We left Seattle for a very rural place (we have 80 acres about 6 miles from the town we work in and 10 miles from the nearest grocery store). Unlike Syonyk, we liked Seattle just fine for many years, but had always dreamed of living like we do now. Like Syonyk, I can attest that there is a lot of work to do on a rural property!
The older we got, the less likely we were to go out to take advantage of the various events, etc of the city, so we don't find ourselves missing those things. Our little town parades/festivals are fun, and there are quite a few community groups that do events as fundraisers, so we've been able to find things to do if we want to. Honestly, we're homebodies, and now that we live in the house we designed and built to suit us, it's even harder to motivate ourselves to come down out of the hills!
If you have kids, you will find it easier to become part of the community, because the schools are really central (especially high school sports). We don't, so it has been a little more work for us. There will probably always be a divide between newcomers and the people who grew up and never left here, but I can live with that.
Heed the best advice we got before moving: learn to cook all your favorite ethnic dishes, because you aren't likely to find Thai, Ethiopian, etc., out in the sticks. Mexican food is the only exception to this in our area.
Neighbors-who knows? We lucked out with great neighbors, though we did meet with them before we finalized the land purchase and got along immediately. I have certainly heard horror stories, but that can happen anywhere.