(not the OP, but somebody who's lived in both big cities and small towns and loved them both for different reasons) I get what you're saying and agree to some

(not the OP, but somebody who's lived in both big cities and small towns and loved them both for different reasons) I get what you're saying and agree to some degree. But at the same time, i think it's actually the last line ("if you're simply counting things to do") that I would personally quibble over as the sacred metric of what's better than the other. Maybe some people don't really care about having ten gazillion different restaurants and would prefer at least three solid parks/hiking trails you can't get around some big cities? Maybe some folks would be more than happy to trade going to the theatres with having a home with 5+ acres to raise a chicken farm or other critters on, or if not that then at least the privacy and the minimal light pollution. Some trades that people are willing to make kinda aren't so obvious.