Right - unless you’re getting a custom home, builders do jack shit about noise control - at best, you’ll have some fiberglass batting inside an interior wall, but even that is usually not done. Take the same kind of standard cost-cutting and apply it to an apartment complex, and congratulations, you just created the projects. My point being is that if residential density is a desired social policy, then there need to be standards put in place that focus on quality of life, not just safety/environmental standards. But builders and developers have regulatory capture (in the US), and things like “quality of life” are marketing premiums rather than something everyone should enjoy.
Add to that the fact you cannot make noise and are subjected to the noise made from your neighbours. Also, cramped spaces makes people more irritable.
Right - unless you’re getting a custom home, builders do jack shit about noise control - at best, you’ll have some fiberglass batting inside an interior wall, but even that is usually not done. Take the same kind of standard cost-cutting and apply it to an apartment complex, and congratulations, you just created the projects. My point being is that if residential density is a desired social policy, then there need to be standards put in place that focus on quality of life, not just safety/environmental standards. But builders and developers have regulatory capture (in the US), and things like “quality of life” are marketing premiums rather than something everyone should enjoy.