Which do you prefer: cities, suburbs or small town/rural?

[DTComposer]

can anyone justify the suburbs?  I think they're an absolute blight.

Sure. My neighbors are far enough away that I don't have to worry about how loud I am. I have my own pool. I don't have to drive half an hour to get groceries and I don't have to pay for parking. Unlike rural areas, the population is high enough that I don't have trouble finding good, non-chain restaurants, but I also don't have much traffic to deal with. It's an longer bike ride to work or to the store if I choose to bike, but it's a significantly easier ride than it would be in an urban area.

I enjoy suburban life, at least in the area I'm in, but I'd much prefer a city to a rural area if I were to leave the suburbs.

It depends on which suburb you're in. In a suburban city like Irvine, CA, you have homeowners' associations which would absolutely be on you about noise; there's plenty of traffic and congestion, and even with over 200,000 people, you'd be hard-pressed to find any non-chain restaurant of quality/reputation. On the other hand, it's safe and clean, and you're certainly close enough to big cities and rural areas alike.

Given my druthers, I could do either large or medium city, then suburb (although I prefer a little more bustle). Not that I would dislike mind small town or rural, but my career and hobbies require me to be near a population center.

[agentsteel53]

My neighbors are far enough away that I don't have to worry about how loud I am.

that sounds fairly rural, actually.  you probably live in a neighborhood of similar character to me.  when I think "suburbs", I think of the Irvine that DTComposer described: suffocating conformity.  to "safe and clean", I give NE2's favorite rejoinder.

I don't have to drive half an hour to get groceries

I think for me it's 15 minutes. 

here's a map of approximately where I live, and then the nearest commercial district. 
http://goo.gl/maps/T3YhT

you can see that just to the west of where I live, the character changes from terrain-based and rural (though far from "Groom Lake, Nevada") to grid-based and suburban.  one's Lakeside, the other's Santee.  guess which one reminds me more of Irvine.

I really do like living in Lakeside, but going into Santee for shopping is pretty damn miserable.

[Laura]

My order (1 is most desirable):

1. Older Suburb (mid-1960's and earlier)
2. Small City
3. Small Town
4. Large City
5. Rural
6. Rural-Suburban
7. Newer Suburb (mid 1960's and later)

[realjd]

My neighbors are far enough away that I don't have to worry about how loud I am.

that sounds fairly rural, actually.  you probably live in a neighborhood of similar character to me.  when I think "suburbs", I think of the Irvine that DTComposer described: suffocating conformity.  to "safe and clean", I give NE2's favorite rejoinder.

You have my address from when I bought that sign from you if you want to see where I live. Looking at the street view you linked, I live in what looks like the Florida equivalent to your neighborhood with larger lots and older homes. Here in Palm Bay the standard lot size is 1/4 acre and my house is on a double lot. It's absolutely not like the newer zero-lot-line suburban neighborhoods but it's still suburban IMO. My criteria between urban and suburban is retail parking. Do the shops and apartments open up right onto the sidewalk? That's urban. Do the shops open up onto a parking lot like in a strip mall? Suburban.

It's not a rural area IMO unless the lots are big enough to own horses, livestock, and the like.