> You seem to have a axe to grind against cities.

Yup.

> And based on how you describe them, you actually never lived in a city with children.

Nope. I also grew up in a city.

> What do you think all that dense stuff is? It's parks and daycare and stuff.

Daycare and parks for other people who live closer to them. Not that you're forbidden to visit other parks, you just won't do that because it's going to take too much time.

> Maintaining a car payment, gas, garage, oil changes, etc is not "freedom".

Paying hundreds of thousands for transit is also not freedom. Cities are EXPENSIVE. Just one trip on a subway in NYC costs around $20!