I know what you mean about being close to other people. My neighbor to the north has all the windows painted shut -- unbelievable. Their air conditioner runs pretty much non-stop all summer and sounds like a 747 jet taking off. And his dogs bark at me when I'm working on the garden.
My wife and I looked at dozens of places in the country nearby but she could never make up her mind. I would have made the move to many of the places we looked at, but she wanted mountains and is now living in Ashland Oregon. I'm still here and very comfortable, despite the cramped conditions, barking dog and noisy AC.
I love the oak forests and the prairies of the the nearby Kettle Moraine State Forest and I spent over 17 years volunteering to remove invasive species like Buckthorn. Check out my work at The Buckthorn Man and The Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail