Quotes from our Phoenix neighbors, edited from documents filed by our legal team.
“For over a century, People have moved to Phoenix to spend time outside. Our historic architecture with sweeping porches and large front yards and patios support the outdoor life. Our neighborhoods are designed to promote walking to local retail, light rail and to restaurants with outdoor seating. The City just installed bikes that people can sign out at one downtown locale and drop off at another. The City shows movies in the Park. All our outdoor activities have been severely damaged and in some instances eliminated by the flight path change.”
“My home has always been my sanctuary, but aircraft noise has made me unhappy in the place I used to feel most comfortable.”
“As a resident of the Roosevelt Historic District for over 13 years, as well as a real estate broker who has specialized in historic homes in downtown Phoenix for over two decades, I have witnessed firsthand the damage done by the FAA flight path change. It is my professional opinion that the change has and will continue to have a negative impact on values within the historic neighborhoods. I have had three clients refuse to look in the FQ Story, Del Norte, Fairview Place, and Encanto-Palmcroft district because of the airplane noise. Several potential buyers turned away due to the plane noise.”
“Airplane noise is a major distraction to our 4th fourth grade son as he does his homework. Concentration is broken and reading is disrupted. Bedtime stories are accompanied by the roar of jet engines.”
“It is not unheard of to have flights over my neighborhood every 20 seconds. Sometimes it feels like a war zone. The low aircraft make it difficult to relax and focus. It is horrendous to feel, and hear this violation of our once-quiet neighborhood. I have been forced to spend money putting out-of-town guests in hotels instead of staying at our home because of the round-the-clock airplane noise.”
“I am a musician and often do recording at home. I can’t tell you how many takes have been ruined by the damn jets flying overhead.”
“Ours is a front-porch neighborhood where neighbors used to sit out on their porches and visit with one another after work each day. Now, due to the jet noise, our front-porch community culture on our street is gone. I often wear earplugs and earmuffs inside my home. Our grandchildren used to love to come to our house, play in the yard, walk to the Park, and to the local frozen yogurt shop. They now find it uncomfortable, not only in our yard, but also inside our house due to the aircraft noise. They rarely come to visit us anymore.”
“My wife and I own a home located in the Greenway Terrace neighborhood in Phoenix. We have lived here for 28 years. I am a captain with the Phoenix Fire Department, and my wife is a kindergarten teacher in the Valley. We are not wealthy. We have used our life savings to purchase and restore our property... Our goal is to revitalize the neighborhood and make it a point of pride, as are the nearby historic districts in which I grew up. It has taken us years to complete, and just as we finished, the flight path was changed. We now have jets flying over every three minutes with little relief. My personal health is compromised. After working a 24-hour shift, it is very hard to sleep... I have a difficult time getting the rest I need to perform my job with the Fire Department.”
“The airplanes cause shaking to the extent that art work has fallen off our walls. We have cracks in the ceiling and in walls since the new flight path started.”
“I am a disabled Air Force veteran living in the Woodland neighborhood. Starting in September of last year the local environment changed. All of a sudden there were planes flying overhead every few minutes. It is impossible to sleep at night, and terribly disturbing during the day. Dealing with my disabilities has become much more difficult, necessitating more visits to the hospital. Even more affected were my companion animals. My cat has always been gregarious, but has now gone into hiding. My dog, Cora, has done the same. In fact, this was a major contributing decision on my part to give her away to a family who lives in another part of Phoenix. Although Cora has been an enormous help to my well-being, at least she will have a better life instead of having to live with constant airplane noise.”
“I was diagnosed with an aneurysm behind my left eye, then with breast cancer. We moved here to be close to Barrow, but now I have been sleep deprived due to chronic jet noise. Black soot filters into our home from jet fuel burn.”
“I have a spinal cord injury which impacts all of my autonomic body systems. I am a full-time wheelchair user. I have a posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of a random shooting that paralyzed me. I work from home; my disability makes it very difficult to leave my house. With the new noise I cannot concentrate here now. The roar of the Jets and the sudden and very large shadows that pass over trigger my post-traumatic sress. I have restarted treatment as a result. I have a service dog that I rely on due to my disability. She has missed commands due to the noise. Neighbors no longer stroll in the evening so I have become isolated again. I chose this house for peacefulness. Now, it is under assault.”
“We have suspended plans for further restoration of our historic home due to the new flight path.”
“My wife and I have been residents of the Encanto-Palmcroft neighborhood for over 25 years. We raised our family here. It is a wonderful neighborhood, with unique well-maintained houses and the community spirit. Owners have been fixing up the houses, putting in front and back patios, restoring the historic quality of their homes. The improvements I have witnessed are now threatened by the airline noise that seriously affects us. It is no longer pleasant to sit outside in my garden. This unannounced move by the FAA has undermined the value of my property and that of thousands of other families.”
“As a result of the flightpath changes and increased noise levels, I have put $12,000 worth of new dual-pane windows in my home, yet the noise is still unbearable. I had guests over and we have been startled by the shadow cast by the planes because they fly so low, directly over my house.”
“For residents like me, this is not a matter of simply moving to another part of the city, as homes like ours do not exist in other parts of Phoenix.”
“My wife and I have owned a home in the Fairview Place historic District for 53 years. We have invested money, time, and effort to improve the property, anticipating it would help with expenses as we age. As an older couple, we are counting on the value we have created. We’ve been advised that our home’s valueis substantially less due to the change in flight patterns.”
“Both of us are professional artists. We work at our home studio daily. It is difficult to concentrate when planes are roaring overhead––oftenas frequently as every three minutes for hours at a time, day and night. It grinds on one’s soul!”
“We had our first child this year. We are now concerned about excessive aircraft emissions and disturbing our child’s sleep, as well as our own.”
“We have a Thanksgiving tradition of hosting our family on our big table in our backyard, under the stars. We also host other family dinners outside on our big table, like birthdays and visits with out-of-town guests. These are beautiful evenings with easy conversation and twinkle lights strung in the trees. This is also practical, since our 1930s house is small and we don’t have enough space for large family dinners inside.We can no longer do this.”
“We have a three-year-old son. Before the planes started flying overhead, he would typically spend most of the day playing in our backyard. When the plane started, he put his hands over his ears, saying that he wanted to go back inside. He said that the planes were too noisy. To this day, he plays outside less.“
“There is no longer quiet enjoyment of personal space for many of us here in the Willo and other neighborhoods––not only outdoors, but indoors as well. Surely it is not appropriate for the FAA to interfere with an indoor conversation between two or more persons sitting in the same room. I never gave the FAA much thought until last year, but now I know that some of my neighbors think about the FAA every 3 to 4 minutes.”
This is just a sampling of the many stories still unfolding. Residents in other parts of the Valley are suffering, too.
Please support the legal fund! Send a check payable to: “Story Preservation Association” (a 501c3 charitable donation). You will receive a receipt shortly.
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Name: ______
Address: ______
______
Neighborhood: ______
Amount of your enclosed donation to the legal fund: $______
May we post your donation on the campaign website (coming), to encourage others?
___Yes ___No, please make it anonymous
Checks should be payable to “Story Preservation Association”
(Tax note: Yes, the association is a 501c3 charitable group.)
Mail to: Story Preservation Association
C/O Bob Croft, Story president
CBN Building Maintenance
522 W. Roosevelt, Phoenix AZ 85003
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