From: eastwardbound2003@yahoo.com (Eastward Bound)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers.house
Subject: Re: House 200 yards from an Interstate, Should we buy it?
Date: 29 Sep 2004 10:19:40 -0700

status@verizon.net (Dennis Kuo) wrote in message news:...
> rakeshajwani@yahoo.com (Rakesh) wrote in message news:
> > Thanks everybody for their insight into the issue. I still haven't
> > decided about it, I gotta tell you, we have looked at a lot of houses,
> > till now there hasn't been a house in which we felt like we felt in
> > this house, we(me and my wife) tend to disagree a lot in what we want
> > in a house :),This was one we both went, what do we do to buy
> > this(first reaction) we cud have a built a new house,(but its a little
> > out of our budget right now), i did a lot of reseach, talked to
> > neighbours around this house(everybody said they are not bothered by
> > the noise), went at 5 different times of the day(weekend and weekday)
> > to figure out, howz the noise, weekend is heaven, you can hear the
> > freaking crickets, the bad time is the rush hour(it's not that bad),
> > there is a humming sound, anyways we are looking at a few more houses,
> > will let everybody know what I decide, thanks once again for
> > everybody's input...Rakesh
> 
> More input...
> 
> I used to live about 400 yards from I-40 in Durham.  The noise was
> always there and it was louder in the winter and seemingly at night. 
> It wasn't too bad, but 200 yards closer and you'd definitely notice it
> as a constant dull roar.
> 
> A few thoughts that I haven't seen:
> 
> (1) You'd probably get used to the noise, but you'd always notice it
> if you were outside a lot.  The noise wasn't as bad when we had woods
> between us and the highway.  It got much worse when they leveled the
> woods for a shopping center and apartment complex.
> 
> (2) I currently live in New Jersey, close to NYC, and houses are right
> next to highways everywhere.  Traffic also tends to move slower
> because the roads are smaller, older, and narrower--rush hour is
> generally 60-65 mph if it's not crawling.  In Durham I-40 moved at 75+
> mph at rush hour.  That makes a big difference in the tractor-trailer
> noise.  I suppose Colorado is similar to Durham.
> 
> (3) I-40 in Durham was only 2 lanes in each direction when I lived
> there.  It's being widened now.  That would only increase the noise. 
> That doesn't happen much any more in the northeast but will probably
> happen some day where you live.
> 
> (4) I was also 400 yards from the I-40 interchange, a nice
> convenience.  If you're going to live that close to a highway you
> might as well get some convenience out of it.
> 
> (5) You should definitely get a cut in the housing price.  People have
> written how houses are next to highways (and railroads) in dense urban
> areas and it isn't a disadvantage, but where you are, all someone has
> to do is build a new house farther away from the highway.
> 
> My advice?  If you don't spend much time outside, you absolutely love
> the house and will stay in it forever, and get a great deal on the
> house, it'll be fine.  Otherwise move on.
> 
> Dennis



Houses will too much traffic noise do not retain their value very
well.  Unless of course there are a few exceptions where finding a
house for sale is so rare because of the space issue such as Boston,
NYC, and SF.