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What this map does not show is how high up the planes are at each point on these approaches/takeoffs. A more appropriate comparison would be to look at the noise contour maps. These have been posed numerous times on this forum. Just do a search for "noise contour".
2xlaxmom: Which town felt more like "home " to you. We also have looked at both and they seemed very different to me. Holly Springs more rural. Which one feels like a better fit for you and your family??
We live in south Cary 3 minutes from Holly Springs in what used to be Apex. We are not in the hustle and bustle of northern Cary and I've heard an airplane come overhead 3 times in the 20 months we've lived here. Find a home you like in a neighborhood you like that is currently assigned to a school you have preference for. I'd worry less about what town it was in quite honestly because they are all so intertwined.
We live in south Cary 3 minutes from Holly Springs in what used to be Apex. We are not in the hustle and bustle of northern Cary and I've heard an airplane come overhead 3 times in the 20 months we've lived here. Find a home you like in a neighborhood you like that is currently assigned to a school you have preference for. I'd worry less about what town it was in quite honestly because they are all so intertwined.
Yes, I know where you're located... a section of Cary that is removed from the main part of Cary... you're out of most all flight paths like Holly Springs. However, this is a real issue for folks that don't like airplane noise. Bottom line appears to be that if you want to avoid planes flying over your house and associated noise, you must avoid living in the main part of Cary... you can't rely on the noise contours, you must rely on the flight paths for your decision. If the sight of airplanes flying over your house and associated noise doesn't bother you in the least then that's good, this is for the rest of us. Don't take my word for it. Please read these recent posts:
I contacted RDU's Noise Officer and received a very prompt and insightful reply...
Apparently, the true meaning of the Composite Noise Contours map is not that significant airplane noise is contained within the contours. Nope. The contours represent a zone whereby the average noise over a 24 hour period is within a specific decibal range. So, you could be outside the zones indicated by the Composite Contours Map, say in SW Durham, and have a fighter jet fly low over your house twice a day, yet if the average decibals to which you are subjected in a 24 hour period are less than the acceptable amount your community will not be contained within the noise contours on the map.
Here is the direct quote, cut and pasted from the e-mail I received:
Noise contours represent the annual daily average decibel level.
In other words, imagine adding up all the noise for one year and then dividing the noise by 365 days. Eventually you get an annual averaged daily decibel level. This averaging is done logarithmically since sound occurs exponentially in nature and not linearly. So it is not obvious by looking at the map that the decibel is an average decibel. This is the methodology that we must use in accordance with Federal regulations.
At RDU we use the Composite Noise Contours for noise disclosure purposes. This particular set of noise contours includes the noise from a year that was much noisier than today plus a future projected year that includes use of a third parallel runway that does not currently exist but could be built in the future if needed. All of this effort was done to determine the maximum noise exposure.
Previous litigation in North Carolina Superior Court ultimately established a precedent that the 55 decibel noise contour was important. Thus the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority determined that noise disclosure would occur at the 55 decibel noise contour shown on the Composite Noise Contour map.
So noise disclosure is not based strictly on flight tracks. If that were the case, then everybody would have noise disclosure. Noise contours are used for disclosure and not flight tracks because of mandates from both the government and the court system.
Noise matters can be confusing and require explanation to be understood since none of it is intuitively obvious. Plus we must always be mindful of the fact that the noise contour decibel is averaged over time.
Thus there will be times when an airplane flies overhead and makes more than 55 decibels. However that noise will be averaged with the times when there are no airplanes overhead. The annual average daily decibel level is below 55 decibels in your neighborhood. Therefore you do not have a noise disclosure requirement should you choose to sell your property. The builders or homeowners do not have a noise disclosure requirement when selling in Southwest Durham.
This explanation, and its technical basis, is very different than our layman's understanding of the Composite Noise Contours map and that of our first realtor who showed us the map when looking at a development in NW Cary, telling us that airplane noise would never be a problem in that specific development. To my knowledge, this explanation is not currently present on RDU's web page.
So, the lesson we learned and will pass on to others is that you should heed the advice given to walk the neighborhood in which you are interested if it is within a 15 or so mile radius of RDU, whether the community is in the Composite Noise Contours map or not. We didn't think we had to because our community is nowhere near the contours. You should do this in the morning and evening, because that is when flights usually depart and arrive.
We examined a close up of the flight tracks for our neighborhood, noting that purportedly only a few flights per day are scheduled to fly over. We suspect that some pilots are deviating from the path and flying low, increasing the frequency and noise level.
So, there you have it...
Oh it's more complicated than that. . . . .
You also should walk the neighborhood when the wind is blowing from various directions. Remember that planes take off into the wind. For example, if the wind is blowing from the north, they generally take off towards the north. The noise that a plane makes while taking off is worse than when it is landing, generally.
Also, you should walk the neighborhood on a nice sunny clear day, and also a drab, drizzly day when the cloud ceiling is low. When the weather is bad, planes will usually try to get under the cloud cover sooner on approach to landing. That means that they will be flying lower than normal. Couple that with a low cloud cover that bounces the sound back towards the ground, and you end up with a VERY different noise level.
The closest the OP came to airplane noise was referring to "...trying to decide where we want to land."
Cary and Holly Springs both have desirable attributes, and except for very subjective judgement, Cary is most certainly not "full of airplane noise..." worth considering to discredit the entire town.
I would consider Cary for lower Taxes, better location in the Triangle for access to other towns, many more services and retail.
I would consider Holly Springs for Carolina Brewing Company , smaller town way of life, and if I needed access to more affordable housing.
You also should walk the neighborhood when the wind is blowing from various directions. Remember that planes take off into the wind. For example, if the wind is blowing from the north, they generally take off towards the north. The noise that a plane makes while taking off is worse than when it is landing, generally.
Also, you should walk the neighborhood on a nice sunny clear day, and also a drab, drizzly day when the cloud ceiling is low. When the weather is bad, planes will usually try to get under the cloud cover sooner on approach to landing. That means that they will be flying lower than normal. Couple that with a low cloud cover that bounces the sound back towards the ground, and you end up with a VERY different noise level.
We are now leaning toward Holly Springs, but would like a little feedback on the town and high school.
We live 8 miles east of downtown Holly Springs. We go to Holly Springs once every few months for one of 3 reasons:
1) Bass Lake Draft House
2) Home Grown Pizza
3) Landfill (only landfill in south Wake county that takes hazardous household waste)
Conversely, we are about 13 miles south of downtown Cary, but spend practically half of each weekend in Cary, running errands, dining out, using the parks and greenways, etc.
We have one child, he's only 2, so I can't offer any help WRT the highschools.
The closest the OP came to airplane noise was referring to "...trying to decide where we want to land."
Cary and Holly Springs both have desirable attributes, and except for very subjective judgement, Cary is most certainly not "full of airplane noise..." worth considering to discredit the entire town.
I would consider Cary for lower Taxes, better location in the Triangle for access to other towns, many more services and retail.
I would consider Holly Springs for Carolina Brewing Company , smaller town way of life, and if I needed access to more affordable housing.
Nothing really negative to say about either town.
OK, Mike, I think we're getting close to agreeing on some things.
I believe that the two Towns have two distinct personalities.
Cary is closer in and, therfore, more cosmopolitan. Real Estate is pricier. Bricks and mortar stores, and more high end stuff, are right there. Commute time is probably, but not necessarily, lower depending on where you're going. More metropolitan suburban. The isolated part of Cary just north of HS is the exception. This part of Cary is more like Holly Springs... at least until the Outer Beltline gets built through there.
Holly Springs is the value area. You get more house for your money. It's especially appealing if you make many purchases on the internet, and/or work from home a lot, and/or don't eat out a lot. More family oriented and laid back. A very good sense of community. However, recent large commercial developments along the 55 Bypass have brought, and will continue to bring, many bricks and mortar stores and eateries to the Town. More small town rural.
Tax rates are different: http://www.wakegov.com/NR/rdonlyres/AC8EA9E6-C572-4C65-8B15-8AC9CAB2D1B0/0/TaxRates2007.pdf (broken link) but are subject to change as the history shows.
Moderator cut: off topic
I believe no place is perfect and every choice involves tradeoffs.
Last edited by autumngal; 04-30-2008 at 07:20 AM..
Reason: read the Mod note above please, ty
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Airplane Noise 3
This thread is totally hijacked!
, smaller town way of life, and if I needed access to more affordable housing.
But as always full of great info. 
, we should pull it back to toss up a little bit more info 
(only landfill in south Wake county that takes hazardous household waste)
