Each has advantages and disadvantages. There are smaller towns that can offer a middle ground. It certainly depends on the needs of the individual and their ability to do what is necessary to live in the place they choose.
I prefer a town small enough to avoid the traffic and congestion of a large urban area but big enough to offer access to some of the amenities and services offered by urban areas.

Urban. Not suburban. I would take rural one that

I moved to a much smaller town in a different state after retirement and have found it a mixed bag. I’m about 15 minutes from the grocery store, which isn’t bad, and I love being closer to nature and have great views and can see the stars at night. It is harder to make friends and there aren’t a lot of educated people around, and I miss that, since I worked for universities most of my life. I do find it less stressful though.

Grew up in a small rural town, that has now become more suburban. Currently living an area even larger and certainly not a fan. I am currently purchasing some vacant land, 35+ acres, and cannot wait to get completely off grid.

I was born and raised in a tiny rural town in South Dakota. Moved to Florida two months after my 18th birthday and didn't look back until 9 years later when I had my son. Now that I have two small children I can't imagine raising them in the murder capital that is Jacksonville. The safety of this tiny town and having my close family nearby is enough to keep me here but if I had my choice I would live in Florida. I hate the snow and I can't stand that the nearest Walmart is over an hour's drive away. Can't stand that the only grocery store in town closes at 2 p.m. on Sunday so if you're out of milk/craving something/forgot dinner after 2 p.m. you're fucked. That, and everyone is a god fearing, gun toting Republican. I can (and do) appreciate rural life -- I'm actually glad I grew up in it so I have a dual perspective on life that a lot of "city slickers" don't -- but I prefer to live somewhere where I can fulfill my craving for Chinese food without having to drive 80 miles to do so.

Love it out here in the Great Aussie outback, might complain from time to time about things like the summer heatwaves, the droughts and the odd duststorm or 3, but I was born and raised here and wouldn't live in a big city for all the money in the world. Clean, fresh unpolluted air, skies so blue they can sometimes even hurt your eyes, night skies where you look up and see the oceans of stars, who could want more?

A bit of both really. Humans evolved and survived because we are social animals. Having space and exposure to nature is important for my happiness, but so is community. It's easier to choose the latter in an urban environment. I pick and choose who out of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people I interact with on a daily basis. Everyone else I can largely ignore. As a daily worker if I had a choice I think it would be live in a rural setting, commute to the city.

Just moved near where I grew up, small town MO. The people are dumb, food sucks, no services, crappy healthcare. I'll take the city any day. People come here to die, I have a lot of living to do

I didn't vote, b/c I prefer urban living to having stuff and resources available...but I can't stand people for the most part. If I had 5-10 acres, and a shop with all the tools I needed to fabricate the wood/metal stuff I needed...then yea, Amazon could probably ship me rest and I'm good.