The cities WERE ugly, dangerous, and full of corruption when he was writing. Unfortunately, the cities are still dangerous, full of corruption, and largely ugly, especially in the US. The founding fathers wanted the US to avoid developing big cities of that ilk, but......
Since I sold my company and retired I have been able to stay away from the big cities, especially DC. Yesterday my daughter and I went into DC to the Verizon Center to catch a hockey game and though the game was fun to attend I absolutely hated being in downtown DC. The dirt, the smells, and the crush of people were totally against my likings.
Writing that, I wonder if anybody who thinks rural life is pastoral and idyllic have ever had to work on a farm. Working on my uncle's dairy farm was tough and we usually worked about 14 hours each day.