I got to house-sit for my friend Holly all last week. She lives in a fair-sized condo complex right off a busy street. But given where her unit is situated, you'd barely know it. Her place backs onto a wooded creek area. The whole creek area is downhill from the condos, and she lives on the second story, so her balcony is about nose-level with where the birds normally land on trees. Also, she's sheltered from most of the traffic noise.
Some photos of the housecat and video of the wildlife
here