Anecdotally, I met thousands of Americans in my life, and I'd say the vast majority of them never cease to praise the life and balance of small European cities.
Let me add my own anecdote about the bubble I live in. I currently live in a Asian city where nearly everyone lives in apartments and takes very good transit (although cars are very popular despite the massive import taxes). Coming from the US, I’ve been told many times how envious they are that one can buy a single family home in the US, not share walls with neighbors and have a home over 1,000 at ft (rare to find one over 900 here, most are 600-700 2 beds). That type of single family housing is purely for the ultra rich here. Not within reach of the even the upper middle class.
Partly I'd say it's about real estate ownership. In the US, living in a city means either spending enormous sums on real estate (suffocatingly so) or renting. But in the US, real estate ownership is incentivized as a primary way to build wealth and stability for old age and retirement. Thus, rent is viewed as a short term living situation. But, affordable real estate that acts to build wealth, especially for people who needed to spend their early career paying off student loans or don't have parents that can buy them a down payment, can only be found in the suburbs.
So it seems to be more structural due to government. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I like having a big yard with dogs and a cul-de-sac for my kids to play in.
As an actual American, I've never heard anyone talk about small European cities. Are you from Europe? If you're only talking to American tourists in Europe, there's going to be some strong selection bias favoring people who like Europe and want to visit.
Well, and with respect to cities generally, there are many cities I like to visit quite a bit that I really wouldn't care that much to live in--especially if it meant giving up my ex-urban/rural home.
Anecdotally, I met thousands of Americans in my life, and I'd say the vast majority of them never cease to praise the life and balance of small European cities.