Why Is This The Noisiest Neighborhood In Everett? Find Out

My wife and I live in a quiet neighborhood. Mostly. At least once a night, late at night, one of our neighbors returns home with his bass booming like he's in an early 2K parking lot car-stereo war. And out on the main street, you occasionally hear the roar of an engine, and a loud exhaust pipe, as someone speeds past the sign that reads "35mph."

Fortunately, we don't live in a neighborhood where these noise-nuisances occur all day and all night. Luis Burbano of Everett lives in that neighborhood. The noise of speeding vehicles on Dakota street often wake up his entire family, affecting their alertness for work and school; impacting their quality of life.

Having dealt with a noisy neighbor in the past, in my my condo days, I can tell you that after a while just going to bed at night is fraught with anxiety. "Is tonight the night I finally get to sleep?" It sounds petty and ridiculous, but it's a real problem if it's your daily life that's being affected.

Burbano, an engineer at Boeing, took his concerns to the city. He even crunched some numbers (based on WSDOT information) and found that Everett has more car fatalities per capita than other cities in the area, including Seattle.

The City of Everett had the following excuses for not doing anything about the speeders on Burbano's street:

• Everett Police are understaffed, thus unable to respond to non-emergency matters
• Speed bumps are impractical because they slow emergency vehicles
• Modifying the street is too pricey

It sounds like Burbano will have to learn to live with the noise, or move to a quieter neighborhood. He shouldn't have to do either.