You can live in the suburbs and still enjoy theater, concerts, opera, etc. I live in a suburb. There is a performing arts center a bicycle ride away which outside of these Covid times had some kind of opera or symphony or ballet or something along those lines going on. The university nearby often had shows well. If you wanted to see a live show you could probably find one within 15min any given weekend.

There is a light rail line running through the suburb which connects downtown. Its a 30 minute train ride to go to the big event venue for big sports and concerts. This precludes the idea of going to the local minor league teams in the area as well which can often be just as much fun to watch and follow and far cheaper to attend.

There are club sports which participate in the park in my neighborhood. All I need to do is walk down the street and find people playing various kinds of sports. There are larger suburb-city owned sports complex on the bike trails for even more congregation.

Living in a suburb does not mean you can never go and see a show or a sports game or a concert.