I dunno--sprawl does decrease quality of life. It does stink when you move to an area for its natural beauty and (within 10 years) most of that gets cleared to build new developments and strip malls. Not to mention the increase in congestion. I was told the land behind my previous house was "forever wild"--but that didn't stop then from tearing down the forrest to build a road (one of the reasons why I ended up moving). Of course, the answer is to move EVEN FURTHER out to get back the lifestyle you used to have, but that costs $$ and you can't enjoy it if you're commuting 3+ hours a day. And, of course, sooner or later the sprawl will catch up to you again.
With all the illegals they're bringing in, most urban areas and suburbs will be looking like Rio slums soon enough.
You have two free market solutions to solve your "sprawl" problem.
1) Buy a home in an HOA that restricts building lots to five acres or larger. These HOAs will usually dedicate large areas as public green space.
2) Buy 10 forested acres in exurbia and build your house smack in the middle.
I've lived in Phoenix, Colorado Springs, San Diego, Greensboro and some unrecognizable small towns. Each new place, I resented the people who were selfish enough to move in after me. LOL