It seems to me that you see this problem mostly in suburbs. People didn't buy a house, they bought a lifestyle. A particular lifestyle that has no room for even the slightest inconvenience from others. During my suburban days I was always sort of amazed by the entitlement people had around me.

I saw near fistfights over people parking in front of other peoples houses. Or a particularly memorable argument in which people shouted out of their kitchen window at a group of kids who were doing nothing but sitting on a deck talking at 8:00 PM. My HOA sued the town I lived in because someone wanted to build an apartment building about 1/4 mile from the front entrance of the subdivision (don't want "those" people living nearby after all).

The HOA also was part of a larger group opposing the extension of a light rail line that would connect our town to the larger metroplex. The same argument was used in that case, "those people" would be able to come up and cause crime in our neighborhood.

I'm not surprised that the people in the article believe that they have a right to a quiet street.