It looks like the answer is "it's pretty damn noisy everywhere we measured."

Is it legal to say "This device is being tracked by the SFPD" if it's not?

I would guess it is unlawful, but not illegal. Meaning that the median bad consequence for doing it is that the authorities tell you to stop doing it and then you have to stop doing it.

Sure, as long as it stands for "Some Friendly Poor Drunkard" or something like that.

Seriously though, I was wondering the same thing when I read the article.

Noise is definitely an interesting factor, but the truth is, most renters simply want the most bang for the buck and therefore, price is still the most important metric used in apartment hunting.

If you have kids this information is invaluable. My daughter is a light sleeper and I can tell you that I've had more than one unfun night dealing with noise in our neighborhood in Boston.

I used to live in a noisy apartment -- due to the fact that my cat loved to knock things over at night, causing loud noises.

The solution was earplugs.

Interesting stuff but I'm wondering why you guys chose to do this in the Tenderloin?

In terms of the premise of 'not wanting to move somewhere noisy', noise is the least of your worries if you are moving to the Tenderloin. And most people living there don't hav a choice.

I would have thought more context could be put on this data if it was about an area people chose to live in (but is noisy/industrial, like SoMa).

fascinating study. Questions: 1. how can you drive the price down per corner? (make it affordable for large scale measurement). 2. don't most people already have a general idea of how noisy a place is when they visit? 3. will realtors pay for this data?

I wonder if these guys considered that some homes have better sound insulation than others? While the outside may be noisy, the inside may be quiet. A noisy house in a less noisy area may be noisier than a quiet house in a loud area.

Shouldn't this be better executed with JS on this iPad days?