LIVE TO EAT: "Texting each other at the table should not be the solution" to restaurant noise.

Although it has been only two months since our last look ...

LIVE TO EAT: "Why restaurants became so loud — and how to fight back."

... Reigler's recent treatment of the topic is superlative and more localized. It includes sound sampling in decibels of several local restaurants. The article is an excellent read, and I'm highlighting just two small bits here.

Restaurant noise: Please turn down the volume!, by Susan Reigler (LEO Weekly)

 ... This is my pet peeve about many restaurants and I suspect it might be yours, too. You go out to eat not only to save yourself the task of cooking if you don’t feel up to it, but also to enjoy conversation over a shared meal. That’s very difficult, if not impossible, when the restaurant is so loud that you can’t hear one another. And no, texting each other at the table should not be the solution to this problem.

(snip)

What can you do?

If you do find yourself craving the food at a place where the acoustics seem deafening, here are a few strategies:

1. Go during off-peak times. Dining early in the evening (before 6:30) or late (after 9:00) will often be when the restaurant is less crowded. Sunday and Monday nights tend to be less busy, as well. Fewer people having to shout at each other means a quieter restaurant.

2. Dine al fresco. Obviously this is a “weather permitting” option. Though sometimes, outdoor speakers mean that music can still drown out conversation, not to mention that some restaurant patios allow smoking. (A whole other category of experience spoiler.)

3. Avoid “kids-eat-free” nights. Do this not only to preserve your hearing, but your sanity. Almost no one bothers anymore to teach their children that dinner is a time to sit quietly, eat and eavesdrop on the things adults are saying that are not supposed to be heard by innocent ears.

4. Don’t be reluctant to make your displeasure about the sound level known. It just might get results.

LIVE TO EAT: "Why restaurants became so loud — and how to fight back."

Decibels. Like a rock concert.

This article is far too detailed to summarize, so go over to Vox and absorb the whole of it. Design, intent and social trends help to explain the phenomenon of noise, but as someone who has traveled often overseas, #5 is both spot on and eternal. Jeeebus, we're loud.

Why restaurants became so loud — and how to fight back, by Julia Belluz (Vox)

 ... In reckoning with this underappreciated health threat, I’ve been wondering how we got here and why any well-meaning restaurateur would inflict this pain on his or her patrons and staff. I learned that there are a number of reasons — and they mostly have to do with restaurant design trends. In exposing them, I hope restaurateurs will take note: You may be deafening your staff and patrons. I also hope restaurant patrons will start, er, raising their voices about this, or voting with their feet.

1) “No one wants to walk into a mausoleum”
2) Good acoustics are expensive
3) A shift in restaurant aesthetics has had a huge impact on our ears
4) Some spaces — like former churches — will always be noisy when filled with people
5) Americans are loud

"Scofflaw Harley riders get ignored, free to continue assaulting the ears of innocent Americans everywhere."

I've always wanted to know, too. Why do they have to be THAT loud? Some of them are fairly quiet, and then a phalanx of distortion comes past.

It's a quality of life issue for those within earshot, and a quality of life issue for the dutifully costumed riders. But perhaps when everything is a quality of life issue, nothing is a quality of life issue.

The Unbearable Loudness of Harley Hogs: Why are they allowed to violate noise ordinances? No one seems to know, by Bruce Murphy (Urban Milwaukee)

... Harley-Davidson representatives always tell the media that they respect noise ordinances and don’t favor violating the law. But… when Harleys are sold, they emit 80 decibels, which is already loud (about the sound equivalent of a lawn mower) and arguably in violation of the city’s night time noise restrictions (which state that “no power tools or equipment… may be operated between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.”). But their design allows owners to easily modify the cycles with “straight pipes” that don’t mute the noise and exceed 100 decibels; some have estimated the noise exceeds 115 decibels.
And most bikes get modified.

Shhh, you'll wake up John: "Noise reduction (as) part of the city planning process."

Imagine that: Slower traffic speeds to help reduce noise. Can someone tell John Rosenbarger? Hint: wait until he's finished laughing.

Slicker City: How Can We Make Cities Quieter? (fastcodesign.com)

Noisy traffic might be just as dangerous to public health as traffic accidents, according to a new report from researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. Scientific evidence suggests that prolonged exposure to high noise levels are associated with loss of sleep, elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, and heart attack, not to mention hearing loss.

So how do we make the world a quieter place? We could start by thinking about the acoustics of new buildings and street networks--in effect, making noise reduction part of the city planning process, the researchers say.