Hello all!
I’m breaking my head over a good location to live. In the end it’s all about compromise and preference, but to make an informed opinion on my own, your ideas are highly valued!
I am looking to rent a quiet and peaceful place (Region Limburg – Vlaams Brabant – Antwerpen). Where I live now I have a lot of noise and it’s having an unhealthy impact on my stress levels (unfortunately more sensitive to it than most people I guess).
I’m working from home a lot, but I have to go to the office once a week so living the furthest from a highway or train station is not a good idea but I don’t have to live really really close to it. I’m a freelancer so good connection to Brussels is also a factor. My family and most of my friends live in North Limburg (BE), but that region has a very bad connection with train and highway.
*I use* [this](https://cdn.belgiantrain.be/-/media/images/travel-info/leaflets/network-map-large.ashx) *to have an idea of Belgian train-stations at places I might find interesting.Unfortunately, it doesn’t keep track of direct-connection trains which don’t stop everywhere.*
Thoughts and feedback are welcome!
3 comments
Erquelinnes has a trainstation and you wont have much noise.
Diest ticks a few of your boxes. Exactly in the center of those three provinces. Not far away from the E314 or even the E313. It has a trainconnection to Brussels in 38 minutes. It’s not that close to the north of Limburg but you’ll have to compromise somewhere.
Noise pollution isn’t about moving to the other side of the country.
Noise doesn’t travel very far.
Things you need to pay attention to:
The immediate environment. Usually the wind comes from the South West so any sources of noise like highways, industry or train tracks better not be to the South West of your house.
The wind can carry sound a few kilometers while it normally only travels 500 meters at most.
Also things like a pub or fast food place often produce noise late in the evening.
The age of the building if you are sharing walls. Noise insulation was only used in the last few decades so older row houses and apartments allow you to follow the neighbors conversations and footsteps.
Even living in the middle of a city in Belgium, you can have a low level of noise as long as there are a few buildings between you and busy roads.
I used to live in the center of Ghent and the apartment was oriented to an inner courtyard so there was zero noise from the streets. Only a little from a neighbor sometimes.
So every village and town in the regions you selected have quiet corners, you just need to verify things on google maps carefully and visit several times to ensure there are no hidden sources of noise.