Yeah, that stuff is just not happening for me. Over here in Michigan, we don't ever really get anything like that close. Occasionally something is in Indianapolis and I can drive. Even if it was, wouldn't be worth it just for the ET. As for someone in my town, I actually don't get any Street Passes in the small town I'm at most of the time. I get a few every once in a while at college, but it's like 1/10 Pokemon players and the chances of those having Eon Ticket are as close to zero as possible.
Honestly, this is something that works for Japan, but it's just not feasible for the US. Luckily HomePass relay stuff exists and someone will setup some relays just for Eon Ticket as soon as it starts hitting I suspect. I like the idea, but reality just defeats the entire purpose. A special shiny, as I said, would make way more sense for both sides. The Street Pass distribution kind of guarantees local leagues won't see as large a benefit as they could and it locks people who don't have events in their areas out of actual content. All this before you take into account that Street Pass has already been broken wide open and people will just distribute it online anyway.