Last month, when news spread that the Middle East in Cambridge was planning to add residential units above its rock clubs, some of the resistance was in the theory that anyone buying into the property would soon decry loud live music coming from downstairs. The Middle East’s owners have since said they’d do everything they could to create a noise buffer between their music venues and the units added above them.
But turns out the whole thing isn’t an issue limited to the Boston area. Shocking.
In Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, a man named Dave has tried to keep the integrity of a beloved rock club by warning potential buyers of a new nearby residential complex that they should expect live music to go on throughout the night. And since he doesn’t think real estate agents are telling the buyers about the rock club next door, he will.
The notice, which he claims he’s had to re-post three times, is pretty great — and should be adapted to reflect the Middle East and handed to anyone who wants to live above 472 Massachusetts Ave. Because, you know, they’ll be living above a rock club.
According to 774 ABC Melbourne:
From the Save Live Music rally to recent troubles at the Bendigo Hotel, tensions between residents and live music venues have long been an issue in Melbourne’s inner suburbs.
Now a Brunswick local has taken it upon himself to warn potential home buyers of live music venues nearby. A notice stuck to a real estate ‘for sale’ sign warns prospective buyers that the house is opposite a popular live music venue.
“That behind you is a beloved live music venue,” reads the notice. “Yes you will be able to hear it late at night.”
The poster has been torn down and then reposted at least three times.
“I think I’m fighting the good fight,” says David, who made the notice. “I took it upon myself, I believe quite fairly, to explain the nature of the surrounds.”
He says it wouldn’t be immediately obvious to potential home buyers that the hotel was a live music venue.
David, a musician himself, says he doesn’t believe real estate agents are telling buyers about the downsides of living in nightlife hotspots such as Brunswick.