Yet, at the same time, people living in cities with mass transit vs suburban sprawl (admittedly still not an 'ideal') prefer the cities for the increased sense of community, higher sense of dynamism, and more 'creative' things going on than what they might get in their their non-mass-transit suburban coutnerparts..
That's definitely debatable; I'd guess that many people globally live in cities because that's where the work is, not for any of the other aspects you mentioned.