Quiet living in Ostrava
Street noise is the most common reason people move out of a flat. Where Ostrava is quietest, how to read noise in the data and what the ground's radon index says.
How we measure noise
We use the Ministry of Health's strategic noise maps: the map of the Ostrava agglomeration and the national maps of main roads and railways. They show traffic noise as the all-day level Lden. For each address we look at the loudest point by the building, usually the façade facing the street, and check whether Lden there is 60 dB or more. For a neighbourhood we then show what share of addresses that is. Lden counts evening and night noise more strictly, so it comes out higher than daytime noise and shows more noisy addresses than daytime alone would.
The agglomeration map does not cover the whole city: outlying neighbourhoods that lie mostly outside it are not in the ranking.
The quietest neighbourhoods
The fewest noisy addresses are in Heřmanice (31 %), Michálkovice (31 %) and Petřkovice (39 %). These tend to be neighbourhoods of family houses, away from through roads and railway lines.
The quietest neighbourhoods of Ostrava
- 31 % noisy addresses Heřmanice Slezská Ostrava
- 31 % noisy addresses Michálkovice Michálkovice
- 39 % noisy addresses Petřkovice Petřkovice
- 43 % noisy addresses Radvanice Radvanice a Bartovice
- 47 % noisy addresses Výškovice Ostrava-Jih
- 51 % noisy addresses Muglinov Slezská Ostrava
- 52 % noisy addresses Dubina Ostrava-Jih
- 56 % noisy addresses Hrušov Slezská Ostrava
- 57 % noisy addresses Slezská Ostrava Slezská Ostrava
- 72 % noisy addresses Zábřeh Ostrava-Jih
The noisiest neighbourhoods
The most noisy addresses are in neighbourhoods where main roads, tram lines or railways run right between the houses, and in the dense neighbourhoods around the centre. You can still find a quiet flat there, you just have to look more carefully, ideally with windows onto the courtyard.
Ostrava’s noisiest neighbourhoods
- 96 % noisy addresses Přívoz Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz
- 86 % noisy addresses Hrabůvka Ostrava-Jih
- 86 % noisy addresses Vítkovice Vítkovice
- 85 % noisy addresses Moravská Ostrava Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz
- 84 % noisy addresses Mariánské Hory Mariánské Hory a Hulváky
How to spot a quiet flat
- Windows onto the courtyard are the best protection. A bedroom facing a street with trams is bearable only with good windows.
- Come when the traffic is running. A Saturday-morning viewing tells you nothing about the noise on a weekday.
- Trams vs cars. A tram line is heard mostly where trams brake, on bends and at points.
- Railways and industry. The noise map includes roads and the main railway lines, but not noise from factories or freight yards. For a flat near an industrial site, ask the neighbours how it sounds at night.
Noise and air
Quiet and clean air go together in Ostrava only in part. Less traffic means less noise and less nitrogen dioxide, but in winter the dust and benzo[a]pyrene come mainly from home heating and, near the steelworks, from industry. What the air figures show is explained in the guide Ostrava's green neighbourhoods and air.
Ostrava neighbourhoods with the cleanest air
- 10.7 µg/m³ NO₂ Krásné Pole Krásné Pole
- 13.1 µg/m³ NO₂ Polanka nad Odrou Polanka nad Odrou
- 13.8 µg/m³ NO₂ Bartovice Radvanice a Bartovice
- 14.0 µg/m³ NO₂ Heřmanice Slezská Ostrava
- 14.0 µg/m³ NO₂ Michálkovice Michálkovice
Radon in the ground
Radon is a natural radioactive gas from the ground that you can neither see nor smell. It gets into houses through gaps in the floor and stays mainly in the cellar and on the ground floor. The Czech Geological Survey maps the ground's radon index in three levels. Of Ostrava's addresses, 88 % stand on ground with a low index and 12 % on a medium one.
The highest shares of addresses with a low index are in Bartovice (100 %), Dubina (100 %) and Heřmanice (100 %). For a flat on a higher floor, radon from the ground is more of a rough guide. For a family house or a ground-floor flat on a medium index, a long-term measurement makes sense; the National Radiation Protection Institute offers one.
The address decides
A neighbourhood is an average. A flat on a side street and a flat by a four-lane road can sound completely different in the same neighbourhood. Before you sign a contract, check the flat's address itself: we show the noise at the building, the ground's radon index, air quality, parks and the catchment school.
Frequently asked questions
Which neighbourhood in Ostrava is the quietest?
By the strategic noise map, the smallest share of addresses with all-day traffic noise over 60 dB is in Heřmanice (31 %), Michálkovice (31 %) and Petřkovice (39 %).
What does Lden noise mean?
Lden is the average noise level over the whole day, with evening noise counted 5 dB and night noise 10 dB stricter, because it disturbs more. That is why it comes out higher than daytime noise alone, and the figures cannot be compared directly with the daytime health limits.
Is there radon in Ostrava?
By the Czech Geological Survey's map, 88 % of Ostrava's addresses stand on ground with a low radon index and 12 % on a medium one.
Why are some Ostrava neighbourhoods missing from the ranking?
The noise map of the Ostrava agglomeration does not cover the whole city. Outlying neighbourhoods that lie mostly outside it have no value; there, noise depends mainly on whether you live by a main road or a railway.
Is a flat facing the courtyard quieter?
Yes, often much quieter. The noise map shows the noise at the loudest façade of the building, which usually faces the street. Windows onto an inner courtyard or a garden can be tens of decibels quieter.