Aren't so many axe murderers in Europe I'd say. s_K, that looks like a fantastic place to live, if you have a car
My dad lives down in the sticks, in a small cottage, and I love going down there, but it is so disconnected from all my friends and the city that I wouldn't be able to live there!
As for living in cities, I think it depends on the city. I'd hate to live in a massive City like London, but somewhere like Sheffield, which it essentially like an emalgamation of little towns, which disappears directly into mountains on the west side is somewhere I wouldn't mind living, cause you can have a house right on the edge of the wilderness, and still be a 20 minute drive from the city centre.