Westfield / Cranford Airplane noise (Newark, Rahway: insurance, hotel, houses)

[karloy]

I am looking to move to the Cranford / Westfield area, but it appears to be in the takeoff flight path of Newark airport.

Are there any issues with airplane noise?

[jaymoney]

Originally Posted by karloy

I am looking to move to the Cranford / Westfield area, but it appears to be in the takeoff flight path of Newark airport.

Are there any issues with airplane noise?

Rarely, if ever. We're kind of in the "lee" of the airport as a result of being relatively close, which means takeoffs go north or south of us for a few minutes before turning to the west. We're also far enough away that they are at 15,000 feet by the time they go over.

It was one of my concerns as well prior to moving so I spent an hour at the playground around the corner from the house for an hour one afternoon. I saw plenty of planes in the sky that day because I was looking but we didn't hear any of them. Now that we live here it's rare that I see them, let alone hear them. At the same time, being 20 minutes from the airport is fantastic.

Come for an hour, have lunch outside at the Cranford Hotel before it gets too cold. I guarantee you'll be more concerned about the train noise than the planes.

[hevysrf]

I lived in Rahway, Milton Lake area, and found it very intrusive, it seemed west bound planes would increase throttle right over us. Any home video taken in our back yard would have aircraft noise. I would spend several afternoons in parks near the home you wish to purchase, keeping in mind that patterns change with wind direction or holiday traffic.

[JerseyGirl415]

I live in Cranford and sometimes planes can be loud overhead, but usually they're high up enough to not hear them. Some come in at times of day, though, that are I guess at the right angle and altitude to be quite loud. Honestly, I tune it out. I usually don't even hear it unless it is exceptionally loud for some reason, which only very occasionally happens. One night a few years ago, right around Christmas, a plane was so loud it woke me up out of a pretty sound sleep. But that is highly unusual. It has only happened that one time and I've lived hear almost my whole life. I think that some years ago when Newark changed the flights paths, Cranford actually got them to change it back because people were complaining about noise. At least, this is what I've heard and seen around the internet and from some residents here and there.

I also live a few blocks from train tracks and you can hear the trains from my house, especially in the winter when the trees are bare and at night when it's quiet, but I've tuned that out long ago. People visiting my home will stop and listen, ask me, "what's that noise?" I say, "oh, it's probably the train!" I genuinely don't hear it anymore.

[karloy]

Thanks, that is very helpful. I spent some time in the Normahegan park, and some planes taking a pretty sharp loud turn caught my attention (around 5 pm, I assume busy time for flights leaving westwards). It's good though that this is not too much of an issue - I know it is hard to avoid planes in the NY metro region, even much further away from the airport. I like Cranford with its better priced houses compared Westchester, lower taxes, and the Normahegan park.

@hevysrf, when did you live in Rahway? I read that they started to fan out the flight departure pattern a few years ago to reduce the noise.

[jaymoney]

I did hear two of them on my walk home last night, felt I should mention that. The flight track looked atypical though, a tight turn from the south around to the northwest for two in a row. It's a little weird right now, as one of the runways is being repaved and so flights aren't always going to be like this.

Be careful looking on the north side. Beautiful houses but there have been flooding problems as of late. Flood insurance is going to add to your bottom line...

[karloy]

Thanks - yes, aware of the flooding situation. The plane pattern that you described is what i meant, i see those sharp turns over Cranford quite often in the flight tracker - WebTrak - but they are already 4000 feet up once they come close.

[jaymoney]

Originally Posted by karloy

Thanks - yes, aware of the flooding situation. The plane pattern that you described is what i meant, i see those sharp turns over Cranford quite often in the flight tracker - WebTrak - but they are already 4000 feet up once they come close.

I hardly ever hear them, and I think most of my noticing yesterday was because I was looking.

Thanks for the WebTrak link though. There goes the rest of my day.

[karloy]

You are welcome ;-)

[sonofagunk]

I almost never hear Newark Planes, but I do hear smaller jets a lot (Probably tetterboro?). Loud enough to hear, but not loud enough not to be able to hear the person you are talking to outside