There are many strategic advantages to living in any urban area, as you mentioned, I would like to add the social environment. Discussing the context of my country, I will first mention that in the past, the rural social environment was very beautiful and harmonious, which is now being lost with time. One thing is very important for living anywhere and that is the neighbors. If the neighbors are good, life is blessed and if the neighbors are bad, life becomes poisonous. Currently, in rural life almost every neighbor has jealousy and hatred in their mind. Even if I eat a little good food, everyone still looks at me. According to them why should I eat good food, live a good life, build a good house? And this kind of mentality is not there at least in urban areas. Anyone can live as they want, no one has a headache about it. But with the rate at which land prices in urban areas are increasing, buying a house in urban areas is an impossible thought for a middle class person like me.
That's called as crab mentality.
In rural areas they give pressure to other people to live like them, without any improvement. That's why rural areas is only of the reason of structural poverty.
But, in urban areas, people are simply don't give a fuck about other people because they're busy with themselves, unfortunately this also make you can't feel a real human connection or friendship.
If you want to seek a balance, sub urban areas is the best.
You are not wrong when you say that excessive caring of the rural neighbors can be poisonous to personal development. We all need room to enjoy life and be free to ask ourselves questions on whether we deserve to have good things or not without being haunted. Living in urban areas, huge cities, the isolation leaves us free to express ourselves without being afraid of being judged but at the same time does not leave me with a sense of closeness. The suburbs also give a balance of wealth and being able to know your neighbor with different opinions.
The price of land is not very high and can be afforded by the middle class earners and the facilities in the city are also easily accessible. When we live an active part of local consortium, like weekly market or small group of people living at the community level the social connection in the suburbs can be much warmer than just walking by the neighbors without even ever uttering a word of greeting. I feel that in deciding to live in the suburbs, you and I will enjoy the said financial advantages as well as the feeling of social security which lacks in the rural setting.