I also hate rude people and crowds!

However, I live one mile from downtown (the whole city is very walkable, btw) and yet the block I'm on is very quiet and suburban-ish and on a dead end. I rarely hear anything but birds chirping in my yard, and rarely see anyone but neighbors occasionally taking out their trash or tending their gardens. Minnesota is a bit different though, in that one could walk about 1 mile and run into a wooded trail, lush green park, or lakefront, pretty much in every metro town.