I was rude to earl in my original post, and I apologize for that. I have no way to be sure what kind of neighbor he'd make, and I shouldn't draw conclusions from one post.
I grew up mostly in the suburbs or in smaller cities (Columbus, Lexington), and I've lived my entire adult life in cities (New York first, Philadelphia now.) In my experience, which is limited to those two cities, I've found that the base level of noise is higher in the cities regardless of time. Trash trucks, ambulances, police cars, delivery trucks, drunks walking home, cabs cruising for fares, and tons of other noisy events occur at all times of day and with a greater frequency than I experienced in the suburbs.
I overreacted to earl's post. I pictured him as the type of person who can't handle any late night noise, regardless of the day of week or the holiday associated. I pictured the kind of guy who won't sign the block party application, or who pins notes to your door or car.
I lived by people like the one I describe, and I can't stand them. Maybe I'm unique--one of my first apartments was within a 1.5 block radius of a very active fire station, four bars, a liquor store, and a 24 hour gas station. You get used to noise pretty quick, or give up sleeping in environments like that.
But, politically, I do have a point: I don't see why earl's right to be free from potentially noisy, short term neighbors should lead to legislation that will cripple an industry that hasn't had the time to find its legs. We're killing innovation by some to avoid possible annoyance of others.
That doesn't seem like a fair trade, or a likely one. I doubt anyone paying to spend a few nights in earl's neighborhood is really there to throw a kegger and urinate in the hallway.
