening sessions we only had them in the late evening, after the traffic noise reduced to levels that were acceptable. It was a very old house with thin walls.
My current house is in a somewhat pricey area of west county and there is a nice big hill between me and I-270. However, I'm always amazed at the MacMansions that are literally right next to I-270, which unlike Omaha in the 1970's, has traffic noise that only varies between loud, louder, and loudest throughout the day.
There is an intersting article in today's Wall Street Journal, 3/2/2010 op-ed page, about how wind power turbines are causing negative health effects from the constant noise and vibration. The effect has been studied in USA, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, et cetra by medical doctors. The main effect appears to be from sleep deprivation.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575085631551312608.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinionMy thoughts of course immediately turned to some of our members that live in a rural setting, close to a large hill.
Apparently there are various organizations that are trying to pass laws to prevent large wind turbines from being placed close to residences.
I will admit to a prejudice against wind power turbines in that their main output is disproportionately large tax deductions and outright tax credits. Like one engineer said, "Everytime those windmills turn, I (as a taxpayer) lose money." If they had to compete in the marketplace there would be no windmill farms since they are wildly expensive in relation to the pitifully small amount of power they produce in a year's time. I studied this in great depth in the early 1980's and the numbers haven't changed significantly.
Ken
