Would you live near the fwy? (living, linear, driving)

[russlancea]

Wow, thanks so much for all the input! It's like going to your big brother, dad or grandpa or someone wise for advice and you really get it. Thanks.

My husband sleeps better with ambient noise in the background so our portable fan runs nightly, even in the winter---sigh.

He also heard on NPR about heart disease risk increasing for those near the fwy, so that's been a real concern ever since hearing that.

DewDropInn:

I remember reading several articles in the LA Times way back about Caltrans declaring eminent domain and taking homes for their needs (mostly fwy expansion).

Caltrans paid pennies for some of the homes, but if I remember correctly, they paid a handsome amount if they only wanted a piece of your backyard.

Then some of these homes that Caltrans forcefully acquired sat vacant for years, deteriorating and falling apart. What a total waste...

I've never read or heard to real cancer cases in neighborhoods bordering the fwy. Wow.

So that settles it. Again, thanks a bunch for talking some sense into me.

[DewDropInn]

Glad to be of help!

Yes, our neighborhood was a mess for years. Vacant houses. Transients in those vacant houses. People getting forced out of homes they loved. The destruction of our neighborhood. Building the freeway. It was absolutely horrendous.

The height of idiocy was when they re-routed our street. Caltrans put in new storm drains. Which they located a foot higher than the level of the street. Only Caltrans is going to believe that water will flow up-hill.

We called to point this out to them. Our street was going to flood. After three months, Caltrans sent out two highly hostile people to look at it. All the neighbors gathered 'round. We pointed out that the drain was above the level of the street. They got mad at us.

And they came wearing hard hats and safety vests. I asked if we could be issued hard hats and safety vests for use while we were out weeding our lawns and washing our cars. I mean none of us had any idea we were living in such dangerous conditions.

It took three more months for them to rip out the drain and put it where it needed to be.

AAArrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I have dozens of those kinds of stories.

I hope you find a wonderful house, reasonably priced, away from a freeway.

[Bob's Burgers]

location, location, location

[ragnarkar]

Originally Posted by slowbill

location, location, location

I don't mind living near the freeway if there are ample trees in the area.. in fact, I'd be willing to pay a premium for the convenience. I live about 300ft from the nearest onramp to the 91 but much of the view of the freeway has been blocked by trees and other apartment buildings.

[kwong7]

I currently live in an apartment 1/8th of a mile from the 55 fwy, 1/4 mile from the 405 fwy, and 1/2 mile from John Wayne Airport. The noise isn't an issue, but our balcony collects so much dirt and soot over the course of two days. I think the majority of the pollution is from the planes, but I suspect that while cars are cleaner today than decades ago, cars pollute a lot when you're in a traffic-jammed corridor. Lastly, I wanted to say that it might depend on which side of the pollution you choose to live. I suspect being on the westside would be better than the eastside (or which ever way the wind the blows). I'm currently buying a house in Newport Beach along the Back Bay, we'll see how the pollution is there.

[Coldjensens]

It is difficult to get far enough away from a freeway or busy surface street to make a difference if you live in OC. There are some locations distant from any freeway, but with the heavy surface traffic, I am not sure that the health risk is substantially less. There may be fewer cars on surface streets, but they are moving slower so each car is are polluting your area longer. Just like a freeway, there is a steady endless flow of cars going by. Plus cars pollute more when starting from a stop than when driving steadily along. I do not think that you get much less health concern being near a busy surface street than you do being near a freeway. I am nto sure the noise issue is better either. Freeways at least have sound walls.

Beach Cities tend to get less smog if that is a concern for you. However the smog shifts to the beach areas during weekends. Live at the beach, but go inland on the weekends.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by kwong7

I currently live in an apartment 1/8th of a mile from the 55 fwy, 1/4 mile from the 405 fwy, and 1/2 mile from John Wayne Airport. The noise isn't an issue, but our balcony collects so much dirt and soot over the course of two days. I think the majority of the pollution is from the planes, but I suspect that while cars are cleaner today than decades ago, cars pollute a lot when you're in a traffic-jammed corridor. Lastly, I wanted to say that it might depend on which side of the pollution you choose to live. I suspect being on the westside would be better than the eastside (or which ever way the wind the blows). I'm currently buying a house in Newport Beach along the Back Bay, we'll see how the pollution is there.

I think that soot is tire and brake dust.

I once read that if you live within one mile of a freeway for seven years you will have inhaled one tire.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Charles

I think that soot is tire and brake dust.

I once read that if you live within one mile of a freeway for seven years you will have inhaled one tire.

So if you are five miles from the freeway, it will take thirty five years to inhale a tire?

Someone do the math. If you spend three and a half hours a day driving on the freeway, and you inhale twice as much dust while on the freeway as you do living within 1 mile of it. How long will it take you to inhale a tire? This is a good story problem for 8th grade math class.

What if you live 1.3 mile from the freeway?



Is inhaling tires bad for you? I have never tried it. Maybe you have discoverd a new way to get high.

Maybe you have discovered why there as so many pissed off people running around OC. After inhaling a tire or two, I woudl be pretty grumpy.

[radiojunkie2006]

I once lived less than a block from the Kennedy expressway in Chicago; it was also in a glide path for O'Hare airport. Add to that noise from the 'El' train going down the middle of the Kennedy plus all the dirt mentioned above from various particulates. It was awful! Avoid!

[jacobwilliam77]

I used to live pretty close to the 91 freeway in Fullerton. Good thing about that is not much street driving during the morning/afternoon commute...just hop on the freeway.