You’re definitely on to something with the population density. I’ve long been of the opinion that too great a population density leads to a mild form mass psychosis. Most folks who live in the city just can’t see it, though.
Having lived in both. Country living for me is nothing short of Hell on Earth. I don’t begrudge those who enjoy that sort of thing, but I could never do it again. In small towns everyone is up in your business, there is never anything to do, DQ is not a real restaurant, everything is long drive, it’s lonely...and I could go on all day.