This is very personal, lots of people go their entire lives without going to those venues and aren't bored. You can ride a dirt/mtb bike in the desert or hike in the mountains, surf in the ocean, etc.
It’s always a question of accessibility too. Should those things be truly necessary how long would one be willing to drive to attain them. Then are they still as important compared to a two hour drive or do they not stack up that high? Are they only important because they’re about 25min away and fit into the conveniences that proximity affords? It’s something to think about because that distance pushes the calculus out for doing things spur of the moment that now have to be scheduled and planned. That kind of activation energy and transportation costs I could see nixing many activities by default.
I hate places that are devoid of culture, because they generate local societies of people who without exception are fine with it (as evidenced by their not moving away).
Yeah I agree with this. I like a good remote vacation and not talk to anyone for two weeks. But you can't live like this forever, esp with kids. A medium sized city has a lot of benefits.
