I lived about two blocks from a major freeway, and it was awful. Definitely forget about going out in your yard to putter around unless you don't mind the constant noise.
And if there is heavy traffic or detours, it could either force lots of traffic through your street, or make it very difficult to get out of your neighborhood.
It also could mean you're more susceptible to break-ins/thefts - due to the easy get-away. I was followed home from work one night and probably would have been robbed in my driveway if I hadn't been sitting in my car talking on the phone when they hopped out (they came up my driveway thinking they'd mug me getting out, realized I was on the phone and not exiting as they thought, and hopped right back in their car and sped off), and several neighbors had break-ins... and this was an upper middle class neighborhood. Cops said this was definitely due to the freeway system - even with alarms, they could grab anything valuable and be out of there and miles away before the cops were dispatched.