It depends on the nature of the city, of course.  I live in SF, and I actually find myself lusting for both the peace of the countryside and a more urban city.  Seriously, I do mean the <i>peace</i> of a big city.<p>I actually think many parts of SF are in a suboptimal density band where it is quite dense, but still car dependent, dense enough to add a lot of cars and concrete but not quite dense enough to reclaim some of the pedestrian space… this link explains it pretty well.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spur.org&#x2F;publications&#x2F;article&#x2F;2008-06-01&#x2F;eye-street" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spur.org&#x2F;publications&#x2F;article&#x2F;2008-06-01&#x2F;eye-stre...</a>