I live between two forested streams, so water all the time. A lake would be a bit of a bike ride, but we go kayaking on one of the two main rivers and it’s a quick drive (will probably bike it in the future with the inflatable kayak once I have my bakfiets). I keep bees in my backyard, and flowers are WAY more common around here than living rural. I have violets and daisies in my unmanicured yard and neighbors actually grow flowers in their gardens, so biodiversity is higher too. There’s a park a block away, a really good one one more block away, and within a 2 mile radius there are at least a dozen really good ones, to say nothing of the little playgrounds here and there. I also live in a Tree City and our tree cover is insanely high, about 60%.

But even though we have all that nature, I also have three grocery stores, a library, a community center, a ton of restaurants and barbers and little shops all within a half mile. And if I need to get further, there are bike trails and bikeable streets all over, and a transit station .1 miles away. Cities are great!