In an article for NJ.Com, writer Avalon Zoppo describes how the pandemic/lockdown era has changed awareness of ambient noise and pollution in some New Jersey towns:

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, Montclair councilor-at-large Peter Yacobellis says one complaint in particular has flooded his email inbox: gripes about noisy leaf blowers.

With more people working from home, the inescapable buzzing sound has become the soundtrack of the pandemic in some neighborhoods. And a few towns in New Jersey are now limiting or further restricting what months the machines can be used….

“It’s been pretty fascinating to witness that it is the thing that gets more people to go to their computer and look up my email address and send me a note than anything else,” Yacobellis said. “You’re feeling it, you’re hearing it. It gets people over that hump, to say ‘I’m going to reach out to my local council person and tell them how I feel.’”