Greenville has a blaring noise problem it needs to address

Greenville has a growing problem with severe noise that is harming our health, finances, and quality of life.

As a senior planner for a city similar to Greenville, I prepared noise regulations for that city. I have visited and lived in hundreds of cities.

No city I know of has noise pollution as overwhelming (and growing) as Greenville's.

Loud vehicle mufflers. As a Greenville bicycle taxi driver, I spend several hours each week on Main Street. Noise pollution is extreme on Main.

Leaf blowers. More than 200 cities have either banned or restricted them. Shame on Greenville for not joining that growing list.

Emergency vehicle sirens. I’ve lived in several cities much larger than Greenville, and sirens are used far more here than elsewhere. It's not because we have more emergencies; it's because of overuse. I’ve talked to a number of emergency service folks who agree.

Studies show that noise pollution severely harms physical and mental health (noise disrupts sleep and induces high blood pressure, for example). Noise chases many from the city to the suburbs, which bankrupts cities and counties because suburban development does not pay for itself. It also reduces property values, which reduces tax revenue we need for public services and city improvements.

More than anything else, noise harms our quality of life, which harms our economy.

There are many policies that could reduce the noise problem without compromising public health or safety.

Signs on Main Street that urge less noise do nothing to reduce it. It’s also a mistake to assign noise control to police, as they naturally prioritize other forms of lawbreaking.

We need full-time noise reduction staff.

We need to acknowledge we have a substantial noise problem. It’s inexcusable that we have let noise become so terrible.

Dom Nozzi has a bachelor of arts degree in environmental science from SUNY Plattsburgh and a master's degree in town and transportation planning from Florida State University. For 20 years, he served as a senior town and transportation planner for Gainesville Florida, and was briefly the growth rate control planner for Boulder, Colorado. Today, he maintains a consulting practice in which he writes and speaks about street design, urban design, and quality of life.