I bet it'd be more of a contested thing if there were more environmentalist intellectuals living in the countryside seeking to justify their lifestyles. How far does each population's food travel? How often does the average person in either location travel by plane? What is the lifecycle cost of treating water in a concentrated location versus local wells? What are the positive effects of human activity on the environment in either local?

There are a lot of factors to consider when making that comparison, and if you're going to criticise upstream commentators for handwaving justifications of their own lifestyles, it seems important to consider more the availability of public transit.