Hi,
we have a similar buying story: we bought a house located on one of our two absolute favorite streets - but on the side where the terrace is only about ~80m away from a busy city street. During the viewings, we even went all the way to the property boundary (even closer to the street) and listened there, and it was absolutely unobtrusive. I think that was because the viewings took place on Sunday mornings - which is currently the quietest time by far here.
Now we have just over 40db of traffic noise on the terrace. When a motorcycle/bus/truck passes by, sometimes it’s around 48 or so. I find that very loud, my wife not at all. Currently, our terrace and the house wall are still completely bare and I also believe that many sound reflections contribute to this. We’re now going to see how it changes if we plant some greenery on the terrace and use sun protection, furniture, etc. to reduce the reflections somewhat.
Otherwise, after half a year here, for example, I can easily read outside without having to focus on the noise level. And what’s very important: I repeatedly notice, when I’m in supposedly quiet areas, how much you actually hear there.
Added to that is the fact that the location was precisely why we chose the house. For example, I enjoy every day being able to walk/hike in the nature reserve 200m away, being at the swimming pool and sports center in 3 minutes by bike, the kids will be able to get there quickly on foot/to school by bike their whole school life, the bus stop is 150m away in bad weather, and I can quickly get to the ICE train station (<10 min by bike) which I need for work. These framework conditions hardly exist at all in truly quiet places, so I accept the street noise. We are also really lucky with the neighbors – apart from lawn mowers and the street, we hardly hear anything else.
One more idea: for us, the street on the other side of the house is VERY quiet. Would it be an option for you to set up an outdoor seating area there?