[craigs]

I don't mind the noise of traffic going by under my upper-floor corner unit. The streetcars a block away aren't noticeable unless they use their air horns to get somebody off the trackway. Airplanes and helicopters are intermittent in terms of noise--sometimes I hear them, usually I don't.

I really hate the unmuffled motorcycles. Those guys are basically the aural equivalent to the assholes smoking cigars in public spaces: "See what I can do to you? Doesn't it suck? Ha ha!" It's even worse when the motorcycle racket sets off car alarms.

On busier nights, we probably get a good dozen loud siren runs past our place between work and bedtime. There are other sirens in the area as well, but as long as the emergency vehicles don't stop nearby, they can be manageable and unobtrusive (if they stop nearby, however, everyone in the 'hood rushes to the windows).

I usually can't manage to sleep through the super-noisy 5:00 am garbage truck runs, but that lasts fewer than five minutes and I'm back to sleep. If I'm awake, I usually notice barking dogs and obnoxiously loud people, but I don't when I'm sleeping.

Overall, I am accustomed to the noise of the city, and I too don't care for silent places. I'm used to the urban symphony, even if there are too many 'virtuosos' at times.