Apparently someone in my building smokes heavily and the smell travels up through the vents. It's awful, and I can't even get away from it by opening a window because whoever it is also smokes outside on one of the balconies, and it just comes in that way too. Additionally, I have neighbors who moved in recently that enjoy preparing ethnic meals. I have no problem with foreign foods, but those smells can really stick in an apartment, and sometimes they're highly disgusting, even smelling like rotting garbage, vomit, or decay/dead animal. And then there are the smells that I can't even identify, and these are the most troubling. Usually it smells like burning plastic, but there have been other musty, moldy, mildew smells over the months. Not knowing what it is that you're breathing and having some stranger determine the quality of your air becomes very distressing indeed.
Then there is the noise factor. In case you hadn't heard on some other reviews, the building sits between a fire station and a school, and there is also a red light on the road just next to my building. When the station gets an emergency call, a very loud air raid siren goes off for about 15 seconds at a time, several times a night, at all hours of the day and night. If you don't have some way of blocking out the noise, say with some type of fan or white noise machine, then it will probably wake you or your children. Then, during the day you get to listen to students in the school parking lot or those at the red light revving their car engines and peeling out. And there's also the high school band. During the summer months and the fall, they play well into the night practicing for football games. You may find yourself having to turn up your television louder just to hear it, or again, you may find yourself unable to sleep, as have I on many occasions. You will find that both smells and sounds are a problem in the entryway as well. Also I can hear people fighting and flushing their toilets in their apartments.
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