Between air and noise pollution , Parisians don't have a very calm and relaxing day-to-day life. As for noise pollution, the capital is reputed to be one of the noisiest on the European continent, and residents, depending on where they live or work, can testify to this. If you're particularly sensitive to noise, there are some boroughs to avoidwhen settling down, even if the number of people "strongly annoyed by noise" fell between 2017 and 2023.
Too much noise can impair sleep and quality of life, making everyday life a living hell for those who no longer know silence, even at night. If you live in an apartment facing a street, the noise nuisance is obviously greater than for the building as a whole. According to the new strategic noise maps, three districts are particularly hard hit: the 18th, 17th and 7th arrondissements.
In the 18th arrondissement, the relative calm of Montmartre is a far cry from the La Chapelle or Goutte d'Or districts, which are very popular and full of terraces. The Batignolles district in the 17th is also in the spotlight, due to the development of the ZAC Clichy-Batignolles. As for the 7th arrondissement, the Gros Caillou district is very noisy for tourists, and the free flow of traffic on certain arteries of the Champs de Mars doesn't help matters.
