Bigness vs. Happiness

Does bigness really create a better quality of life for citizens or does it create a false reality? Looking at polls for the happiest cities in America, cities such as Boulder (CO), Provo (UT), Naples (FL), and many smaller California cities continually rank in the highest every year. Why is this? If bigness were to create a better quality of life for citizens shouldn't we consistently see cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles ranking highest for happiness? I believe there is a quality to nature that can never be replaced by bigness. We can see places like Coney Island trying to recreate nature by giving users the experience of "riding" a horse. Does this false reality really provide the happiness that many people are looking for or is it simply a short-lived substitute?

Boulder, CO

New York City