At his home in Oakland, inside earshot of the Coliseum sports arena and BART routes, Michale Jones said he typically sleeps just five hours each night. Added to the periodic clatter of local trains and the roar of sports fans is the intrusion of criminal activity that keeps him awake.
“I always hear a lot of gunshots, a lot of music, sideshows and a lot of other things like that at night and even every day at midnight,” Jones said.
Jones might feel some relief on Sunday, when daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. in most U.S. states and clocks move back an hour to straightforward time, allowing an extra 60 minutes to sleep in.
But it will not be much of a break for Jones and his neighbors, whose ZIP code had the best rate of “short sleep duration” within the Bay Area at 41.2%, in accordance with the most recent study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2024 PLACES: Local Data for Better Health Report..
More than one in three American adults report not getting the advisable amount of sleep, which is at the very least seven hours an evening, in accordance with the CDC. Anne Wheaton, deputy associate director for science on the CDC's Division of Population Health, said the national average is 37%, while in California it’s 35%. Experts say the explanations can range from long commutes to health issues and noisy neighborhoods.
“Environmental noise may play a role in short sleep duration,” said Clete Kushida, a neurologist and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Center for Human Sleep Research.
Jennifer Martin, Professor of Medicine on the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and former CEO of the American Academy of Sleep Medicinesaid, “California ranks pretty high” amongst states “in terms of residents not getting enough sleep.”
“California is not the best-sleeping state in the United States, and there are many people in California who don’t get enough sleep,” Martin said.
Jones' 94621 ZIP code includes the Oakland International Airport, the Coliseum and adjoining arena, and the Coliseum BART station. Other Bay Area ZIP codes with what Wheaton said were “statistically similar” insomnia levels were in other parts of Oakland, San Francisco, Richmond, Pittsburg, Antioch and San Quentin, in accordance with the information.
So where do Bay Area residents get a very good rest? The data shows that the Portola Valley ZIP code in San Mateo County, home to wealthy investors like Vinod Khosla and future Sunset magazine publisher Bill Lane, has the bottom percentage of residents with one, at just 23.2% report short sleep duration.
Fiona Barwick, a clinical associate professor within the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, said wealthier communities like Portola Valley may be quieter and more restful.
“You don’t hear any gunshots at night. So you have a very safe and stable environment to sleep in, not just in your community, but even in your household,” Barwick said. “If you live in an unsafe, insecure and unstable environment with fewer resources, not just in your own household but in the larger community, you can't afford adequate policing or traffic lights, and then it's probably even worse .”
Wheaton said lack of sleep may be brought on by a wide range of sleep disorders, reminiscent of insomnia, in addition to poor sleep habits, including irregular sleep schedules and using electronic devices near bedtime. Martin added that one consider why many within the Bay Area don't get enough sleep is commute times to work.
“People tend to live in areas that are not particularly close to their workplace, and they often sacrifice sleep for their morning commute,” Martin said.
Jones, who has lived all his life within the Bay Area's sleepiest zip code, has many neighbors who share his distress concerning the nighttime noise.
Angel Martinez, 35, who has lived on this Oakland neighborhood along with her family all her life, said she typically sleeps six hours at night. Martinez said she will at all times hear the BART station and the planes, even though it doesn't wake her up an excessive amount of at night.
“Everyone who lives here sleeps just OK, not the best,” she said. “Unfortunately, everyone, even me, is only used to the noise when you sleep at night.”
Whether the time change on Sunday will bring somewhat relief is controversial.
Nearly 60% of California voters approved a ballot measure in 2018 that permits the state legislature to vary daylight saving time with a two-thirds majority if the changes are consistent with federal law. So if a big majority of lawmakers agree, the state could either eliminate daylight saving time or, with help from Congress, extend it year-round.
Other states have taken similar measures, including Florida, where Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has repeatedly introduced the Sunshine Protection Act to increase daylight saving time year-round. However, as of October it remained parked in committee.
But while sleep experts like the thought of getting rid of the time change, they're generally in favor of keeping standard time.
“The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and all medical and scientific organizations that have spoken out on this issue believe that we should end daylight saving time and stick to standard time permanently,” Martin said. “It suits people better if we have winter time than summer time.”
However, outdoor enthusiasts and youth sports advocates have advocated for daylight saving time since it allows spring and fall teams to compete within the afternoon after school ends before it gets dark.
Kushida isn't convinced that the additional hour of sleep after daylight saving time ends will provide much relief.
“Individuals whose sleep-wake cycles are strongly linked to the circadian cycles of day and night may have difficulty adapting to daylight saving time,” Kushida said.
Jones said: “It's good to sleep an hour longer, but I definitely need a week to adjust to the time change.”
Residents of the Bay Area's sleepiest neighborhood are searching for other solutions for a peaceful rest.
“Just more housing and police patrols,” Jones said.
Originally published:
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