this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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Today I Learned

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[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 9 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

There's a tiny little suburban enclave in my city that is entirely surrounded be freight and passenger rail lines. Teres only one road in and you have to cross the train tracks to enter

I think about the people who live here more than I reasonably should.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 8 hours ago

Tracy feels like one of those cities. Nothing but warehouses and suburban homes along I5 with trucks pretty much on every road all the time.

[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 5 points 9 hours ago

I have only been to LA once and I saw it in a really bad way. There were atmospheric rivers, so the place was in a deluge, for a place that basically doesnt get rain it it was wild.

The traffic was unreal and I have lived near DC for decades. The highways in LA are massive.

Even though the weather was rough, I did love the city and want to go back.

[–] jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 58 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

Many moons ago, I lived about 20 feet from a Union Pacific railroad track. Gotta give credit to the engineers. They really tried to quietly sneak by every morning at 2:00 AM. As quietly as you can sneak a freight train anyways.

I kind of wonder if that's a better or worse experience than living right next to a major highway.

[–] starlinguk@lemmy.world 6 points 9 hours ago

I lived next to all the points just before a main railway station. A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS WENT LIKE THIS.

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 20 points 13 hours ago

10 years ago I lived by both at the same time and can tell you the train is quieter unless the conductor has to blow the horn to alert traffic the train is passing. The train ran along the back of our apartment and was about 3 apartments away so maybe 75 to 100 feet from track. The freeway is about a quarter mile (several times further than the train) and semi-trucks are still louder than trains.

Living next to a highway is so much worse.

[–] j5906@feddit.org 9 points 12 hours ago

I have lived not between one but two major train lines (they were diverting from a common station), the one on the backside of the house was maybe 10m away, the one from the terrace was a lazy stone throw away. This was in Zürich and the trains there are massive, frequent S-Bahns but also freight trains (all of them electric):

You dont really hear them at all, I sometimes was shocked because there was a fast train coming from behind and I didnt hear it until it was right next to me.

There was 2 days a year, when in the night the rails were grinded, I could hear that and it took maybe 1-2 hours of my sleep, but it was announced weeks in advance.

The rails can emit a screeching sound, but that is usually well blocked by the house.

In contrast I have also lived on the side of a "main street" of a rather small village, maybe 10k inhabitants, that shit was unbearable. You heard everything the motor sound, the tires, the honks, the brakes, the music, trucks hitting a pothole would wake me up every night and so would motorcycles.

It is not a predictable woooOOoooosh like a train every half an hour, but instead an assortment of the worst combination of sounds possible that came and went all through the night. When "rush hour" set in at 6 in the morning you could forget to sleep, even on weekends.

There already was a 30km/h speed limit and a speed camera to curb the noise but it still was batshit. I moved 6 months in because I legitimately developed anger issues fueled by sleep deprivation.

[–] Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

I’ve lived by a pretty busy highway that also had a railroad track running along it. Shit was noisy

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 7 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I can win this.

I live across from level1 trauma center with an active helipad, and across from a busy freight rail line where trains are required to sound their whistle as they traverse the level crossing underneath the skytrain (like a subway but elevated like the Ell) station, as tractor trucks pulling off the highway need to cross under and over to get to the industrial recycling plant.

At any one time we could hear road traffic, subways whooshing to a stop, a helicopter, ambulances, police escorts, fire trucks, and a 100db train whistle about 200 feet away. The guy driving the 3am train is a continual dick as he stands on the bleeding for like 10 seconds.

Sounds rough. But we got triple-pane windows and now all but the whistle is gone. And the highway is Canadian so it's no big deal.

So forget the last paragraph. Do I win? ;-)

[–] worhui@lemmy.world 3 points 13 hours ago

Buried the lede for a humble brag.

I live in a HOUSE in Canada.

Whoa Mr. Money Bags.

[–] BedSharkPal@lemmy.ca 82 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

That is a very specific kind of hell right there.

[–] Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

For some. I love the sound of a highway. It's my wale song.

[–] starlinguk@lemmy.world 8 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

It's poisonous, though. These people live in a bubble of pollution.

Looks around globally 👀

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 27 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Are you living in a place where it drowns out the sounds of gunfire and screaming?

[–] Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

You appear to have rather exciting tastes.

[–] morto@piefed.social 3 points 11 hours ago

Have we ever been to a quiet place? Sometimes we only realize something is messing with us when we feel the relief when it stops

[–] Sumocat@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago
[–] can@sh.itjust.works 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

It's not just sound pollution

[–] Konstant@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)
[–] can@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 hours ago

When I saw this notification without context I assumed yes but actually in this instance I don't think so.

Sound pollution (Wikipedia)

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 28 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

My city skylines neighborhoods irl

[–] THE_GR8_MIKE@lemmy.world 20 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

We need a Shitty Skylines community here.

[–] iamthetot@piefed.ca 11 points 14 hours ago

Be the change you want to see in the world.

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 8 points 13 hours ago

Put a clinic there so the citizens will stop getting sick.

[–] nalinna@lemmy.world 20 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Orlando has a place like that, called Griffin Park. Air quality studies there have been very telling, Though you don't need an air quality study to tell you it's bad; you can just look at the incredible amount of soot in the area.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/florida-poor-black-neighborhood-air-pollution_n_5a663a67e4b0e5630072746e

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 5 points 12 hours ago

I lived in the 07306, USA. I wasn't ready for the soot accumulation inside the apartment. I didn't understand it then; but I do now.

[–] newtraditionalists@kbin.melroy.org 20 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

I mean, no. LA is huge and there are a ton of neighborhoods that don't have massive interchanges surrounding them. This is a silly post.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 11 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

🙄

You're so eager to umackshually that you didn't realize they said people, not ALL people.

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 5 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

English is vague like that

Edit: I think we're filling in a space and we each subconsciously pick one.

Ex:

TIL that [some] people in Los Angeles live completely surrounded by traffic

TIL that [all] people in Los Angeles live completely surrounded by traffic

TIL that [there are] people in Los Angeles [that] live completely surrounded by traffic

TIL that [the] people in Los Angeles live completely surrounded by traffic

Etc.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net -3 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

So just because some people aren't surrounded by traffic, nobody is?

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 hours ago

No, it's the wording of the title. Without additional context it could be read as referring to all people in Los Angeles

[–] BassTurd@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago

I know of some people that have left New York City and found. The quiet unsettling. I like the quiet myself, but some people enjoy the noise. Obviously that disregards all of the other bad stuff associated with this.

[–] Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 14 hours ago

Watching vanderpump and seeing all the filler shots of the city layout made me want to rip my hair out with how fucked that city is

[–] Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org 1 points 13 hours ago

I live in NJ. Whenever I'm not hearing traffic and the like, I get spooked.