Phenomenal sleep last night. Here's what I did:
-be crazy tired from two nights of little sleep
-make an extra-luxurious bed
-drink warm milk with herbal cinnamon tea added
-shut off computer early (I often use Netflix to cover the other sounds and/or to distract myself until a gathering is over)
-run lots of cool, fresh air through the house before bed
-close windows at sleep time
-ask police to talk to neighbours again (required for City to write letter)
-listen to white noise as late as I could manage
-read before sleep
-do three (!) meditations over one evening with getsomeheadspace.com, one at falling asleep time
I think it also helped that when my landlord's SIL banged (!) on the door at 815pm, asking to borrow a screwdriver, my kid answered the door buck naked, saying he had just been getting into bed. Ha! Dude seemed a bit embarrassed -not about my kid's nakedness, but about forgetting yet again that Kid goes to bed at 8, not to mention our request again and again to please not *bang* -emergency style- on the door. He quickly shut down his activity and murmured that his three year old would be going to bed now, too. (He's known for 18 months that Kid goes to bed at 8, but he forgets anything beyond the immediate moment. His three year old generally goes to bed around 10 or 11.)
Slept amazingly! When the sound of dragging (??) started from upstairs in the morning, I remember to turn on the white noise.
Than again, your situation sounds extremely noisy and I wonder if there isn't a middle ground? Like, a bit quieter and just 150 per month more?
The jump from $1200 to $570 represents a jump from the quieter units in the cheaper range of market rentals to subsidized, income-determined complexes.
If we move into just *any* unit in the latter, we are then prioritized for moving into better versions of the same. So, it's possible we could be in noise for some months, but then in something quieter (especially if I do the modifications) for the same awesome price.
A lot of the $1200 places -basement suites, apartments in high density areas- can have a LOT of noise, but with new municipal legislation, we are now having lovely, detached laneway houses come up at this price, so I put that price in the mix. I would love a laneway house! There's still the potential of noise from neighbouring homes, but the early morning garbage trucks, the traffic, the banging from above, etc, are all eliminated. So, this thread is largely to talk me out of paying $1200 to live in a small village or an urban laneway house and to go ahead with the leap to subsidized.
There is occasionally something cheaper, but any high-density is hit-and-miss. A place I had last year for $1100 was a one-bedroom that permitted me and my kid to share (a lot don't). I loved it, and it was SILENT. Absolutely delightful. Paradise! Until May. This is when Vancouver's series of summer running marathons, outdoor movies, and fireworks competitions began. I was mortified. And then a new fellow moved in immediately above us -yelling happily into his phone for hours per day on his balcony, having wild sex til 3am, regular parties, etc- and I cracked. He was a lovely fellow -I talked to him directly- but he truly couldn't fathom the concept of sound travelling, or that it mattered. He himself adored noise!