It's because almost all the noise in the modern world is caused by cars and motorcycles, and in the United States are prioritized over all other life forms.
To share an anecdote, I went to order a sandwich at a fast food restaurant from the counter. After ordering I waited in the restaurant, watching the kitchen staff serve several cars in the drive through. After 10 minutes I just got frustrated, went back to the counter and asked for a refund. I got it and left.
Later I talked to friends about the experience. Apparently restaurants collect metrics for drive through wait times, but not for orders at the counter. So of course managers have a preference to serve drive through customers. The restaurant I went to made no attempt to hide that preference.
I feel like you need a car in the US to be treated normally.
I feel like this potentially illustrates several american social pathologies but probably best to stick to the car one for now.
This way, motorcycle enthusiasts could have all of their "loud pipe" thrills while riding a clean, silent electric motorcycle and not disturbing their neighbors!
For even more realism, vibrators could be installed in the seat to mimic a combustion engine's "vroom".
People rely on cars for very valid, strong & un-substitute-able reasons in 1000s of cities on this planet ( even without counting the countries in the developing world which are just now getting a taste of vehicular freedom ). HN represents a tiny slice of of an already small slice of wishful thinkers whose pipe dreams get a dose of reality the moment you step outside your NIMBY bubble.
Even reduced car usage - in what is touted as the most bike-friendly city on earth at least here on HN - looks like this in the Baarsjes and Oud West neighborhoods of Amsterdam.
Een rondje door de Baarsjes en Oud West.