It's not the one or or the other. I live far more remote than a typical American suburb. Yet my neighbor's sell cheese, milk and other stuff all around in simple fridges with a little qr code for payment. For everything else I can just order online and get it delivered asap.

I don't care that it takes me a hour or so to the nearest city by public transport. What I care is the infrastructure given there where I live.

Living in cities is significantly more efficient - environmentally, economically and on energy consumption and water consumption. We could all live out in the middle of nowhere, at the expense of the environment, but only if we significantly reduced our population at the same time.