The Best Place to Live in Missoula If You’re Lookin’ for Some Peace and Quiet

Alright it's no secret that Missoula is expanding to accommodate the influx of people setting down roots in one of the last best places to live in America. In comparison to cities like Los Angeles and New York, we are still on the small side, and yet we have an international airport, highway 90 and the world famous University of Montana.

With the growing population comes more cars on our roads and more flights in and out of Missoula International Airport. In other words, more noise! Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) released a National Transportation Noise Map that indicates more than 97 percent of the U.S. population has the potential to be exposed to noise from aviation and Interstate highways at levels below 50 decibels. Generally 50 decibels can be compared to the standard noise level of a humming of a refrigerator.

Personally I'm not one who gets bothered by background noises. Heck I have the radio on right now and am still able to concentrate and complete my work without being distracted. But unfortunately there are a lot of Missoulians who chose to live in a place like Missoula in order to get away from the constant noise from both air and street traffic. Thankfully there are still a bunch of places in and around town that can give you both easy access to downtown Missoula while simultaneously blocking out most unwanted noises.

You just have to know where to look!

According to the map released by BTS, the highest density of noise traffic directly correlates with the flight patterns setup at the MIP. No surprise that the second nosiest area of Missoula is the land that hugs the 90.