I see the same in the city I live in. They've never been around at my door... ever, in all the years I've lived here... and I've never seen them in the neighborhood. I do see them in the city center once in a while doing the holding up the magazines thing.
One day I had some time on my hands. I was wandering around in the city center doing some shopping, when I spotted a couple of older JWs doing "street corner". They were just standing there in a busy pedestrian area, holding up the Watchtower and Awake... in several languages. I sat down nearby and just watched to see if they did anything other than stand there. Nothing. They stood there are were completely ignored by everyone passing by. No one stopped to talk to them. They made zero attempts to talk to anyone. They stood there idly chatting with each other, putting in their time, and doing their duty.