Basketball Noise (2023 Update)

[Buck Turgidson]

Unfortunately, the city I live in allows basketball hoops in driveways. What's further unfortunate is my neighbor's 4 kids are constantly playing outside my and my children's BR window. Sometimes each with their own basketball.

I've called their parents twice when it was time for our young kids' bedtime. He was cooperative about it. But the constant thumping of a basketball gets old during the day, too. Occasionally, other their little friends will come over for practice, too.

I don't want to deprive their kids of their fun, but at the same time, I am entitled to the quiet enjoyment of my property.

Do I have any recourse? I am not optomistic that I do.

[Oren]

Relax. I went through the same thing. Sometimes, more than a dozen kids. In our area they move the hoops into the street, not just the driveway. Many times I've seen speeding cars on the street.

It will come to the end as soon as the kids discovery other, more interesting things and I moved after ten years.

Recourse? Turn up the stereo.....

-- Oren

"If things get any worse, I'll have to ask you to stop helping me."

[HeyBub]

An outside speaker. With Mozart. Drives them nuts.

[Xeno Chauvin]

Doesn't your city have a noise ordinance after certain hours? You might also try putting up a lattice screen with climbing plants as a noise barrier in front of the windows or noise suppressing drapes on the windows. Xeno

[Goedjn]

White noise generator, and/or soundproofing. Basketballs bouncing are well within the noise level you ought to be able/willing to tolerate in the daytime. Is this a new situation for you? (Either you just moved, or the neighbors did?) I expect that you'll get used to it fairly quickly, once you stop fighting it. People get used to train tracks and fire stations, after all.

[HeyBub]

You don't get used to basketballs bouncing. Trust me.

Noise generators and soundproofing deal with the symptom (as do earplugs which, at fifty cents, are a better deal than almost any other "symptom solution").

There are various ways to deal with the problem; my suggestion of Mozart was only one. but one that has proven remarkably effective at Stop-N-Robs. There's another device, a high-pitched noise maker that produces a shrill tone adults can't hear but that teens (and younger) find very annoying.

Firearms come to mind.

You might find a ball that doesn't make noise when it bounces - maybe one made of sponge rubber. Perhaps there's a coating for the driveway.

Then, too, there's firearms.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It is a lose-lose situation. Best approach is to have a beer with the neighbor and discuss it openly. Perhaps a curfew at some time in the evening or even a free hour at some time. Point out some time that you are typically not home or do not care that the kids can enjoy themselves.

The best time to do this is when the kids are out playing. Invite the neighbor over so he can hear the thump, thump thump. Yes, it can drive you nuts at times. I had the same thing with my own kids and grandkids.

[HeyBub]

So, pay the piddly $100 fine. Cheap compared to some alternatives.

Besides, they have to convict you.

You can claim exigent circumstances:

1. You had reason to believe and did believe you were being attacked by terrorist squirrels who wanted to force you to work in their secret underground nut mines.

1. You acted only to prevent the imment commission of rape, aggravated rape, robbery, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, murder, manslaughter, or treason.

2. You felt your life was in jeopardy and acted in self-defense.

1. Voices in your head compelled you to destroy the alien ball before it grew sufficiently to smother the earth. In your view, you should get a ticker-tape parade not a municipal ticket.

[mm]

This is a personal thing. It's not about trust. You may not be able to get used to it, but many/most/or everyone but you :) will.

I used to live next door to Teen Challenge, a heroin addiction place immortalized in _The Cross and the Switchblade_, a book and a movie starring Pat Boone.

They had a basketball court right by my window. I thought I knew the apartment and hadn't looked out the window before I rented the apartment and was really angry at myself when I saw it. But it didn't take too long to get used to the guys playing.

[Banty]

So what _exactly_ would you have the neighbors do? Not use their driveway to shoot hoops?? What else can't they do? Is it OK if they mow their lawn?

This is well within what most neighborhoods consider reasonable and tolerable. People reasonably expect to play outdoor games on their property, and there's no way to play basketball without doing some balls bouncing. There should be hours when it doesn't happen, yes.

If he were to take your advice, he might well find out what *he* does that bugs the neighbors, but that they had been tolerating up to now in order to be neighborly.

You guys need to take it easy.

Banty

[mm]

:-) None of us were. Certainly not me. They had a pretty high success rate. I would see them walking from the original building, a very big home from the early 1900's, to their new building for meals. It was the 70's and t-shirts were common but not for them. They had to wear button down sport shirts and chinos.

>

[Goedjn]

It is PURELY psychological. Once you convince your hindbrain that it's normal environmental noise, you'll have to concentrate to hear it. This is one of the few situations where I think a session with a hypnotherapist would probably be useful.

[Matt R Sullivan]

replying to Edwin Pawlowski, Matt R Sullivan wrote: Great advice here.

[Wayne Boatwright]

replying to Buck Turgidson, Wayne Boatwright wrote: When I lived in a gated community with a homeowner's association, cars/trucks had to be parked in the garage, not in the driveway or in the street. Visitors or repair vehicles could park in the driveway for a limited number of hours.. Overflow permanent parking was only allowed in an adjacent private parking lot that was shielded from the houses. all homes had either two or three car garages. There should been no need for excessive numbers of vehicles in front of the house. No permanently mounted basketball hoops were allowed. Portable hoops had to be parked on the back patio, out of sight and generally out of hearing range from other homes. I don't mind following rules as long as everyone else does.

There was a semi-private playground less than a block from the three cul-de-sacs of homes. Plenty of places for kids of most ages to play.

Believe me when I say that I read the by-laws word for word. I don't tolerate infractions lightly.

[catalpa]

"I don't tolerate infractions lightly."

Really? You have no problem being clueless and replying to an 11 year old post by a jokester.

[Kate Riviello]

The noise (decibels) of the thump of the basketball and against the board is very very loud and also could constitute infrasound (like the booming of a car stereo - unable to be recorded and must be measured by an infrasound machine - not a decibel machine). Infrasound is something you FEEL not just hear. Basketball noise is EXTREMELY annoying. Check out noisefree dot org for ideas about how to change legislation. One could file a lawsuit to pass a law that basketball should be played at the park where high fences for safety and soft ground removes the loud thump. If it stayed legal as a compromise the hours should be outlined and certainly not evening hours at all.

[Shutup]

The sound of a train is way less annoying than a f****ng basketball shut the f*ck up

[Manny]

Don't listen to Banty! It is considered ignorant when you move into a quiet neighborhood, put up a hoop, and have a bunch of kids with their own basketballs playing all day long, yelling and screaming! Ridiculous of Banty to even say anything because obviously he doesn't have to deal with this disturbance!

[Shawn]

Telling someone to relax is impolite and unhelpful.

[Shawn]

That would probably work. I just turn up the music in my house. But if I’m outside I have to wear noise canceling headphones most of the time due to a public basketball court over a block away. There’s only a huge parking lot between us and the sound really travels.