[bluGill]

Serfdom existed as a step above slavery. The city may have been better for serfs but for the free farmer (if any) the farm was better. There is a lot of 'grass is greener' in the idea that the city was better for many farmers and so they may not have liked what the city was really like.

[jollyllama]

Before the modern era, people died like flies in cities; they were population sinks.