We live on a busy street, and the positives outweigh the negatives for me. You can hear traffic from the front living room, but it's really only noticeable during rush hours between 7-8am and 5-6pm. Otherwise it's quiet except when an ambulance comes by. In the back of the house, and even in the backyard, you wouldn't know we face a busy street. We have a very nice and serene back yard with ample space. New visitors are almost always shocked to see the backyard and often comment on how lovely it is.. it's very well kept with neat hedges, a fountain, flowerbeds, small vegetable garden and a good sized back deck.
Ironically, my favorite part of living where we do is the privacy. We park in the back, so nobody ever knows if we're home. Anyone driving by passes at 35mph, so there's no time to check out what we're doing. When I visit friends in subdivisions there's often a running commentary of what everyone else in the neighborhood is up to... jack & jill are out of town, jim's been at home this week and not working, suzy's always shopping, etc.. everyone knows exactly what everyone else is doing. Nobody knows what we are doing unless we share the information with them.
Not to mention the money. We got a screaming deal on our home and will save significantly on interest and taxes because we chose to live on a 35mph street. Ours is a beautiful historic home with 12 foot ceilings, marble fireplaces, handmade plaster molding, heart pine floors, chandeliers, built in cabinets, tall french doors and windows, big porches, etc. We looked at almost the exact same house in an historic neighborhood listed for nearly double the price... it was a couple of blocks away from out current home.