Safety Paradox on the Streets of San Francisco: Garage Alarms for Pedestrians
20091018 at 23:05 UPDATE: Bad neighbors don’t care, their employees don’t either
Saturday, April 10 2010, 6PM
As the alarm went off continually, I shouted from an outdoor table at Elephant and Castle. The valets and concierge looked over as I yelled, pointing at the alarm making the noise. They saw me, and went back to catering to visitors to SF.
I called a waitress outside to show her what was going on. She was lovely, and understood exactly what I was getting at, but was puzzled as to what to do next. I will ask her to inform the owner (pf Elephant and Castle) of the disturbance caused by Le Meridien. I’d like to know whether he or she is inclined to act.
I happen to know that customers of Le Meridien enjoy the Elephant and Castle. No Elephant and Castle customers feel that way about Le Meridien to my knowledge. Cafe Prague on Merchant street has outdoor tables that aren’t subject to this horrible noise.
- Geo-local props: documented on Foursquare: Elephant & Castle’s awesome waitress, and the ongoing problem with Le Meridien
UPDATE: Geo-local shame
- Posted the only checkin and photo for BrightKite: Le Meridien
- Added the second “tip” for Le Meridien in San Francisco on Foursquare
- Negative tip on Foursquare: Le Meridien scrubbed
- Scrubbed complaint lives on at Foursquare: reechard
- All links point back here
UPDATE: SF MoMA gets a pass
I believe the city or a contracted private company operates the garage on behalf of SF MoMA — and it is not an immediate “neighbor” of mine where Le Meridien certainly is.
The problem is the same, but the SF MoMA garage isn’t directly bothering people, other than passers-by walking down the alley.
There are two instances of a pedestrian “safety measure” that are so embarrassingly bad, I simply must point them out. The “safety measure” I’m referring to is the “warning alarm” meant to signal to pedestrians that a vehicle is about to emerge from a garage onto the street.
These alarms are automatic, and go off continually. I’m not sure what inhumane ogre equipped Le Meridien’s and SF MoMA’s garages, but I’d love to have words with it. These two garages emit such horrible noise it damages the quality of life for the entire block. In addition, the noise is so loud and unpleasant that hearing impairment is a real possibility.
I’ve embedded the recent, relevant TED talk to persuade the SF MoMA and the Meridien Hotel that proper, aesthetic use of sound makes good business sense.
I’m at a loss as to why repeated, jarring, unpleasant noises are added by choice to modern urban environments. There is a delightful little private parking garage near the bottom of Columbus that uses an ingenious alarm bell — it’s an actual bell mechanism that goes “ding ding.” Imagine that!
Le Meridien should soon realize that I’m a nearby neighbor who has been offended by their “safety measure” many, many times. Furthermore, they are damaging the business of the Elephant and Castle across the street, which has outside tables that are repeatedly bombarded with their “safety measure.” Perhaps if I approach the Elephant and Castle directly with a noise complaint against Le Meridien, it will have a more immediate impact. Some businesses are deaf to complaints of citizens.
I expect I’ll need to file a noise complaint with the city to get relief in either or both cases. I’d like to know if these alarms exceed the decibel level which the city’s “noise abatement” department handles.
Le meridien are nasty noise polluters who stink up the whole block