Population density and community noise in South Florida

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The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is the eighth most populous in the U.S. but ranks sixteenth in land area. Confined within the twenty-miles between the Atlantic Ocean and the Everglades, most of the land area the MSA envelops cannot expand as its population grows. As a result, continued development has increased the proximity of urban population centers to less-populated “rural” areas. The results of long-term sound level measurements conducted at over 50 locations throughout the MSA are assessed in conjunction with land uses, population densities, and other statistical data to determine conformance with ASA, ANSI, and WHO guidelines and the U.S. EPA prediction model. Initial analyses revealed noise levels at most measurement locations to be inconsistent with these criteria, even in less-populated areas farther from urban centers. The datasets are compared to establish relationships at the local level and are combined based on their land use designations and respective location within municipal and county boundaries, the MSA, and smaller statistical areas for further correlation with standardized guidelines.