The article explains how everyday neighborhood noises like engines and leaf blowers seriously harm quality of life and health, while laws and enforcement lag behind. Many residents pay a personal “noise tax” for soundproofing or even leave their neighborhoods to cope. Jamie Banks, president and founder of Quiet Communities, stresses that the repetitive, unpredictable, vibrating nature of noise is far more serious than a mere “nuisance.”

This edition of the QC newsletter previews fall events on quieter landscaping in Wilmette, IL, vehicle noise reduction in Naples, FL, a creative workshop with artist-in-residence Nicole Kelner, and a success story from Vermont. It also highlights an August membership drive to strengthen advocacy for quieter communities.

This Quiet Communities newsletter launches the first “Bid for Quiet” fundraising auction and invites new members, celebrates Howard County, Maryland’s first-in-state AGZA Green Zone® park certification, and promotes member-only events on noise law and ordinances.

This article focuses on Arline Bronzaft’s work to curb harmful noise and more specifically, on New Yorker’s struggle with noise. Bronzaft, PhD, Professor Emerita of the City University of New York, is an Honorary Program Chair of Quiet American Skies at Quiet Communities and on the Board of Director at GrowNYC.