T— told Carol that he’s going to sell his condo and move out of our neighborhood. It’s getting too noisy, he said.

There have always been bars and nightspots in the neighborhood, but in the past few months several new bars have opened. Fortunately for us, we’re three or four blocks away from the really noisy bars, but at closing time on Saturday night, even we can hear the hooping and hollering and revving of engines. We all wanted our neighborhood to have a little more life, but I don’t think any of us were hoping for a little more drunken noisy life after midnight.

One of the new bars that recently opened up is called Rose Alley, and at permitting time the owners implied it would be a place that would emphasize eating over drinking. Carol and I happened to walk past Rose Alley in the afternoon a few days ago, and Carol pointed out that they have already had to put a sign on the building: “This Is A Residential Neighborhood. Please Respect Our Neighbors.” The sign was placed right where the neighbors will see it when they walk past the building, but not where the clientele would notice it as they leave, drunk and noisy, at two in the morning.

You can’t blame the bar owners for wanting to attract lots of people to their bars. But it does seem hard on people like T—, who also have a financial investment at stake — and who actually have to live here, unlike the bar owners who probably live out in the suburbs where it’s quiet.