Living on main road

We had double glazed windows and never opened the ones facing one of the busiest streets in Copenhagen. That way the noise was bearable.

Moved to the country and still - six years later, enjoy the lack of traffic here.

Looking back I am certain the noise was a stress factor.

My advice is to try and find a house or flat in a side street.

I think we get used to any noise that is regular - my garden backs onto a main railway line, and my house is on the flight path from Heathrow. I hardly notice the noise from either, but when I have visitors they remark on it,

I don’t think I would want to be too close to a motorway or busy dual carriageway road.

I never did get used to the planes when we lived on Hounslow under the flight path, though the rest of the family managed to ignore them. We have also been house-hunting and avoided those backing on to the A1 because we were worried about pollution more than the noise. I'd advise avoiding a busy road if you can.

You can change almost anything about a house but NOT the position. Also, I wouldn't buy a property on a main road because when the time comes to sell it, a good number of prospective buyers would be put off by the noise and fumes. Keep looking - and always keep in the back of your mind its resale value!

Interesting topic kissngate I can understand that living on a main road in a City or Town must be disturbing with noise and pollution. Unfortunately the same thing is happening in our villages, green fields are sold off and new houses built which expands the villages and makes them unrecognisable from the places they once were. The one main street becomes a thoroughfare with cars, lorries, buses and delivery vans not to mention all the building materials for the new homes. So living in the countryside is not necessarily the quiet life it once was.

Liz46

We lived on the A41 for 25 years and think it may have affected our lungs.

We lived close enough to a motorway for it to be a distant hum. A lot of the children in the area had asthma which may or may not have been related.

We also lived side on to a busy main road and the main noise nuisance was high powered motorbikes in the middle of the night.

It’s very quiet where we live now and it’s been a real selling point recently.

I wouldn`t live on a main road,noise/polution/can`t have windows open in the heat /people looking in from the top deck of a bus.

The pollution would worry me more than the noise. So unhealthy and with a warmer climate windows would have to be open.

It occurred to me that with electric cars becoming more popular and eventually dominant, that a house on a main road could prove to be a very good investment.

Noise and pollution will decrease substantially.

How long are you planning to stay OP? It will get better and better?

I live on the main road going through a village. There's a bus stop just outside our house.
It's always busy, more so around 5pm.
Having lived here for 44 years I'm used to it. There's cars going through during the night and early hours. I sleep in the front bedroom and always have the window closed over night even when it's hot. I can't sleep with the sound of the traffic.
It was so eerie at the start of the first lockdown, no traffic. so personally I don't think I'd like living in a quiet road.

I wonder if all those posters who have said how awful noise and fumes are still drive petrol and diesel cars?

The variety of answers here shows one size does not fit all.
Some of us adjust, some don't.

We sleep with windows open on a "local" main road without problems - the first few weeks were difficult until we adapted but we soon didn't notice the noise.

My new neighbour's dog's regular and persistent barking problem is , however, much worse than traffic to us! It spoils our meals, makes us cross and although they are trying to address it, it is for some reason, horrendously disruptive.
If this was in the village where we used to live (a hamlet really), it would be just as stressful.

Do please check the pollution levels though. Even 20yards can make a massive difference depending on the lie of the land. That's what we found.
Good luck.

Our house is on a road parallel with the main road running through the small town, but there are no houses opposite and a strip of grass between our road and the main road. It is quite busy but not too noisy. I sleep with the window shut except at weekends when the traffic starts later. I don't notice it in the garden.
What I do like about the position is being able to see other people. We are not far from a bus stop and a small supermarket, so there are people out and about all the time, not too many, but it gives me an outlook and I feel in touch with the outside world. I value this during the pandemic when we have not been able to see friends and family. We might have bought a house in a cul de sac and I am so glad we didnt.

Traffic noise is always a steady hum in the background in the suburb where I live. Our house is in a quiet cul-de-sac where the comings and goings of vehicles are tolerable and can be interesting too (when I fancy a bit of curtain twitching). The main threat to our enjoyment of our garden is the chorus of lawnmowers and strimmers!

I would hate to overlook a fast, busy road as, apart from the noise, I'd find that environment very violent and stressful. On the other hand, DH spent his childhood in a maisonette right beside a major junction on the North Circular in London. At a tender age he and his siblings mastered the traffic lights to cross the junction and spend happy hours running free in Gunnersbury Park. So I guess it's a case of weighing up the pros and cons. Good luck!

i live in a quiet cul de sac on the edge of my town - older residents now ...... well younger than me!! however i'm on the flightpath of our local airport but that doesn't bother me.
i saw concorde coming into land from my front door and regularly see the red arrows landing and taking off
when i flew to manchester a few years ago i flew over my house when we took off!!

I live on a busy main road and I dislike it very much.

You don’t get used to the noise, you only tolerate it.

My main bugbear is motorbikes.

Thought of moving several times, but can’t be bothered.

Our last house was on a quiet 7 house cul de sac but there was a main road at the bottom of the garden AND a railway line down a large cutting next to us.

Grampy worked shifts for the entire 35 years we lived there and never once was stopped from sleeping day or night by noise.

Good double glazing meant it was silent in the house and even in the garden it was only the odd train that made a noise, over in seconds.

The only downside is we had to sell it for less than maybe a neighbour 3 doors away as we couldn't persuade people noise REALLY wasn't an issue.

Yes, we live on a busy road that links our town to the next village. Sometimes wait for a dozen cars in each direction to get on and off the drive.
No real problem with noise though as we live in the back. We have a small front garden and double glazing all round.
I do think you get used to it. If there is a hold up with the traffc we notice how quiet it is rather than when traffic is heavy.

My mother moved us to a flat where lorries thundered by all day and most of the night. I thought I'd never get used to it but after a while I didn't notice the noise.

That said, I'd never buy a property that was on a noisy road now. Not if it were a palace.

We have lived and bought up to children in a home on a main Rd. The back garden is so quiet which is great. Living on a main Rd means you are close to many things like the motorway to start your holidays. We are always having visitors as they are always passing and just call in.
We have lived here for over 40 years and the Rd can get busy but we love it ?

My area is considered to be the most neglected and deprived council ward. I live on a road that is the main cross point for 3 major roads into the town. It is also opposite the county's bus depot so double decker buses trundle outbound from 5am daily.. I cannot have my windows open due to the constant noise and constant pollution. I've been here 20 years and have never got used to the noise - it's a Housing Association property so I really have no choice but to stay.

I’d probably learn to live with the noise, but with my dodgy lungs the pollution would worry me.

We live on a main road but not a major one and moved here to be near train station, bus stop, theatre and shops in our older years ... we have no family support.
The noise doesn’t bother us ... my next door neighbour loves the ‘buzz’.
We do have a conservatory and a lovely back garden which is used a lot of the time.

You do get use to it.We live in a quiet village but stayed with friends who lived near the M5 in Devon,before our first visit she told us it was lovely and peaceful.It was not you could hear the motorway all the time.l take earplugs now when we visit them.They were just used to it.But a main road would not do for me.

kissngate Where we live now is a similar location. Can't hear any noise indoors, and only distant traffic in the garden - except for the motorbikes at weekends through the summer. We've got used to it and I wouldn't live anywhere else now. The advantage of being on a main road is that the centre of the village is just a few minutes walk and we're on a bus route, and it's easy to get to places without going cross country.

I grew up in a house on a very busy junction of two main roads in a London borough, with a train line just across the road. No double glazing back then. I never really noticed the noise and slept like a log through trains rattling past, fire engine bells and sirens wailing.