My husband and I were the plaintiffs in the case the city of Boise settled by agreeing to close the pickleball courts near our home. Out of necessity, I have also become a physician-researcher studying the health effects of noise.
Once the city of Boise understood the issue with the pickleball noise at Willow Lane, they also chose to close the pickleball courts on the other side of town. Our house is 57 feet from 6 public courts that were used from 7 am until 10 pm for several years. At Manitou, courts were only 30 feet away from homes. The courts were put in with no input from the surrounding neighborhoods.
Pickleball noise is not just about the decibel level. One court produces 900 pops per hour. So, on a busy day, 6 courts might produce 55,000 pops. The pop is a high frequency sound, about 1200 Hz. Humans are very sensitive to these frequencies, and back up alarms on vehicles are set at this level for a reason…