Depends on the city. Many North American cities are uniquely shit because of mid-century urban renewal + the mishandling of constructing the urban highway networks which turned contiguous neighborhoods, small business districts and established communities into surface parking lots and decaying shitholes. Houston was a particularly egregious example but this sort of thing happened to most large American cities.
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The U.S. at one point had many of the best cities in the world (Cincinnati was considered the Paris of America during the first half of the 20th century, for example). It was a case of enormous federal overreach and eminent domain abuse.
This, though if you're in an area with a lot of cultural activity or an extensive history (this is more common in Old World cities) there's plenty of theaters, classical music halls, museums, historic sites, exhibitions, etc. as well which aren't available in small towns (mid-sized towns have these though) due to a lack of several large financial donors. Cities can be useful for upstart creative types to network with each other and build a following.
This is true to a certain extent but suburbia (especially its modern cookie-cutter/sanitized form) has its own bevy of mental illnesses as well. A lot of it has to do with isolation/atomization. People just sit on their ass, drive everywhere without interacting at all and do all their shopping at soulless, corporate big box stores and strip malls. It really depends on the person, some people naturally thrive in cities (especially extroverts or sociable types) and others are built for the countryside, plus there are those who do fine in both environments.
Depends on the size of the apartment and the quality of the neighborhood. Technically a pod is one of those horrid shared flats/communalkas where people live 5 to a room, not a private 3-4 room condo with a spacious living room and nice loggia. Definitely agree cities are much easier for young adults and the very elderly (due to quick access to services and food - the latter don't have to drive as much which in many cases is safer, considering the reputations that bluehair drivers have). Those raising families are probably better off having a house on their own plot of land or at the very least a much larger private flat.
TL;DR cities aren't for everybody, some people flourish in them and others flounder. There are great cities out there and a lot of shit ones.
