Half the city is within 5 miles of the airport. I've lived in places much closer and never experienced the noise before. The difference was being in the flight path.
I'll also add that my perception of the distance to the airport was skewed by the fact that it's a 15 mile drive to the terminal entrance, but only 5 miles as the crow flies.
At least large parts of Boston are within 5 miles of Logan Airport. But I can say from personal experience that there are specific locations that are stop-conversation levels of aircraft noise which is not true of the city as a whole.
That's the real difference, you really have to be in an area for awhile to get a feel for it.
https://old.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/60wejw/noise_pollu... is San Diego, and you can clearly see the airport and even the flight path for landing planes - but which parts are actually affected and which are nearly unnoticeable requires boots on the ground.
And also, landing planes are quieter than ones taking off, and some airports face one direction most of the time.
There's a nice marsh I've sea kayaked to from Winthrop which is a community in greater Boston right across from Logan airport. (You could have easily landed your boat there at the end of the runway--presumably if you didn't mind serious people with automatic weapons paying you a quick visit.) I remember being there once with a friend and we got to talking with a local for some reason. HE TALKED REALLY LOUDLY. You understood why when a jet took off over the parking lot every few minutes.
I'll also add that my perception of the distance to the airport was skewed by the fact that it's a 15 mile drive to the terminal entrance, but only 5 miles as the crow flies.