It depends on how close to the "arterial streets" it is. For seven years I lived in an apartment on Foster Road, a very busy street, in SE Portland. The traffic was so loud I couldn't open any of my windows in the summer. Air pollution from cars is heavier along major streets. Then there is the issue of available land at a price developers can pay and make a profit. 

We need a lot more affordable housing, the lack of which is now at a crises point. We need available land to put it on, and we need it all over the city. Single-family neighborhoods should learn to live with it.