SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Noise is a fact of life in any major city, but it can also have a major effect on your health and happiness. A new map pinpoints the noisiest places to live in the country and in San Diego.
The sounds of San Diego are ubiquitous and usually innocuous, unless you happen to live or work in one of the county's high-decibel areas now mapped out by noise level by the U.S. Department of Transportation - which measured transportation-related noise.
Not surprisingly, those measurements spike around Lindbergh Field as well as the county's smaller airports, near San Diego's freeways and other high-traffic roadways.
Jonathan Brothers, who is an acoustic consultant at Eilar Associates in Escondido, said elevated noise levels - depending on the frequency of exposure - can impact a person's health.
"Noise is fairly subjective. One person may be able to deal with a noisy environment better than the next. You start dealing with increased stress. It can affect your blood pressure. It can really affect your day to day routine and quality of life," he said.
According to Brothers, there are effective ways of dealing with a constant barrage of noise - aside from installing double-pane windows.
"Sometimes it is just as simple as a white noise machine or adding a water feature in your yard - something to sort of mask the noise," said Brothers.
Interestingly, the areas around Naval Air Station North Island and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar did not show elevated noise levels on the map.