Hi, folks. Here is Kyle, your favorite writer of all time.
(Pretentious? no, not at all, playful I would say :) )
I've been living in Brussels, Belgium, for almost a year and have some thoughts about the noise pollution in this place.
Where do I start?
Well, I think I should give some references from places where I have lived: São Paulo (Brazil), Montreal (Canada), Cairo (Egypt), and Dubai (UAE).
From now on, you won't think I am just a country boy complaining about living in a big city. (Because I've already lived in a couple of them (And some are really noisy).
I know this post is about Brussels, but first, I would like to talk a little about São Paulo and Cairo (Since they are the worst ones, we will build our base from them).
São Paulo is kind of noisy. I say "kind" because it is not as much as it could be due to the number of vehicles and people. Most of the noise is because buses and motorcycles are noisier there when we compare them with first-world countries (much more, to be honest). But what really made this a problem is the lack of good windows. Yes, windows there are not made to handle any kind of noise, in their homes especially. Most of them only have a single thin glass pane (And two thin aluminum panes behind the glass one). So, all the noise will get in.
So, if you are not living in a really isolated area, you will have this background noise of vehicles.
Then, we have Cairo in Egypt. Well, if you ever had this city as a travel destination, you probably got surprised by the city-center noise caused by car horns. Yes, that place is insane in this sense. Depending on where you were staying, you probably, faced yourself using earplugs to get some sleep.
Ok, now, let's move to Brussels.
During this year, I've been hanging out in "several" places in the city, and I must say the town appears to be silent in several parts, however, that are some spots that are a living hell.
Where?
Well, I work in an office located in front of Place Stephanie (Avenue Louise) and live in a neighborhood called Saint-Gilles.
And those places are hell.
Sorry, but they are.
Why?
Well, where do we start?
Let's talk a little about the sirens.
In big cities, especially downtown, it is normal to hear sirens. After all, a lot of people, a lot of trouble, and as a consequence, you will have this constant need for ambulances and police cars opening all their way to save and rescue. Oh, public service....how important you are in our lives...
But here in Brussels, this thing is on a whole new level.
The sirens
To start:
1) The sound level.
Loud, really, over too loud. We know that sirens are supposed to be noisy, but here it is at a much higher level. It is so strong. Several times you feel like they are already close to you; however, they are really far (You can't even see them for a long time until they get where you are).
And then, when they pass close to you, you feel like this massive wall of sound is getting inside your ears. Imagine a sonic drill getting inside your brain. Yes, that's the feeling you get sometimes.
2) How close do they pass to you
Besides this, they pass really close. Sometimes 3-5 feet from you (1 meter and a half). That is mainly caused by how the city is designed.
Brussels feels like someone has dropped this shrinking liquor all over it, making you feel like you are in a miniature city. So, the width of streets is reduced compared to other Big European cities.
You can check it without going that far. Take a walk in Lille, France, then you will see what I am talking about.
So, as a consequence, sirens will pass much closer to you rather than in other big cities.
3) They don't drive fast.
No, most of the time, they drive like snails.
(And because of it, I question myself if there is an emergency indeed).
4) They don't turn it off when there are people nearby
For me, that is the most outrageous thing.
Usually, Sirens, when passing on those streets where people are so close, turn themselves down or off (Because they know how bothering and even dangerous it can be to hurt someone's ears). However, they don't give a damn here if you are just 2 feet from them.
Really, I've never seen something like this.
If you go to Paris, for example, you will see that the sirens are much less intense (Compared to Brussels), and they turn it down when they are close to pedestrians. (And Paris is much bigger than Brussels).
5) How often can you hear a siren in Brussels?
That's the gold star of our arguments. If you are in the right spot, you can easily have it 20 times per day. (I am not kidding or exaggerating; you can count if you want, e.g., At the begging of Avenue Louise or near Albert station).
Yeah, for me, all of that is quite insane. The volume, the frequency, how close and slow they pass to you.
Now, my second favorite. The trams.
Oh boy, where do I start?
Probably you see them as innocent public non-pollutant vehicles. But the fact is, someone gave a weapon to the devil here.
1) How loud it is
They honk.
And honk hard.
Their horns are not like something gentle and nice. They are more like a giant cathedral beel tolling 3 feet from you (1,2 meters).
One day I measured how strong it was, reaching 97 Db! Do you know how loud it is? It is as potent as a rock concert. You may only find that rock concert is louder because the music plays constantly; however, if you could cut it down to the size of a tram horn, then you would hear as loud as (reaching the same distance).
And since Brussels is a city in miniature, you can hear it so loud inside your home. (It is a city where most of the buildings in the center have stores on the ground floor and regular apartments on the floors above)
So, if you live in one of those apartments, you get freaking annoying noise inside your home several times a day.
Obs: The older tram versions don't have this loud horn. Just the most modern ones (So instead of improving, it got worse). Fun fact.
2) How do they use the horns.
Yes, again, we have the golden start argument.
Despite how loud it is, everything falls apart when it comes to how they use it on a daily basis.
Out of the blue and for no good reason.
Yep, that's the phrase to describe it.
Let me give some examples:
- Just after stopping the tram (Why would you horn if you are not moving)?
- In the underground, Let me explain it. Here they have some tram lines that are underground: exactly like subways. So, there is no car, traffic, or pedestrians crossing by. So why the hell would they horn in a place like that? (Imagine a subway honking every time it leaves the station; Does it make sense? Not to me).
- When there is no one (Car or pedestrian) crossing the street.
So, many and several bad examples of misusage.
I've already asked myself why do they do this?
- For security? Well, buses drive equally on the streets, and they don't honk every time they leave a bus stop; Let's confess that it is quite hard not to notice a 50-60 feet caterpillar in your way (18m). Unless you are blind...hold on...you would be driving in this case. So, again, that's not a good reason.
- To display this portrait that Brussels, as the capital of Europe, show concern to their citizens by applying every security measure they can? I think it is nice that, as long as you don't drive people crazy or deaf to do this.
- To be mean? Well, sometimes, yes. I've already witnessed some particular situations in that I could notice that.
- Because they can? Yes. It seems that since they can, they do. Simply like that.
- Because they want to make people lose their hearing sensitivity? Hahaha, who knows? But the interesting fact is a lot of people that live here for many hear speak loudly. (Could it be related? Maybe)
- Are they aware of how upsetting and hurtful it is? Hard to say how many, but I think lots of them are probably aware, I think. But I still think that some of them are not that aware (especially because you don't hear that loud inside)
Conclusion
At the end of the day, what really gets me is how things designed for security and public service delivery are being so badly used in this city.
Not only, it is also unnecessarily loud, which could be easily reduced 20-30 Db to do the same job, as it is used with no respect towards the citizens.
The whole thing doesn't make any sense from A to Z.
A total lack of good sense and respect.
Obs: I must reinforce that it is not in everywhere in the city. However, in several spots, you will have it.
Ok, that's it for today!
À la prochaine!
À revoir.
Kyle.