Urban noise | Drunks, trucks and dogs. Is there no relief?

Noise.

Where there is city life, noise doesn't seem to be too far away, pulsing in the darkness and waking people in the middle of the night.

It's not just noisy nightclubs, which have become so disruptive to nearby neighbors that the city plans on tougher enforcement. It's the persistent car alarms, truck engines, construction, dogs barking, or the hoots and hollers of drunken passers-by. At best this cacophony is a nuisance; at worst it robs people of their peace, their sleep and in some cases their health.

The bar scene

Publications and media coordinator Pamela Sowers often can't sleep at night in her Capitol Hill apartment. From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. bar patrons spill out onto the sidewalk, yelling and screaming. The bass vibrates from cars cruising the streets.

"People seem to think that Capitol Hill is like Disneyland and no one lives there," she said. "But we do, and we try to live our lives and do our work and the noise is frustrating."

To cope she turns on a loud electric fan and plays her stereo at night. Less than a year ago she had a custom window treatment installed, but even the layers of fabric didn't stop the noise completely. She eventually rented a one-room efficiency unit in the basement of her building, where she works on her writing.

"I'm glad that they [the bars and clubs] are prospering, but it seems to be doing well at the expense of the health and wellness of the neighbors," says Sowers, who is in her mid-50s. "We don't want them to shut down, but I want a little more control on the noise."

Julia Kissel, the owner of Sowers' building at Belmont and Howell, said some of her tenants are moving out because of the noise.

She is losing two tenants this month and lost seven tenants last year during the summer.

"They write me notes that say we just can't take it anymore, we need our sleep," she said.

Out of the 50 apartments in Kissel's building, most of the residents are in their mid-20s.

Kissel and her husband, Francois, used to own the building that housed the City Loan Pavillon, their French restaurant in Pioneer Square, but had to sell it in the late 1980s.

"The noise was so great that we couldn't run an elegantly furnished restaurant, so we decided to go to Capitol Hill."

Temporary retiree Bill Browers has the same problem as Sowers, but in Fremont.

The noise starts to spill out from bars and clubs onto the streets near his town house at 1:15 a.m. and goes to about 2:30 a.m. One time he stood on his balcony and yelled at people to be quiet.

But he doesn't do that often.

"I don't want to be shot or my house vandalized," the 54 year-old said.

That's not the last of Browers' noise problem. The drunken screams are not heard as often as the loud, roaring trucks that constantly zoom by on Browers' two-lane street, hauling asphalt and gravel for construction projects.

"It's irritating," he says, "I can't hear the TV sometimes."

Noise and the body

Living with noise can bring about heartache — literally. It has been associated with high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms and heart attacks.

It can also cause sleep deprivation, which can lead to car and work accidents, and affects mood or performance.

When there is loud noise the body releases hormones called catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine), said Dr. Anil Coumar, director of mental health at Hall Health Primary Care on the UW campus.

Catecholamines trigger the body's fight-or-flight response, which prepares the body for physical activity by accelerating blood pressure, heart rate, breathing and shunting the blood from the digestive track to the muscles, brain and heart.

The release of catecholamines can disturb sleep like caffeine, Coumar said.

Louis Hagler, a retired physician from Oakland, Calif., has dedicated his retirement to answering questions about living with noise.

In 1991, the 71-year-old moved to nearby Richmond, Calif., to spend his days in peace and quiet near an idyllic marina.

But the constant drumming of trains sabotaged Hagler's preconceived utopia — he had moved near a railroad. He couldn't stand the noise, it kept him up at night, it tortured him, it taunted him for almost 15 years.

He became irritable, angry and his blood pressure rose for the first time in his life.

The doctor in him had to find an explanation, so Hagler pored over scientific literature that explained the effects of long-term exposure to noise.

"The issue with long-term exposure to noise and the environment is not really hearing loss. Hearing loss is an occupational problem — for people exposed to loud noises over a long period of time," he said. "The more important issue is stress, stress is a response of the body to something that is unwanted."

Ring the alarm

Aleta Woodworth lives half a block from Alki Beach. She works as a tax preparer and accountant in her home so she hears the loud screeches of car alarms that constantly go off when the warm weather invites visitors to the beach.

About two months ago, a car alarm wouldn't stop ringing — it emitted a piercing, wavering sound that crushed all conversation.

The car was parked right across the street, and it went off 10 to 15 times for about two hours until the guy came back to get his car.

"I hoped his battery would die," the 60-year-old Woodworth said.

Even in the back of the office she had trouble talking to her client, and her assistant couldn't talk on the phone.

In another car-alarm incident Woodworth took action.

Three young boys routinely bumped parked cars on her street to set off alarms, she said.

A large woman, she stood on her porch with her hands on her hips and said, "If you do that again I'll sit on you!"

The boys never came back.

What can you do?

To solve the problem, Coumar suggests changing locations or learning how to eliminate stress with relaxing exercises such as yoga.

Hagler advocates legislative action.

"The solution is for the legislators to enact laws that will be enforced, and part of it is public education to teach people that noise is a pollutant."

In Seattle, the Department of Planning and Development enforces noise complaints from mechanical equipment used on buildings and construction.

"Make sure your apartment or unit has windows that provide sound insulation," said Alan Justad, director of community relations. "If you have buses running down the street, sound proof the unit or insulate walls."

But police have to enforce complaints made about noisy people, which is sometimes a problem.

"We make a concerted effort to respond to every call in a timely manner, said Mark Jamieson, Seattle Police Department spokesman. "But the reality is sometimes things have to wait."

Or people can take Woodworth's advice.

"It would be nice if people would be more considerate of other people's ears," she said. "It doesn't matter if they are at the beach or in the city."

Taya Flores: 206-464-3825 or tflores@seattletimes.com