Parents should make choices on where to live with their children in mind, not just what they think us a good lifestyle.
I think this is correct - a rural home can be a great childhood if the parents are willing to think about their childrens' wellbeing - e.g. choosing a village with other families, driving their children to see friends, choosing an area where their children will fit in and be welcomed.
I grew up in a village and I found it very isolating. I also had an unhappy home with lots of shouting and unpredictable violence, and I would have found it much easier had there been other people around, somewhere I could get to under my own steam. I felt very trapped - I remember feeling dread at the weekend if I didn't have any plans to meet friends and knowing it was just being at home until Monday. And the crashing disappointment if a friend cancelled weekend plans at the last minute.
Better than your experience OP as my parents did drive me to see friends, but it meant that I needed friendships strong enough to arrange to meet and organise lifts in advance, rather than the more relaxed socialising that children in the town could do.
The nearest secondary school was a bus journey away (and I hated the bus as the kids in the back row would tease and bully others) and I didn't fit in at school. I'd had a sheltered childhood and went to a school where the other kids were much more streetwise. So I was shy and self conscious, I had the wrong clothes, the wrong mannerisms, I didn't know the slang. I remember feeling constantly self-conscious and on alert should I accidentally say something uncool, or act in a way that drew negative attention.
We didn't know anyone in the village so I had no local friends, although when I was home in uni holidays and got a job locally to my surprise I found there was a village community there - just that my parents hadn't ever joined in. They only got along with people very similar to them, none of whom lived nearby. So they hadn't ever tried to make friends in the village as they didn't want to try getting along with people with different opinions and lifestyles to them (I'm talking minor stuff here, things most people would be able to overlook).
I have lovely friends who are raising their kids in rural areas, but they have thought about what would suit children and teenagers when choosing the area, and have made friends locally. And I think if their kids were unhappy they would try and find solutions. For example, my parents said that my school was absolutely dreadful and the behaviour of the other children awful, which made me feel worse about it, but they didn't take any practical steps to find another school. With my parents, I knew that the most important factor was them staying in their house, and whatever effect that had on us children they would never ever move.