What do you think is the best environment to raise a child in?

[luckytacs]

A) A big city (New York, Chicago, etc)
B) The suburbs
C) A small rural town (but not on a farm or ranch)
D) On a farm or ranch
E) Other

Just out of curiosity...or where did you grow up, if you thought it was a good environment?
Most detailed gets best answer! Thanks!
This really is just out of curiosity...my kids will grow up on a ranch, that's a sure thing. And yeah, of course the parenting matters!

[Gayle]

Each of the above places has both its benifits and its disadvantages. i grew up in a small town, which was great, my best friend lived only a few doors down and we had lots of green areas to play on using our imagination and exploring the local areas. when i hit my teenage years though it was still great to be close to so many of my friends but we got bored easily with not much to do.
The most important thing for me was that i had great parents who made me feel loved and allowed me to develope into my own person with my own personality.

[Blue]

The best environment is a warm, loving home. Where it is located is not as important as with whom it is located.

Parenting is a full time job. Parents who apply themselves make the home for the child.

I grew up in small town USA. Times were different. Societal attitudes were old fashioned. My father died when I was 11 which caused a lot of upheaval in my life. The environment was similar to what you see when you watch the Andy Griffith show placed in Mayberry.

[illusionado]

big city will be the best but make sure you will give them a vacation!=p

[CAB]

I grew up in NYC, my kids are growing up in the suburbs.
I thinkI had a lot more fun than they're having.

[boys, boys, boys]

I grew up in the suburbs and when hubby and I first got married we built our first house in the suburbs to raise our family.

After a couple of years we sold our house and moved to a small rural town. Best decision we ever made. We love our peaceful existance and our lifestyle.
The primary school our children attend has less than 100 children and everyone knows each other. All the children walk or ride safely to school and we have what is known as a "Walking School Bus" where parents and students walk together.
We love the idyllic feel of our town and there is virtually no crime or theft to worry about. We are only 40 minutes away from a big suburb of 21,000 people so there are lots of shops and immenities only a short distance away.
My children travel by school bus to Secondary College and are picked up right outside our front door.
We are only 3 hours away from Melbourne so going into the city is also not a problem.
We love our lifestyle and we couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

[Brian]

D) I grew up on a farm. From a very young age my brothers and sisters and I learned the value of pulling your weight...we'd start with small chores like getting the eggs from the coop and by the time we grew up we were fixing broken tractors and the like, breaking horses, branding and castrating, planting and harvesting, going to market...most of my childhood was spent out under the sky, not cooped up playing video games. I learned to love the outdoors and good old fashioned manual labor. Now I'm trying to give my children the same experience. It's hard at times, but I can't imagine anything more rewarding.