I grew up in a town much like @carolkean's, the largest town in the county by far at under 3000 live souls. After college, also in a small town, I moved first to Boston and then NYC for a total of 24 years of city life.
The parking and traffic jams drove me to the suburbs, where I have wallowed for the past 20 years.
I can say this much: people in the cities are far more friendly than they are anywhere else. Supportive, humorous, kind, vibrant, diverse, exciting etc. I miss city life, but know that the parking drives me insane so I choose not to live there, only to visit.
Harlem is GREAT. I'd happily live there if I could find a house with a parking place. And it's a few minutes to get out of the city from there, another plus.