[the_only_law]

My first guess is hospital = noise (sirens from ambulances coming and going), whereas Walmarts probably only results in increased traffic and at worst more lower income people out and about.

People really dislike noise. There’s a small airport near me that acts as a regional shipping hub amongst other things and a certain demographic (retirees, not working, own home) is very keen on halting and further business development despite the economic benefits it creates for the city because they don’t like the noise of the airplanes overhead. Personally the occasional airplane is significantly less of a nuisance to me than people revving their loud ass motorcycles at night.

[Schroedingersat]

Having lived 4 blocks from a hospital, it's not the ambulances, it's the helicopters. The house had no air conditioning so it was a choice between sweltering plus barely being able to hear a conversation every 20 minutes vs. not being able to hear a conversation at all or even the TV at max volume.

Scientifically that shit is really bad for you, even when you can tune it out. There is a huge correlation with noise (especially during sleep) and cortisol levels among many other things -- it's a massive unmeasured externality (with cars being the primary cause).

Same goes for airports (but even more true of motorcycle dickheads, coal rollers and ricers which are almost always violating vehicle codes but never see enforcement).

That said, NIMBYism isn't the solution. Far better for something along the lines of noise level based zoning, and require whatever project(s) are responsible for noise pollution to pay into a fund that provides building code enforced sound insulation and climate control upgrades as well as compensation for loss of amenity to anyone that gets rezoned (or can prove ambient noise exceeds their zone).

[munk-a]

Hospitals also don't actually need to be foot accessible (assuming you've got like a bus to it). If you wanted to do hospitals right you'd buy up a ring of blocks around the construction and turn the whole area into a park - but good luck getting a private corporation (aka the thing that builds hospitals in the US) to pay for that without a whole lot of municipal pressure.

[WalterBright]

My ears are tuned to the distinct sound of B-17 engines, and I love it when they come trundling by, usually at low altitude. Last summer an Eagle cruised by, at an altitude of about 6 feet. I could have reached out and brushed its wing as it went by, but I was frozen in awe. I'm under the landing pattern for Seatac, and enjoy the heavies floating by overhead.

I like living in Seattle with all the aircraft around!