Characterization of Community Noise and Sound Levels in an Urban City: Preliminary Results

The urban environment is rife with sounds of varying intensity, character, and duration. In epidemiological studies of associations between sound and health, loudness is routinely measured using an A-weighted decibel, presupposing that the lower frequencies are not biologically relevant. Further, in these little is known about residents' perception to community sound. We assessed predictors of measurements of low, mid, high frequency and un, A, and C weighted sound metrics collected in the City of Boston, MA. Results show that low frequency noise is the dominant frequency in urban environments. Urban characteristics such as time of day, land use, proximity to major roads, bus/train routes, hospitals, and neighborhood building density statistically significantly influenced the median sound levels across the entire frequency spectrum. Community perception (ascertained via The Greater Boston Neighborhood Noise Survey) maps suggest that areas closest to dense transportation networks are not only the loudest but also perceived to be the loudest by community residents.