Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN cites it constantly in threads on noise, EVs and car-free cities as the source that cars, not cities, are loud.
What it is
Not Just Bikes argues that urban noise comes mostly from motor vehicles, drawing on the book Curbing Traffic and a visit to Delft, a city that takes noise seriously.
Recommended by 10 HN commenters across 9 different months, 2021 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec shmageggy · 2022-02 · on “New York is using cameras with microphones to ticket loud cars”
> Cities aren't loud. Cars are loud. Fantastic video with that very name exploring just how true this is: [this video]
Strong rec oblio · 2025-12 · on “Accepting US car standards would risk European lives”
Watch his video. Pick 2-3 at random, be a grown up and ignore the tone of voice and the snarkiness, and see what his points are. They're very solid. Try something like this: [this video] [LINK]
Recommends ryukafalz · 2021-12 · on “The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.”
Yeah. Some places do take it seriously; this video provides some nice context: [this video] ...my city is unfortunately not one of them.
Recommends CalRobert · 2021-12 · on “The Sound of Silence: A Noise Map of the U.S.”
NotJustBikes does a great video on this [this video] Cities aren't Loud, Cars are Loud. Most "cities" in North America, to use the term generously, are miserable car sewers where you need to shout to have a conversation outside.
Recommends seer · 2022-04 · on “Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)”
I think you'll be very interested in the "Not Just Bikes" channel as he talks a lot about urban planing. There's a lot of political will and momentum for making living spaces ... livable in Europe. Places like The Netherlands and Denmark in particular. A video specifically about noise pollution and how European cities are trying to solve it - [this video]
Recommends cardanome · 2022-07 · on “ESG should be boiled down to one simple measure: emissions”
I don't get why I am getting such emotional responses. Most of the noise in cities comes from cars, that is a fact. Even dense cities can be fairly quiet. I suggest watching this video: [this video] Plus China has probably not the best building codes, the problem can be further improved by having proper sound isolation in homes. Dense cities mean you will have everything in walking distance. There will be much more space for parks and other areas of recreation.
Recommends ThatGeoGuy · 2023-04 · on “Harvard: The Effects of Noise on Health”
An addendum to the posted article: [this video] Cities aren't loud; motor vehicles are. Tire noise near heavy stroads and highways are in particular egregious offenders. There's a lot of other points in the comments about some other urban nuisances (leaf blowers, anyone?) but I encourage anyone to walk around (yes, walk) while measuring the ambient noise levels with your smartphone's microphone. It will be extremely obvious where the noise is coming from. This is an often misunderstood part of "the war on cars:" the stress gained from additional constant noise (e.g. like a highway) takes YEARS off our lives. And don't get me started on how loud shops are in North America. For whatever reason they
Recommends masklinn · 2023-08 · on “Amsterdam to use “noise cameras” against too loud cars”
NJB has a video on the subject which is pretty astounding if you've never really considered it: [this video] It also specifically calls out mopeds: [this video]