>>near silence and peace in a building housing a rock and
roll band.
A slight exaggeration on my part.
I remember my grandmother's apartment in urban Vienna, in a four-story building (the kind with an atrium in the back, housing cats, tricycles and laundry). It had tall ceilings, plaster walls, this ancient wondrous wood-plank herringbone floor, and the world's worst toilet.
I remember the apartments I've been in on the East Coast and here out West. Item #1. Ceilings so low that I can remove pushpins barefoot. Item #2. Drywall and 2x4 construction with drafty windows. Item #3. You can hear which channel the neighbors have on their TV, and they're listening at normal levels.
I was totally unaware of the neighbors in Vienna, except when modern living caught up and the lower floor (zoned commercial) rotated from a dentist to a disco. Buses going by made this soft roar.
To build like this is more expensive; it would probably double the cost of the structure. And a lightweight building tends to fare better in an earthquake; something only the Italians worry about, and not often. Almost all builders&developers here build just to code, which is silent on issues like acoustic livablilty. And thermal insulation is paid mere lip service here.
I am very sensitive to ambient noise. I know a LOT about my neighbors; to quote the movie "that's entirely more information than I ever wanted to get". So I dream of building an apt 'plex where private neighbors make for good neighbors. As Del pointed out, the cost of doing this is probably out of reach. But maybe one day... The amortization will take longer, but ultimately the occupancy would be 100% even in one of our tech recessions. Step one would be to consult an acoustic engineer, the kind of folks who build movie theaters and recording studios.
If I really had a mil or so, a coupla square miles of Nevada or maybe Montana ( where I can shoot 1000-yard target off'n mah back porch, and drive at triple digits) sounds like a slice of heaven. |
