Good Noise, Bad Noise and the Neighbour's Dog

Two people in one flat, hearing one sound, and feeling opposite things.

By Neil Solomon · 3 min read

Picture a couple named Frank and Dolores who took a flat in a lively neighbourhood. On the first morning, Frank said he had never heard so many birds. Dolores had been awake since four, listening to something else.

I find noise one of the least discussed parts of moving. People ask about rent and paperwork. They seldom ask what the street sounds like at night. Yet sound is how a place gets into the body. Here is how it reads in the stories I have seen.

Brazil. One account is a happy list of good noises: street vendors calling out, birds, even macaws, set against the loudspeaker trucks that roll by with their own messages. The writer sorted sounds into two piles, and the first pile was a pleasure. Another account is about football. A goal in Rio is shouted through the floors, and one spouse loves it while the other hates it. I like that detail because it is so ordinary. Two people in one flat, hearing one sound, and feeling opposite things.

Colombia. A different voice, after six years in three regions, wrote about noise that wins in the end. The word that comes to mind when I read it is exhaustion. It is not one loud night. It is the long run of nights. I take from this that a place that charmed you in month one could feel different in year six, and it is fair to say so.

Nicaragua. Here the story is smaller and, to me, more human. A barking dog led to a complaint, and the complaint led to a signed promise between neighbours. As I read it, the writer came away a little humbled. The dog was one part of the story. The other part was learning how things are asked and settled in that street.

Frank and Dolores had this talk over coffee.

"Listen to that," said Frank. "That's life."

"That's a speaker on a truck," said Dolores. "At six."

He laughed, and then he listened again, and said, "Fine. Tomorrow we go and look at the back rooms."

They found that a room facing the courtyard changed how they slept. It was a small thing, and it saved the first month.

I do not think there is a right answer here. Some people feel more alive in a noisy street. Others need a still night to feel well. What helps is knowing which one you are before you sign a lease, and visiting at the hours when the street is at its loudest.