The Geography of the Nose and Ears

[Kilgore Trout]

I live in Mile End, Montreal. It's a dense neighbourhood where most people get around by foot and bicycle so there's always a lot of activity. When I sit in the backyard, I hear funny snippets of conversation from people walking down the back alley. Many apartments have huge terrasses in the back so you often hear people talking, eating dinner, hanging out or partying. There are a lot of cats around so you hear them mewing and occasionally getting into scuffles. The squirrels are noisy too. There aren't many dogs, interestingly enough. And the alley is very narrow so cars rarely pass through, which is nice.

Oh, and there's often some sort of construction going on in the summer.

In the front, there's the sound of cars passing, people biking past and a lot of people walking by – my place is right in between two busy commercial streets. In the summer there are often walking tours with groups of Americans learning about outdoor staircases and bagels. You hear a lot of noises in the distance, too – sirens, traffic from major streets, music from outdoor concerts.

There are a lot of huge trees around so the wind is often rustling their leaves, which sounds a bit like the ocean.

In the winter it's obviously much quieter because nobody is hanging out in their yards and everybody has their windows closed. But if you step outside, the sound of traffic is a bit more prominent because there is no greenery to muffle it, and when it snows you hear the heavy mechanical clamour of snow removal equipment, along with the insistent honks of tow trucks warning people that they need to move their cars.

In terms of smell, there's a lot of greenery around so it changes depending on the season. One thing that's very consistent is the faint smell of wood smoke from the three 24-hour bagel factories nearby. And of course there's a lot of delicious BBQ aromas in the summer.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by Architype

When I first came to Vancouver I noticed a distinct forest vegetation smell in the summer, I described it as fresh, but some described it as musty. It's unlike anything back east and I still notice it every year. I think it's the smell of the rainforest and it can permeate the city.

This is one of my favourite things about Vancouver. It's the best smelling big city I've visited.

[ssiguy]

Vancouver definately has a "fresh" sort of smell. This is due to the ocean, lots of rain, mountains, the western flowing jet stream which means Vancouver doesn't suffer from breathing and smelling the smog created in other cities, no heavy industry, and lots of trees and parks. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Fraser Valley which {due to being east of Vancouver} receives all Vancouver's smog as it funnels down the thin valley, further from the ocean, more pollution due to higher car usage, and larger single emitters from commercial/light industry. My Mom & Dad had to move from Chilliwack to White Rock due to the smog in Chilliwack gravely effecting my father's lungs and bronchitis.

[ssiguy]

We all are subject to car pollution {both noise and smell} as we are constantly reminded when a belching transport goes by. That said we have become somewhat immune to the noise pollution unless you are right up against a freeway. This is much like how we have become use to our night's in the city where it never gets dark but rather just dim.

It will be interesting to see how much quieter our cities will become once we make the total transition to much quieter electric and/or hydrogen vehicles from cars to trucks to buses to trains to airplanes to transports.

[GeneralLeeTPHLS]

Living in the centre of Toronto.....it's intriguing to the ears. I've noted several times over the last few months in realization that by day, it's like any city, kids playing, people walking and talking, cars and buses honking, yada yada. But once you are sitting or standing around at night, those noises quickly disappear...and the noisiest section of Yonge and Eglinton obviously remains Yonge street, closest to Eglinton, and vice versa with Eglinton….with the drunkards, party animals, people who work late, cabbies and other such noises..

Once you're a few minutes east or west of Yonge, however, the city hardly becomes a noisy and crazy place for the senses. It amazes me how quiet it gets....to the point where, other than the construction workers/ noise from the Eglinton Crosstown railway project, or the odd car/ passerby, (or an HVAC unit in an apartment building) the only noise you can hear is the low hum of freeway traffic miles away.

In terms of nose based data, I offer very little....I'm unable to smell very much, unless it's strong....although I do note the smell of hotdogs at times when I'm near a hotdog cart stationed off Yonge street. I will smell the odd spliff or bit of marijuana, but that's partly because my circle of work friends are more inclined to smoke....I can't think of much more in terms of smells, except the smell of the subway once you're near the entrance.

[MonkeyRonin]

My neighbourhood often smells of grilled Bacalhau (like right now as it's wafting through my office window).

Other times it smells like the nearby candy factory, which some people like, but for me is a bit too overpowering & sickly sweet.

[ScreamingViking]

I live on the west side of downtown Burlington, near the lake, facing southwest in an apartment building.

Nose: Depends on wind direction.
- From the south it's either Lake Ontario (hard to define that aroma... vaguely fishy but mostly fresh, the lake is pretty clean and algae-free here), or the steel mills and auto emissions from the QEW if wind is more from the southwest.
- From the north and northwest and west, not much except the absence of those other smells.
- When Ribfest is happening in the park on the waterfront that's the most powerful scent we get here... the smoky-sweet smell is pleasant for about a day, but then too much of it becomes a stench, and it just smells like burnt hotdogs (especially if the smoke lingers over the neighbourhood... been lucky with the breezes the past two Labour Day weekends)

Ears: It's not quiet here.
- The most pervasive noise is the traffic on the Skyway Bridge -- it's actually quite present and constant, comprised of engine hum, tires on pavement and the sound they make crossing the bridge's expansion joints. Sometimes a truck will downshift.
- Ships going in and out of Hamilton harbour blow their horns after passing under the lift bridge, and the bridge operator blows a horn in response. If there's a fog the ships in the harbour signal each other.
- Lakeshore Road is a busy arterial and traffic is mixed: motorcycles tend to be the loudest thing followed by buses accelerating from a nearby stop.
- Occasional sounds include tires screeching, cars/bikes racing each other, ambulances and medical choppers going to Joseph Brant hospital, lawn mowers, gas leaf/debris blowers, and sometimes there is late night yelling (a few bars lie just to the east)
- I've also heard marching bands practicing in advance of parades that route through downtown on special occasions. They gather in a local parking lot.
- The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's planes often take a route overhead when flying their weekend passenger treks out of Hamilton airport... usually the Lancaster or the Mitchell bombers are the ones I hear, or sometimes the Dakota.
- Festivals in the park usually have a couple of stages, so music can be loud but the sound bounces around. This is only several times each summer.

[esquire]

It's hot and humid in Winnipeg now, and it's amazing how fragrant the city gets when that happens. That isn't a euphemism either, some smells are not so great but some are very nice. Just the humid air alone is nice.

[drew]

^ The smell this morning in Wolseley is the "cat pooed in the sandbox" odour I remember from many years ago...

[Airboy]

Right now the leaves are starting to change and fall, so there is a slight spicy tinge to the air. the moist leave in the fall don't give off a musty smell.

If the wind is out of the west we get a foresty smell. and some days during the winter if we have a Chinook there is a saltyness to the air. You can almost smell the ocean those days.

There is truth though that on the prairies you can smell rain coming. when its really dry the rain stirs up the soil, that is what you smell long before you see the rain.