subway in the backyard!
My husband and I found a house that we love and that we can afford and in a place where we want to be. Hitch: the Q train runs in the backyard. The sound doesn’t bother us, at least not now, but we wonder if it will quickly become grating. More importantly, we wonder about resale value. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Or if you live with the subway in the backyard, could you let me know if its damaging your house or your mind? Thanks!
bkbound11
in Quality of Life 9 years and 6 months ago
13
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13 replies
CTG | 9 years and 6 months ago
Is the property near a station stop? It’s one thing to hear subways going by (rhythmic white noise), it’s quite another to endure them screeching to a halt every 5 minutes!
zekedancin | 9 years and 6 months ago
I’ve been living above/next to the B/Q for 2.5 years. All of my windows face the train (corner of building). Within a week or two, I almost never heard it anymore. Occasionally I’ll wake up, but not very often at all, and most times I never notice it.
bengchapman | 9 years and 6 months ago
We lived in DPW on the Q train for 11 years (2001 – 2012). We got so used to it that only noticed it when it was really quiet (like someone mentioned before). We got used to the soothing sound of it. When quests would ask if we minded the noise, and we would think “what noise?”. The ONE real draw that I have to admit (which was a pretty big draw back), was trying to sit outside in the yard, during rush hour and trying to have a conversation. You’d have to take advantage of the brief moments when all four trains weren’t racing by. But on the weekends it wasn’t an issue at all, and that is when we spent the most time outside anyways. The neighborhood has exploded between 2001 and 2012 and we had no trouble selling our house at all. And I sometimes look at real estate in that area, and it continues to climb – – despite the trains.
jackstraw | 9 years and 6 months ago
As a general rule, anything that annoys you about a house before you buy is going to annoy you more and more as time goes on after you buy it.
evfred | 9 years and 6 months ago
We live in Fiske Terrace, 3 houses from the Q train which is at grade at our block. We have lived here for 35 years and the only time we really notice the train, is when it is NOT running, e.g. a big snowstorm or a transit strike. Since all our streets are dead ends, we have little traffic, so I’d gladly have the train noise instead of traffic noise, which can be incessant and never ending. The houses in our neighborhood are selling like hotcakes, for ever-increasing bucks, so I doubt the train is much of a factor.
BobMarvin | 9 years and 6 months ago
I have friends in the Ocean on the Park HD, in PLG, where the Q and B trains run past their back yards. I never found the sound of the subway to be especially disturbing while visiting them. I also grew up near the LIRR tracks along Austin Street in Forest Hills Queens. Those on grade trains were much noisier than the subway, yet I had no trouble filtering the sound out.
E_Minor | 9 years and 6 months ago
I’m half a block from the BQE ditch on Hicks street. While I dont hear it when I’m inside, I definitely do hear it in the backyard. You do get kinda used to it as white noise, but I feel the backyard is not a very peaceful place to be. A train running right at the end of your backyard would be loud. Unless there’s a significant discount, I’d think twice.
potroast | 9 years and 6 months ago
Well its not in my backyard but I did buy a house 1/2 block from the J. The price was right, partially I am sure due to the train. At first I wondered if I had made a terrible mistake. After the movers left all I could focus on was the train. 2 days later, what train? I hardly even hear it anymore. And when I do, its the sound of home.
chemosphere | 9 years and 6 months ago
The Japanese house in Ditmas has the subway in the yard. So do the Ocean on the Park landmarked houses, one of which just sold for over $2m. For that matter, most of Dumbo is within earshot of the trains rumbling over the bridge, and it’s the most expensive hood in Brooklyn.
BSDOD | 9 years and 6 months ago
People have managed to live along the Q line for generations….and will continue to do so
resident2 | 9 years and 6 months ago
I heard that the Bloomberg admin was looking into doing something about the overground subway rail noise; realizing what a mental health issue it is to live with constant noise such as this. Plus of course with all his travelling to London and other Euro Cities, he saw that they had solved the issue somewhat…. It is an issue that does not effect many Manhattanites, put as better services roll out for the people moving further out….. So before you re-sell it will be on your list to help the movement to stop the MTA noise pollution. Compared to other Urban noise, IE: The Cops trying out their new helicopters and flood lights or high speed siren drills etc. which they do seem to have stopped recently…. The trains become just part of the babbling hummmmm.
Augustiner | 9 years and 6 months ago
You can’t fight the vibration – but noise blocking windows and nicely insulated rear wall can dampen the sound by about 40 db compared to an open window. In your situation that means you’d hear it faintly. Also depending on the height of the tracks a cheaper solution might be to build a brick wall at the end of your lot to block of noise from the tracks. If you could convince yourself that it’s not a problem then you’d surely find a buyer who thinks like you.
sqhaexgkh | 9 years and 6 months ago
I lived in top of a subway line and my apartment would shake a bit and you could hear the train when it passed. It was something I got used to, not the end of the world. May be an issue for re sale, I wouldn’t buy a house with a train in the backyard out of preference and due to my past experience.