chapotraphouse

This is common sense and while I agree, in principle, I feel like 90% of noise complaints that get escalated have to do with two groups that don't follow common sense on the issue: power-hungry assholes who just want to control people and start shit, and genuinely disabled people whose noise tolerance is completely different than most people (hypersensitivity to sound, auditory hallucinations etc.).

My sister got harassed out of an apartment by an elderly lady downstairs (not sure which category she fit into) who would complain about literally any sound they made upstairs. Normal conversation, in the early evening, would prompt angry letters in their mailbox. She would write meticulous logs of all their "transgressions" (like, "1 AM, chair moved across floor") and threaten to send them to the police, talk shit to other neighbors trying to spark drama etc. I don't feel like there was really any way my sister could have fixed that situation by being "better", because she didn't do anything wrong. Life makes sounds sometimes, maybe even at inconvenient hours. Sometimes you gotta move a chair real quick at 1 AM. It is what it is. All she could have done was accept that her downstairs neighbor has extreme needs, and then work to live a completely silent life. She didn't, she moved out instead. Like most people would probably do.

I guess my point is that having simple "common sense" rules about this doesn't really work in a system where vulnerable/sensitive people live next door to neurotypical/non-sensitive people whose ordinary lives makes a baseline of noise. People like my sister's upstairs neighbor would probably need detached housing or a heavily insulated apartment, which I imagine a better society could probably provide to those who need it.