by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
This report in the New York Times describes a new study in which detailed information at the census tract level was correlated with future economic and social attainment of children growing up in those neighborhoods. Neighborhoods that appeared similar on the surface had far different outcomes for the children living there.
I haven’t tracked down the whole report, but one wonders if the researchers included noise levels in their research. Noise has multiple adverse effects on humans exposed to it, including hearing loss, interference with concentration and learning, increased levels of stress hormones, and psychological problems like anxiety and depression.
Perhaps the census tract maps developed by the researchers can be superimposed on the noise map recently developed by the US Department of Transportation? Though I doubt the study’s researchers considered ambient neighborhood noise levels in their work, it would sure be interesting to see the map overlay and see what it might show.
