A fable...
There's an old SF story of a spaceship crew arguing over where the 'best place' is, with each pushing their favorite. It came down to a bet with a crewman who's favorite was something (I can't remember,) and they finally put it up to their telepath, who agreed with him--the word translated as 'home.'
We like simple answers--even to complex questions. "Best' is one of the slippry ones, as it depends upon who you are and what you like.
A person born & raised in and who loves a megalopolis like New York, LA, San Francisco, London, Paris, Hong Kong is unlikely to enjoy ANY of these smaller cities, and find them boring at best.
Anyone will probably be uncomfortable in a town where they are one of a kind.
Some are never comfortable where they are, and must keep moving.
My city is under 20,000 but close to Minneapolis. I like Minneapolis o.k., but I'm not tempted to move there. A few years ago I was close enough to take a day trip into NYC...I couldn't think of a single reason to spend the entire day getting in, out and around the city. (No offense, NYC.)
I've lived in major cities, I moved to where I grew up because to me, it's always been home. I only left to find work.
